 When I was working as a young engineer at the Mead Corporation, I had the opportunity to participate in a comprehensive training course entitled "Paper Knowledge." Mead recognized that most of its new salaried employees had been hired with limited educational background in either the paper manufacturing process or the paper grades produced. Unless one had studied paper technology in college, and there were only a limited number of schools at the time which offered such courses, the paper manufacturing process seemed to be a collection of complex systems on the verge of going out of control at any given time! Since it was our job to help keep things under control and to improve the process where possible, Mead made the decision to make sure its technically trained personnel were equipped as completely as possible with the tools to hit the ground running. I believe the decision resulted in many benefits to the company, and that the cost of the training was easily justified by having employees better equipped to do their jobs.
Of course the Mead educational method was traditional in the sense that most of the training was conducted in a classroom environment, using experienced employees to make presentations, based on their individual expertise. The subject matter had been approved and reviewed by the Mead corporate human resources office. Students were essentially taught the entire pulp and papermaking process, the paper grade structure, paper properties, the effect of changes in furnish or manufacturing methods, the end uses of the paper produced, and the printing processes. There were numerous handouts, manuals, and even quizzes to determine if the material was being understood adequately. Other companies at that time also recognized the importance of this in-depth training. In fact, it was reputed that the chemical giant, Proctor and Gamble, trained its new technical hires so thoroughly that the training was felt to be equivalent to obtaining a graduate degree.
Today many of the past traditional training methods have been replaced or at least modified due to cost constraints. Over time, white boards were replaced with Power Point® projection, suppliers and trade associations were used instead of company instructors, lectures almost completely vanished, and the use of case studies or simulation techniques were considered too time consuming. The use of private consultants specializing in training also diminished due to cost considerations, and skilled company retirees were offered opportunities to fill the void. In some locations, the primary method employed became on-the-job training, with the hope that correct information would be passed along. (It later became apparent that this method provided instruction from only one point of view, and often resulted in the perpetuation of prior mistakes).
Realizing that training was still very important for employees at all levels, mills began to seek other methods with the goal of maximizing information while using the minimum amount of employee time. Major investments such as capital projects required more depth of knowledge and skills. Government regulations often required that training be provided to new employees. These demands led to technology-based training being identified as the wave of the future, and its use increased significantly in government, education, and industry. This type training utilizes Internet information, audiovisuals, webcasts, computer downloads, and chat rooms. Taking into consideration that the average annual training expenditure currently exceeds $1,000/employee, and the cost of replacing a trained employee (including lost productivity) may be more than $125,000 per vacancy (Source: Society for Human Resource Management), it is easy to understand the attractiveness of technology based training.
Listed below are some of the advantages of the modern training approach compared to the disadvantages of relying completely on it.
Advantages:
1) It allows greater accessibility, due to anytime/anyplace interfacing.
2) It can be scaled to the number of participants, resulting in lower cost.
3) It is easily updated when new or different information is available.
4) Training can be self-paced, and completed outside employee work hours as needed.
5) Illustrations, such as charts, graphs, and photos are easily accessed.
6) It can be made interactive.
Disadvantages:
1) It requires more computer literacy. While most employees today have a basic knowledge of computers, they do not always have all the skills needed to utilize the new methods fully.
2) Self paced training is not necessarily either cost or time effective.
3) Depending on how the training is organized, employees can become lazy or frustrated in the learning process, particularly if it is done on their own time.
4) Individual interaction with a computer may not be as effective as group interaction in a classroom environment.
5) Illustrations on computers can be difficult to decipher.
6) The training content is often not flexible when interfacing with employees having different skill or knowledge levels.
It is my opinion that mills should embrace the advantages of technology training, but should not completely abandon all the traditional techniques. While all employees should desire to increase their job related knowledge, it cannot be realistically expected that everyone will do a good job of training themselves. There remains a need for direct interaction with an instructor. For example, instruction-led training can be tailored to individual situations, and made cost effective, provided an element of interactivity is included. Properly conducted, direct instruction can not only ensure that the content is understood, but also provide a more interesting learning environment compared to a computer screen display. The more modern methods will likely continue to occupy the primary position in future training, due to the rapid changes in technology and cost constraints. But let's just not forget our roots, and use some of the past techniques as needed to make training results more successful.
Have a Happy Holiday Season, and resolve to keep learning!
Robert Moore is a retired chemical engineer, and is an experienced technical and fictional writer. His past work experience spanned the chemical, paper and equipment manufacturing industries, including holding management positions at Voith Paper, Scapa plc, and The Mead Paper Corporation. |
