demonstrate enterprise-wide success as a result of employ- ee learning and development—average 57.7 learning hours per employee vs. average companies that spend only about half of that: 30.3 learning hours per employee, according the ATD 2013 State of the Industry Report. The best training programs tie directly to the bottom line, helping boost productivity and profi tability, while reducing expenses related to overtime, downtime, waste, and more.
Beware Execution Gaps
In some cases though, there is not alignment between objectives that will drive a business forward and action. For instance, according to the Manufactur- ing Insights Report, many manufacturers are struggling with three critical initiatives, despite their importance to world-class manufacturing status and business suc- cess. For success in these areas, compa- nies need to have the right people in the right places with the right training. These areas are: • Continuous improvement—improving quality, cost, speed, value, and safety
• Workforce development—building a workforce with skills and motivation
• Production planning for new products—moving new product designs effi ciently through production and into the market
There is a major threat to competitiveness, however, due to the existence of serious “execution gaps” between high executive awareness of the importance of these three initiatives and low support (i.e., resources, investments) for their implementation.
For instance, 85% of manufacturers rated continuous
improvement as important or highly important. Yet many of these executives are not supporting their continuous improvement initiatives with investments, resources, training, leadership commitment, etc.—and thus, are not succeeding with their efforts. It’s increasingly clear that training and professional devel-
opment are not only vital to manufacturing success related to these three initiatives, but essential tactics in meeting the growing talent challenges.
determine their ability to face the growing talent gap. Through answering a series of questions about your company’s knowledge retention, readiness of future skill requirements and the status of employee development programs, your company will be able to assess its ability to meet the workforce challenges that are quickly approaching. The bottom line is a well-trained workforce is a competi- tive advantage, allowing companies to drive innovation, customer satisfaction, quality, productivity and growth. The benefi cial by-products are engaged and loyal employees, satisfi ed stakeholders, and a thriving economy.
Jeannine Kunz is managing director of workforce and education at SME, where she leads a team dedicated to the ongoing education of the manufacturing workforce. Tooling U-SME, a division of SME, can be found at
toolingu.com.
Boosting the Bottom Line through Training A structured training program using best practices based
around competency models like Tooling U-SME’s Competency Framework, blended learning which combines theory and ap- plication, and a data-driven approach to measuring, tracking and assessing learning can fi ll existing gaps and prepare the workforce for the future while meeting business objectives. As we enter the New Year, we encourage manufacturers to take a free Workforce 2021 Readiness Assessment to
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