Selecting and preparing effective trainers.

An important aspect of training employees for productivity improvements is the proper selection of trainers. Trainers shape a company's future competitiveness and market capabilities by providing knowledge, skills and self-confidence to employees, as well as impacting turnover, production efficiencies, scrap rates, customer satisfaction and production machinery uptime.

Consider the following: A manufacturing facility in Illinois was using a "watch others work" approach to employee training in its maintenance department. New employees watched veterans to learn how to do their new job. Trainees worked with different people depending on availability, timing and the job to be completed. On one occasion, a new employee with two days experience was assigned to work with a technician on a job that involved several lockout situations, some intricate electrical troubleshooting and the replacement of several components. During the trainee's observation of the task he saw many correct aspects about the job. Unfortunately, the trainee observed several shortcuts and bad habits that the technician had formed over the years. Since the trainee didn't have any questions and the training was "completed" according to plan, the supervisor determined that the trainee was "qualified" to perform the task. Several weeks later, the new employee was assigned a similar task and went off to fix the machine. After an expensive part was needlessly replaced due to some erroneous troubleshooting, the employee was disciplined and subsequently quit.

Myths

Following are five common misconceptions about the selection of trainers.

* Anyone can provide hands-on training-Since foundries continually 'match the right person into the correct foundry job, why should trainer selection be any different? It is vital for trainers to have an ability to work with people and a positive attitude toward the company.

* Highly competent subject-matter experts make the best trainers - Many experts turn out to be poor trainers. Job-related expertise alone does not guarantee that an individual will be an effective trainer. Beyond technical competence, knowledge and skills are important in a variety of methods and techniques necessary for design and implementation of effective training programs. Coaching, mentoring and facilitation skills also are necessary.

* Trainers should be able to ensure good job performance - Trainers provide and assess trainee knowledge and skill on concepts being trained. Trainers also are instrumental in building the self-confidence of trainees, however, after reaching this point in employee development, the work environment, supervisory support and opportunity to perform become fundamental issues that must be provided by supervisors and managers.

* Trainers must train employees while maintaining their regular job performance responsibilities - Quality training that makes an impact on company performance must be done separately from normal work. Trainers must follow a methodical training process that cannot be performed while making cores, maintaining machinery or processing next week's payroll.

* Trainers don't need to learn "training skills," their technical skills are enough - Trainers must know how to use techniques that will enhance the effectiveness of their training. Training fundamentals should be a mandatory learning regimen for all trainers.

Quality Trainers

There are many specific characteristics that are important when selecting trainers for your foundry. They include:

* patience when working with varying learning abilities;

* empathy to view things from the trainee's perspective;

* understanding that builds trainee trust and confidence (without intimidation);

* systematic preparation skills that allow trainers to develop plans, task breakdowns, checklists and training procedures;

* attention to detail that allows for planning, preparation, presentation and follow-up activities;

* competency and knowledge in their specialization;

* willingness to use positive reinforcement;

* strong communication skills;

* a positive attitude toward company policies and procedures.

Once the selection of trainers is complete, it is time to prepare them to effectively train employees. Subject-matter experts must be trained on concepts that will allow them to develop training objectives and instructional plans and use effective training methods and techniques when they return to the job.

"Train-the-Trainer" courses are commonly used to allow subject-matter experts

the opportunity to become competent at training knowledge and skill components. These courses can be provided by local colleges, consultants or internally by training experts via audio, video or written packages. In addition, courses should teach your trainers basic learning principles, adult learning characteristics, employee motivation and behavior, communication principles, analysis of training needs, learning and instructional styles, evaluation of training and transfer of learning. Since on-the-job training is so widely used, specific emphasis must be placed on how to effectively train people in their work environments.

Company managers will find the proper selection and preparation of trainers to be valuable to long-term competitiveness. In order to achieve improvements in employee productivity, profit margins, resource utilization and customer confidence, companies must achieve more consistency in their training processes. The selection and preparation of qualified trainers is one of the first steps toward consistent and effective training processes.