Training Construction Employees – Part 3
In the introduction to this five-part series concerning Training Construction Employees, we talked about staying ahead of the curve and gaining a competitive advantage for your construction company through employee training.
Part two of the series, titled Let Employees Get the Hang of It, focused on how to hang new information on established knowledge for your construction employees.
In this third installment, the emphasis is on providing foundational in-house training. The idea is to use the same methods the corporate-level construction companies use to train their employees but to modify them to your needs. It gives you the edge.
Provide Foundational In-House Training – The Basics
Just as journalists ask questions to find answers to what is essential, you must also know who, what, when, where, why, and how when developing in-house training.
You already know the answer to “who” – your employees and “why” – to give your employees professional development opportunities and keep your construction business healthy, growing, and profitable. The “what, when, where, and how” questions may seem more complex.
After all, there will be a cost, it will take time, and indeed, facilities are needed.
If you think of in-house training as adding fuel to your vehicle, you’ll take the time, pay the cost, and, yes, figure out where to buy it. Otherwise, in the words of one wise old gentleman, “Otherwise, you ain’t going nowhere.”
Provide Foundational In-House Training – By Category
In this section, you’ll learn more about “What” to include in the training. We’ve broken the information into four categories – technical skills, leadership and management, safety and compliance, and continuous professional development. You’ll notice several options to choose from when reading through the lists following each category. And the key word here is choose. The lists are neither complete nor compulsory. They are meant only to give ideas about what can be taught.
Technical skills – in the field or the office
Tools of the trade
Innovative tool use techniques
Proper PPE training
Equipment usage
Blueprint reading
Construction management software
Lifting techniques
Spatial recognition
Mobile apps
Building information modeling
Virtual or augmented reality
Estimating software
Drones
Customer service
Vocational training
SaaS applications
Construction calculations - measure accurately and calculate areas, volumes, and angles.
Proficiency in corporate digital tools
Leadership and management
Problem-solving
Communication
Project management
Time management
Decision-making
Delegating
Financial management – Budget management
Organizational skills
Team management
Planning skills
Quality standards
Safety and compliance
Local, state, and national compliance rules and regulations
Safety management
Safety adherence
Safety issues related directly to your trade
CPR training
Hazard communication - spills, leaks, and worksite evacuations
Continuous professional development
Coachability
Adaptability
Attention to detail
Risk management
Growth mindset
Negotiation skills
Conflict management
Independence
Self-motivation
Time management
How to work under pressure
Latest industry trends
Provide Foundational In-House Training – Four Sources
In this section, learn “When,” “Where,” and “How.” There are several options for how to get the necessary information to your employees. Following is a discussion of four of the ways that can be useful. The ways the training is provided will help to determine when and where. None stand alone; all should be considered, and the goal is to use a mixture of methods, times, and locations suited to different circumstances.
Look for internal experts
Almost everyone on your staff has information or expertise in one thing or another. For example, insights are stored in the heads of supervisors, operators, the office manager, and the technical experts doing the day-to-day work. Your internal experts will often be able to pass on guidelines, checklists, rules of thumb, or some wisdom passed to them by an older or wiser expert.
Always be on the lookout for those who know. Let the other leaders in your construction company know to watch for people who are good at a task, understand a principle, or have recently taken a class and received information to share.
Some of your team members will be good at teaching others, and others will learn how to do it as they go. Let your team or staff know their insights, skills, and expertise are valuable. Sometimes, it will take working with an employee to create a rough draft or a bullet list of points concerning what they’ll speak about.
Dorothy Leonard and James Martin, in an article from Harvard Business Review titled, How Your Organization’s Experts Can Share Their Knowledge, discuss what they term a “knowledge cascade.” It is well worth reading.
As a bonus for using this method, remember that one of the best ways to learn something is to be responsible for teaching it.
Use field trips
Using field trips in your in-house training is a bright, easy, and practical way to incorporate the expertise of others into your training plans.
By sending one or more of your employees to classes, workshops, seminars, conventions, or other outside sources, you increase company knowledge and show them that you care about their professional growth.
Some field trip sources to consider are:
Specialty trade conventions.
Your trade association offerings.
Community colleges.
The Department of Labor.
OSHA training.
You can find live classes and training on any construction-related topic you can think of. For example, I took a quick look at what classes one of the subcontractor trade associations in our area offers. I found this list – Lien Law, WIP Reporting Made Easy, Notice Provisions, Increasing Leadership Capacity, and A Peak Inside the GC War Room. This same association offers information concerning Safety, Workforce Development, Leadership and Strategy, Finance, and Projects and Operations.
Provide online learning sources
Whether you gather the crew in one room and cast the teaching onto the big screen or you make assignments for courses to complete, you have many options for using online learning sources, including webinars.
The following list of online sources was gathered in less than five minutes. I must add that none of those included in the list are necessarily endorsed by anyone at The Profit Constructors. It is provided only to show how easy it is to find many sources. You can click through these to see if they meet your needs. You can also do a quick search to find other readily available sources.
Okay, I must mention one online source you hear bandied about all the time.
YouTube. From 12 Steps of Construction to Framing Explained, from Construction Technologies to Project Team Augmentation, from Amazing Construction Tools to Construction Management, you can find something explained, discussed, or analyzed on YouTube. It is a source you may wish to consider.
Cultivate an always-learning mindset
Providing foundational in-house training isn’t a hit-or-miss proposition. Although taking advantage of serendipitous training options is fine, proper foundational in-house training requires planning, including pre-planning. Pre-planning = determining the needs—look at both sides of the coin. What does your construction company need? What do your employees need?
Develop a training schedule for the twelve months ahead. Consider this: When is the best time to put the roof on a building? Before it rains, of course! Training is never convenient, so take the bull by the horns, plan ahead, commit to specific dates, and stick with it.
Provide Foundational In-House Training – 12 Helpful Tips
Set proper boundaries by determining expected outcomes. Set specific goals. What should be learned, and when should the training end?
When determining training goals, be sure they are reasonable, feasible, sensible, valid, practical, and affordable.
Use real-world examples and experiences while training.
Think about using training sources that provide licenses or certificates. This will increase interest in the program.
Incorporate discussion as often as possible. Employees can and should learn from one another.
Training is about learning that can be executed. It isn’t about sitting in a room for a certain amount of time. It isn’t about receiving a piece of paper (although that can sweeten the pot). Is there a new action plan? Will the learner do something differently?
Involve employees in the planning and design of the training calendar.
Offer incentives.
Be sure the training plan provides ongoing support.
Use a spreadsheet (or whatever works for you) to plan the various training opportunities available and the types of training needed for your construction employees. Then put it on the company calendar!
Remember, not everybody has to learn everything, but everybody needs to learn some things.
Plan – execute – measure – evolve.
Provide Foundational In-House Training – Conclusion
You, your team, and your clients obtain better results when you integrate training into day-to-day operations. Just as you wouldn’t skip your daily grooming routine because you are too busy, don’t skip planning for and conducting foundational in-house training.
What’s Next? Part four of this five-part series concerning Training Construction Employees focuses on what it takes to Instill Power Skills.
Ambitious Construction Contractors look to The Profit Constructors to provide advocacy in dealing with:
Clients and customers
Employees and subcontractors
Vendors and service providers
Governmental entities
Working with The Profit Constructors gives Construction Contractors the means to organize their operations in ways that help them:
Remain informed
Avoid hassles
Reduce risks
Be future-ready
Ready for action? Or want to know more? Get in touch today to schedule a complimentary discovery call. 866-629-7735
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