Truly Investing in Training

John Cole, president of Parker Ionics, presenting at Powder Coating Week.

Q: I want to improve the skill set of my team, but am on the fence about investing in outside training. Do you have any advice for getting the most out of training opportunities?

This is an interesting question I think about all the time. On any given day outside training can be “a waste of money” or it can be “an investment.” What do I mean by this?

The intent of having trained employees is to improve operations within your organization and, as a result of this, reduce costs, improve profitability, and increase quality. Who wouldn’t want these goals?

From my experience training powder coaters and listening to their questions and work experiences, I can tell you that employees in the majority of professional training classes hear things they can relate to when it comes to best and worst practices. They love to share their personal work experience, especially when it is contrary to what they are being taught on the job. You can see it in their enthusiasm as they connect a work-related issue they are experiencing to a best practice suggestion they are hearing from the presenter. I call it an “ah-ha” moment. They light up and sit on the end of their chairs. Their posture straightens up. They are geeked to no end. Problem solved! It’s even more fun when there are two or more people from the same company in the class because you’ll see them whispering to each other about what they just learned.

However, an investment in training becomes a waste of money because of what often happens when the employees return to work afterward. The employees just learned a lot of good ideas from highly professional and experienced trainers. The things they learned made sense to them. But all of this learning is only a good investment if their boss listens and reacts properly.

If the ideas brought back from a training event elicit responses like “we can’t do that, it’s too expensive” or “we don’t have the time to do that” from management, the training was all for naught. The employee effectively learns that attending the workshop was a waste of time. Worse than that, he hears the message that his company is not willing to support him in making his job better and his efficiency higher. This type of scenario can result in a very negative mindset that is not conducive to highly effective employees.

Obviously, not many managers will leap at the idea of spending a lot of money to update their operations simply based on what an employee tells them they learned at a powder coating conference. However, it’s important that managers listen and evaluate what their newly trained employees bring back by way of information. I suggest setting aside the impulse to immediately shut down any talk of operating improvements that may cost some capital or working expense. Instead, consider the employee’s ideas and reach out to your key vendors to ask them about the suggestions. Ask them for less expensive, but similarly effective, ways to accomplish the same thing.

You might also consider attending training events alongside your employees to hear the information firsthand and ask questions of the trainers.

While outside training is a great way to accelerate a new employee’s knowledge of the process, the thought that training alone is going to raise a poorly run operation to one of excellence just doesn’t make sense. Investing in the training of your employees is a good thing, but don’t stop there. The follow-up work of taking the information they’ve learned and applying it to your operation in some way is the real way to make such an investment worthwhile.