WORKFORCE PIPELINE A MONTHLY FEATURE ABOUT TRAINING, EDUCATION & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
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Apprenticeship Programs Offer Culture, Retention Benefits To be DOL certified, a company has to meet all the
ake one look at ads on
Monster.com for manufactur- ing jobs in San Antonio and you’ll see dozens pop up, posted in just the last few weeks. As with most areas
of the country, skilled labor is in demand here. It’s difficult to grow in manufacturing without the right people in place. At Cox Manufacturing, we are committed to ongoing learning and believe companies need to have ap- prenticeship programs in place for the long run to help their organization and employees grow. For background, Cox is a 60-year-old San Antonio maker of precision-cut metal components for everything from aerospace to medical devices. For decades, the company has invested in technology to deliver confidence to our customers.
Cox makes a similar investment in our people, providing formal training, generous benefits and career opportunities like our apprenticeship program. Bill Cox, our president, has built a culture of learning and instills a commitment to con- tinuous improvement in all employees. The benefits of this investment are clear: a solid pipeline of skilled workers, engaged employees and a competitive ad- vantage. In fact, Cox made Inc. magazine’s 2014, 2015 and 2016 list of the 5000 fastest growing private companies in the United States and continues to build strong relationships with our customers. Since I arrived in 2010, the company size has doubled from 70 to 140 employees.
Apprenticeship Program Snapshot Determined to build a robust pipeline, Cox implemented a
Registered Apprenticeship program, certified by the Depart- ment of Labor (DOL) in 2008.
As a world-class company committed to learning, it was important for us to offer an industry-competitive apprentice- ship program. That meant being registered and certified by DOL. Guidelines have become stricter related to policy and procedures, creating what is now an industry standard.
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requirements, create a curriculum and submit documenta- tion for approval. Measurement is an important part of the program and everything is audited by the DOL. Our apprentice program is a three-year program. Require-
ments include: t High school diploma or GED t Stable work history for past 10 years t Take a personal inventory survey t Pass math test t Pass background check t Pass drug test
Each employee’s experience and competency is assessed and then the individual is placed at the appropriate level. Ap- prentices can achieve journeyman status in the fourth year. Related Training Instruction (RTI) is 144 hours a year for
three years with 6000 hours of on-the-job learning (OJL). Most of the RTI is via online training by Tooling U-SME with apprentices taking a minimum of eight classes per month to graduate on time. We also believe in teaching important life skills, so appren- tices also receive 15 hours of personal finance training and 30 hours focused on physical wellness. These classes are off the clock so productivity is not af- fected. Apprentices get paid one hour of overtime per week to cover this time. The program offers a rolling start, which helps speed up the process. Online classes can be com- pleted at the facility or even at home. We currently have 34 apprentices in various stages of our
three-year program. For instance, three are almost ready to graduate and five entered the program in the last 60 days. Additionally, three apprentices, including myself, have completed the program. Cox is seeing added value already – exactly what we hoped would come from the program. What are these apprentices doing now? With this techni- cal training, and my experience as a personal fitness trainer,
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