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Providing training and educational opportunities for employees comes at a cost for contracting companies. They may
pay for tuition and other class expenses and often have to allow their workers time off so they can attend.
Our goal is to have
the best people on
the job, and the
only way to do that
is to make sure that
they are trained
well. We would not
be where we are today as a company if
we didn’t use the training provided by the
ABC apprenticeship program.
People sometimes ask me, “What
happens if you train somebody for four
years, and then they leave you after that?”
But I ask them, “What happens if I have
an employee that we don’t train for four
years, and then they stay?” The worst
that can happen is that someone who is
educated and experienced goes to work
for someone else, but it really hasn’t been
a problem for us. If someone chooses to
leave, then we didn’t do our job as
a company.
With more people retiring, our industry is
short on workers. I feel that the only way
we can get the people we need to replace
them is by putting our employees through
ABC’s apprenticeship training program.
But when you ask employers
“How has participating in training helped improve your company or your employee’s
performance?”
it becomes clear that any upfront costs of training are more than covered by the long-term benefits.
Point of View
I’ve been with
Kogok Corporation
for 13 ½ years.
After I was with the
company for a year
or two, I became
involved with
the sheet metal
CraftMasters training program both as
a member of the committee and as a
sheet metal apprenticeship instructor.
We believe in training and educating
our people, and the program is great for
doing that.
It’s a win/win for the company and
the employees. We get better trained,
more highly motivated and productive
employees, and they get an opportunity
to move up the ladder for work, for
wages and for responsibilities. We feel
that if we train our people and if we treat
them right—give them an opportunity
to succeed and advance—they will stay
with the company. Our experience over
the years has shown this to be case.
We live and die with our employees in
the field. This is one of the ways that we
give them the tools to help the company
be more successful and to help them be
more successful.
LOU WICKLEIN
VICE PRESIDENT OF CONSTRUCTION
EDUCATION AND TRAINING DIRECTOR
KOGOK CORPORATION
SHELDON SHAPIRO
CEO
SHAPIRO & DUNCAN, INC.
For any contractor
to survive and
thrive, particularly
in the competitive
Washington DC
metro market, you
have to perform
in three key areas: safety, quality and
production. The only way you can
perform is to train your workforce. First
you have to set your expectations, and
then you have to provide the knowledge
and skills that your craft workers and
managers need to do their jobs. You have
to build your company culture and share
your values.
One of the other things that training
allows us to do is spread the
knowledge around. We identify our
most experienced coworkers and
our top performers, and we create an
environment where they can share their
knowledge and experience and coach
and train up the next level of leaders. We
have found that is really beneficial.
Training is also a way to retain your
workforce. We find that our folks are
grateful for the experience and they tend
to stick around because they know they
are going to grow professionally.
SHAWN CRAWFORD
REGIONAL SAFETY MANAGER
BAKER DC, LLC
Building Washington 17