Cleanfax, November/December 2018

D uring the summer of 2012 after several rounds of intense interviews I accepted an off er to work for Violand Management Associates My fi rst day I cleaned up best I could put on a brand new set of clothes and headed off to learn what I would do for the rest of my career Since I was working for a company that helps other companies grow in part by training and developing top talent I was confi dent I would be quickly engrossed in training on ideas and concepts to fast track me to success I sat down with my new co workers and the boss convinced I was about to have my mind blown through world class on the job education Th e fi rst training I received was how to make a decent pot of coff ee Six years later I understand why coff ee making was the initial training I received Th e fi rst person to show up to the offi ce in the morning is expected to make the fi rst pot of coff ee for everyone Th e coff ee is supposed to taste the same way every time to the standard designated by the owner Th at pot of coff ee sets the bar for every person every day If something as simple as coff ee is not consistently done correctly what then becomes the expectation for everything else throughout the day Everyone in our company knows this expectation and its importance Every employee hired after me who works in the offi ce starts with the same lesson and is given the same expectation and training concerning the consistently perfect pot of coff ee Companies must establish their own systematic onboarding and development program and hold everyone accountable to the opportunity for improvement Systemization We all know training is important and it goes far beyond offi ce beverages I believe the single most important reason for training is to provide employees with the education and tools needed to perform at or above the expectations set by the company leadership and those standards set by the industry To do so companies must establish their own systematic onboarding and development program and hold everyone accountable to the opportunity for improvement Notice I said opportunity Because if the manager or employee is not in the mindset of desiring constant self improvement there is no need for future employment Assuming self improvement is important lets continue Developing Th e fi rst step in an onboarding and development program is to create expectations and outline responsibilities for every position in the company Identify both the technical and professional requirements needed for each employee to perform at an acceptable level Do you have written job descriptions for every position Do you routinely communicate this information to everyone in the company so there is a full understanding of each persons role If the answer is no stop and create them now You cannot create a training program for a job that is not clearly defi ned If the answer is yes lets continue Outsourced training Take a look at the technical and professional requirements of each persons role Have you identifi ed which are industry standards versus company standards Knowing this we can then decide which part of the training can be done in house and which require outside help In house training diff ers depending on the size of the company Larger companies may have designated human resources reps who provide their training while smaller companies lean on individuals to piece it together Th e core of any in house training should be giving employees insight into what is expected of them and how these expectations support your companys mission and vision Many times this training will Give employees a budget and have them explore options for their desired training NOV DEC 2018 cleanfax com 27