Smart companies know that training employees is an excellent way to reduce downtime and the associated costs. Training can help improve employee flexibility and agility, two key attributes to surviving in a difficult economic climate. Knowing how top-performing companies approach training can help you make an informed decision about your training needs and training budget.

• Strategy: Learning initiatives are closely aligned with a larger business strategy.
• Appropriateness: Learning is matched to individual competencies, development plans and organizational skills.
• Support: Senior executives provide visible and meaningful support for training.
• Involvement: Individual leaders lead by example, are champions for training and offer to be mentors or teachers.
• Efficiency: Organizations maximize efficiency by balancing the use of internal and outsourced training activities to meet company needs.
• Need: Organizations are need-driven, rather than budget-driven, when making training decisions.
• Investment: In general, top-performing companies spend more on training and provide more employee hours of training than the average company.
• Variety: Broad ranges of internal and external training opportunities are provided to employees to match their learning styles and improve interest.
• Measurement: Effectiveness of individuals and the benefits provided to the company as a whole are continually monitored for improvement and linked back to the training investment.
• Non-Training Solutions: Commitment to other improvement activities that complement the training function, such as viewing and speaking of training as an investment rather than as a cost; instilling a learning culture by basing compensation on skills and results rather than years on the job, creating a clear and documented progression path for the workforce; developing mentorship programs; and planning for succession of retiring workers.

Training is a proactive solution to a reactive problem. Giving employees the education and knowledge they need to prevent and diagnose problems before they become even more costly is one of the best ways to reduce downtime and its costs. Think about what you want training to achieve for your company, and plan accordingly. ϖ

American Trainco offers live training for maintenance personnel in hundreds of cities throughout North America, as well as in selected international locations. We also conduct training directly at a customer’s site for larger, private groups. Visit: www.americantrainco.com.

For more info, enter 30 at www.MT-freeinfo.com

Sponsored Information