Cleanfax, April 2019

she will leave but its an investment essential to a companys success Restoration companies must recognize the need for training restoration is a career not just a job Restoration companies need to offer training and certification and stop looking at the technicians as just labor or workers they are professionals Oakes adds If your company provides regular training to employees this might seem an obvious statement but there are countless companies who expect technicians to pick everything up on the job While some things are learnable in the field others simply require course learning Take for instance drying calculations and the use of meters Richard Driscoll an industry instructor and co owner of Mishaps and Mayhem says this Being a WRT and AMRT instructor I see students in every class who have either never been taught how to properly use meters or have just chosen not to use them correctly If meters are not used or not used correctly then how does the technician know if the job is drying and when it is dry Its also easy to get complacent with training once we provide basic courses to employees Its important to provide ongoing training both to keep employees following correct procedures and to keep the company abreast of new and changing information and techniques Solving for staffing problems is a tremendous challenge that requires a constant effort through multiple activities explains Burton These activities include the traditional 16 CLEANFAX APR 2019 maintenance of certifications but these must be supplemented with an in house process of regular discussions about the organizations methods and policies that cover all aspects of how work is managed and completed in the field Staying on top of changes in methodology and training doesnt fall squarely to technicians either Its Take on a job candidate with a good work ethic but without experience in the field and train him important to keep management yes even top management up to date with training Tom Slattery an IICRC instructor and industry consultant reminds us It is so easy to stay in a routine of this is how we have always done it A little success with a method can sometimes blind us to learning new techniques or experimenting with new technology or equipment If management has not been to a class or convention in a while these same old same old methods end up permeating the company culture Open mindedness is critical as well as a commitment to keep learning It is important to ask ourselves When was the last time I attended a class A convention Insurance Go to any industry event and youll hear ample lambasting of insurance companies and adjusters The biggest problems arise when restoration providers and insurance companies disagree on the required services on a particular job and therefore the payment of those services The restorer is under contract to the homeowner period Regardless of what is covered or not when the two parties agree on a desired outcome it is the restorers obligation to provide the best service using the industry standards Slattery says To have a party outside this agreement influence the decisions change a category protocol saying We dont want that removed or equipment used is illogical at best The consensus is better educated insurers who understand and have been trained some on the necessities of restoration services especially drying would be a major improvement to the industry and the overall relationship between these often warring factions And in this the homeowners experience is improved which is beneficial to both industries Oakes points to one particular problem in this struggle between restorer and insurer The rise of demolition over restoration He says more and more restoration professionals are choosing to remove materials that could be dried because its an easier path to payment or the technicians are undertrained see previous section Removal of salvageable material is often supported by the insurance adjuster who either doesnt know it can be dried or simply goes with the path of least resistance and agrees with We need to bring the performance back up and weed out the marginal companies