Training in the cement industry is like chasing a dust devil: it swirls and moves with a motive force all its own, then disappears, leaving only a slight disturbance in the dust to mark its passage.

Historically, the industry has used training to resolve targeted problem areas generally related to equipment-specific technical training or new process startups. Other times, training is seen as a panacea for any number of general or unrealized woes. What training is needed, who goes to the training, and what benefits accrue as a result of a particular workshop or seminar have been left to individual supervisors. "John you're going to planning training next Monday, make sure you're back at work when it's over" is a common theme.

When the training is complete, the knowledge and skills disappear like our proverbial dust devil, with only a manual or books left on a shelf, unopened and unused. Managers and supervisors feel cheated, the student feels let down and de-motivated, and the company does not see a return on its investment. Everyone is back to doing things the way that they've always done them.

Worse yet, once a crew member receives his new employee indoctrination, with the exception of safety and OSHA-/MSHA- required training, he receives no further training of any kind. This leads to stagnation of skills, passing down improper or antiquated techniques under the auspices of "that's the way we've always done it," and a lack of improvement or reliability vision. This lack of training has a direct cost associated with it.

The cost of wasted training HSB Reliability Technologies has analyzed hundreds of manufacturing facilities over the years. One of the company's findings is that 40% to 60% of all maintenance at plants was unnecessary. Of those "preventable maintenance" actions within the purview of the production/operations and maintenance department, 30% to 60% could be attributed to human performance deficiencies. That is a lack of proper training, insufficient training, or inadequate human factors engineering (job aids, incentives, and environment).

When expressed in terms of hours worked or cost, unnecessary work exceeds necessary work by a margin of 3 to 1 in some cases. This is a significant expense, resulting from the lack of a few hours of instruction.

Training deficiencies are expensive both in terms of labor and material and in the lost opportunity cost of employees not given the knowledge and skills they need to fully function to the best of their ability.

Learning starts before the class ever begins There are three keys to making training a value-added experience for the company, its managers and the students:

1. Training must fulfill a knowledge or skill need that supports the company's business goals. Sending an employee to training that he will never use is wasteful and demoralizing. To increase an employee's performance, not just "train" them, training must be part of a total plant reliability and improvement process.

2. Good training, training that is "cemented" into the company, that helps foster organizational learning, must be just as much a supervisor's or manager's responsibility as it is that of the student.

3. Training transfer or "learning" must be a dynamic and interrelated process that occurs before, during, and after the actual time spent in the classroom.

Improving employees' performance Before sending employees to class, managers and supervisors should understand that they have the most influence on determining the extent of learning. It is their responsibility to ensure that the skills learned in a training course are implemented in the workplace.

The manager's support of the knowledge their employees learn improves performance both individually and in teams. It is their drive to achieve a return on the training investment that will improve effectiveness, organizational integration and employee morale, which fosters improved performance. Here are some tips:

* Make the time to meet with the employees taking the class, both before they go and after;

* Help them to develop action plans that leverage their new skills for themselves as well as the company. How will the course help this employee do his job next week, next month, or next year? How will it help with his long-range objectives?

* Offer real-life examples that can help transfer classroom solutions to the workplace; and

* Provide adequate time to take the course. Everyone is under a great deal of pressure to perform, but calling the student every 15 minutes to find out the status of a project or job he is responsible for does nothing to aid in his capability to learn.

Maximize classroom learning Students should remember that the company has invested time and money for them to acquire new skills. This is the employee's opportunity to show managers what he can do. In order for training to "transfer" and thus become "learning," the student must be an integral part of the process. Keep these hints in mind:

* Think continuously about how to use this new information back at the plant. How will it help in a given situation?

* Actively participate in the class activities. Learning does not happen by osmosis. The more an individual participates in teams or groups the easier transferring and retaining all of the new information will be;

* Don't be a "Lone Ranger;" build relationships with the other students in class. Even if students work together on a daily basis, this is their opportunity to try new ideas, talk about other things than the pump they happen to be repairing now, or when the kiln is expected to be back and turning. Again, it's easier to learn by sharing the task with a teammate;

* Keep an action plan of items to implement back in the shop. This helps focus the attention on using the skills and knowledge being learned as they apply to the workplace; and

* Devise a plan to prevent falling back into old ways. Trainers call this a "relapse prevention strategy." It is a step-by-step plan to use and continue to use newfound skills. Teaching co-workers that didn't attend the course or workshop helps employees retain what they learned in class.

Applying new skills The training doesn't stop upon completion of the class or workshop. In fact, this is where things should really start to happen, including the leverage of the relationship between the student and his supervisor to benefit the entire plant.

Once the student has finished the classroom portion of the workshop, he shouldn't expect the world. There is a distinction between the completion of training and the completion of instruction. Instruction is the eight hours the employee spent in the classroom, training is what he does with what he's learned. The employee has to fully apply the knowledge and skills that he's learned.

* Meet with a supervisor or manager. Tell him what was learned and share the action plan including intentions of using new knowledge;

* Brief co-workers. By sharing information employees develop a critical mass of new techniques and information that helps to foster retention of new skills; and

* Maintain contact with the other individuals in the class. This interactive communication helps to generate even more new ideas, alternative performance methodologies, and provides a support network for growth.

It is the supervisor's responsibility to make sure that all the new skills and abilities are given a chance to be practiced. The lack of opportunity to perform newly learned skills and tasks right after training results in the employee "shelving" his new skills in favor of his old ways. The new skills and techniques are left unpracticed and the training is wasted.

* This is the crucial point of training transfer. Make it a goal to have employees returning from training out in the field use their new skills within 36 to 72 hours after the class;

* Follow-up with the employee to ensure that he is applying those new skills in a manner consistent with his training and in keeping with the plant improvement and reliability program; and

* Take the time to respond to the trainer or training company on the quality of their instruction, the applicability of the course or workshop to the cement industry, and any suggestions for improvement. This allows the supervisor to have direct input in the course his employees participate in.

Training in the cement industry needn't be an afterthought or avoided as a waste of time. Good, well-conceived, training provides:

1. Clear and defined benefits from the plant floor to upper management. It is the structure upon which equipment and process reliability improvements are built.

2. The number one incentive for worker motivation according to various industry surveys.

3. A conduit for communication that can be leverage both up and down the chain of command.

4. Not only real-time benefits, but also an investment in future growth and development.

Ultimately, training provides for improved employee productivity and enhanced performance, which positively affects a company's bottom line.