And, more on Training...Ideas for Stretching the Training Budget

1. Outsource Your Training – Firms that outsource training cut their training costs, increase the number of courses offered to employees, and increase the number of employees trained. ASTD reports one memberc organization saved more than $360,000 by simply outsourcing.6 Nell Nicholas, a HelmsBriscoe regional director who serves the New England area says seminars in particular are “quick and inexpensive and it streamlines the ability for employees to do mulit-tasking. Outsourcing is a great way to go.”
2. Open Enrollment Seminars – The cost of program development, instructors and equipment has already been absorbed. This is the cheapest alternative for a “quick fix” without giving up high quality in most cases.
3. Ask for Discounts – Volume discounts for multiple seminar attendees are sometimes available by simply asking your vendor.
4. On-Site Training - Bringing an outside training program to your facility gives you more bang for the buck. Per student cost is less expensive than open enrollment seminars. The heavy costs of program development and internal salaries are avoided. Equipment-specific, need-specific or otherwise customized training is frequently made possible. More topics or disciplines are available at a lower cost than developing multiple internal programs on your own.
5. Cross Training – It is difficult to take an irresponsible person and make him responsible. It is easier to take a responsible person and teach him to do more and different things. Cut the fat and get the most out of your best employees by cross-training them.
6. Train the Trainer- Send someone to a training program who can bring it back and train others. The transfer will most likely be less than a direct transfer from a seasoned instructor specializing in training workers, but much of the knowledge can still be transferred. In some cases, the vendor may even be willing to sell the curriculum to assist you.
7. Get Help from Equipment Operators – Hold mini-training sessions or bring training on site to teach your operators and other employees to identify, or even troubleshoot and fix the simplest problems on their own. Whenever you can avoid getting maintenance staff involved, you save time and money.
8. Tuition Reimbursement - 89% of employees have access to reimbursed tuition programs, but only 12% take advantage of it. Encourage your employees to use the benefits they have.
And, other Ways to Stretch the Budget - Intra-company email discussions - Peer-to-peer coaching - “Fingertip” knowledge (e.g., Internet) - Join a Social Network (work specific blogs, chat rooms, Facebook) - Job Rotation - Knowledge Bases (searchable reference materials) - Memberships in professional trade associations - Subscribe to technical magazines and newsletters - Set up “self-learning” stations in your facility - Informal mentoring - Open agenda meetings to discuss the day’s or week’s work.

Third in Our Series: Training as a Solution for Tight Budgets

Training is a proactive solution to a reactive problem. Knowledge gained today saves the heavy costs of downtime tomorrow. This is the third article in our series of "Managing in the Economic Re-Set."

During the recession at the outset of this decade, high achieving companies like Southwest Airlines, Viacom & Dell not only survived, they thrived. All of them credit training as a being significant factor in their success during a period in which many of their competitors were just struggling to survive. Rather than cutting their training programs and budgets, they increased them.

Flexibility and agility are also key attributes for surviving a recession. Proper training is one of the quickest ways to improve the flexibility and agility of your employees. Relative to the maintenance function, this means that having a well-trained staff that can competently perform multiple skills in a variety of disciplines, is a key to success in your department.

BENEFITS OF TRAINING

Each year, ASTD (American Society for Training and Development, http://www.astd.org/ ) provides a State of the Industry Report, which demonstrates the clear link between learning and performance in successful enterprises. Staff who receive formal training can be much more productive than untrained colleagues who are working in the same role. The benefits of training go far beyond an individual just being able to do a better job. Training can be a recession solution!

Top 10 Employee Benefits –

-Improves Morale because Employees Feel Valued
-Boosts Confidence
-Provides Motivation
-Allows for Career Advancement
-Inspires Personal Satisfaction
-Enables a Willingness to Take on Greater Responsibility
-Improves Communication with More Experienced workers
-Sets the Tone for New Hires
-Prevents Unsafe Work Practices
-Reduces On the Job Injuries

Top 10 Manager Benefits

-Happier Employees (and it spreads!)
-More Self-Reliant Employees
-More Flexible Employees
-Fewer Fires to Put Out
-Improved Use of Your Time
-Lower Stress Levels
-Easier Budget Management
-Makes the Overall Job Easier
-More Likely to Maintain a “Hero” Status
-Improves Career Advancement

Top 10 Company Benefits

-Ensures the Future of the Company
-Less Down Time or Business Interruption
-Improved Life of Equipment
-Increased Accuracy and Efficiency
-Improved Capacity or Cycle Time
-Increased Innovation / New Perspectives
-Increased Sales / Revenues/Profits
-Minimizes Liability & Lowers Insurance Costs
-Enhances Company Image
-Lower Employee Turnover / Attracts New Employees5

5 Benefits for the Customer

-Improved Product Quality
-Improved Customer Service
-Lower Cost
-Greater Confidence
-Better Overall Satisfaction

Second in Our Series: Managing in the Economic Re-Set

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF DOWNTIME

The true cost of downtime is usually much more than is reported. This is due to the fact that downtime eventually weaves its negative effects throughout everything a company does. Consider the effect downtime has on the wear and tear of other properly operating equipment, the stress it causes to workers and management, the impact it has on employee morale, the product quality issues that may arise, complaints by customers, and the time and money lost because of all these extra circumstances. Downtime at your facility can even directly affect the local and national economy.

DETERMINING THE TRUE COST OF DOWNTIME

There are a variety of methods and calculators for determining downtime costs. In general however, you need to calculate:

-How many employee hours are lost to non-productivity while the system is down, and then convert those lost hours into dollars
-How many hours maintenance and other personnel spend repairing and getting the system back up and running, and convert those lost hours into dollars
-How many hours the facility or unproductive machinery is burning up energy and resources, and convert those lost hours into dollars
-How many hours management and administrative employees spend researching replacement parts, expediting orders or doing other “rush” related work, and convert those lost hours into dollars
-How many hours customer service or sales personnel will spend explaining the downtime to customers and the effect it will have on them, and covert those hours into dollars
-How many sales are lost due to the downtime, and convert those lost sales into dollars
-How many customers are lost due to the downtime, and convert the future value of those customers to dollars.
Add all these figures up and add 10 to 20% to account for the less visible or intangible damages associated with downtime like lower employee morale, stress related non-productivity, negative publicity, etc. and you arrive at a minimum cost of downtime.

AVOIDING DOWNTIME

Clearly, the “best defense” as they say, is a “good offense”. This means being “proactive”, and not “reactive”, in your maintenance responsibilities. Running a plant on a proactive maintenance basis makes your work much more efficient, productive, profitable, and less stressful. This is because being proactive is the best way to reduce and eliminate downtime.

Managing in the Economic Re-Set

We created an excellent paper a few years back about "The Hidden Value of Maintenance". What was true in good times is even more pertinent in tough times. Over the next few weeks, we'll re-visit some of those subjects that contribute to maintenance value in the workplace.

We'll look at the effect of tight budgets, the true cost of downtime, and managing and training around the obstacles. Times may be tough, but the reading is good. Your feedback is welcome!

TOP 8 MISTAKES IN MAINTENANCE WITH TIGHT BUDGETS

1. Change for the Sake of Change – When times are tough, people have a tendency to try and over-control the situation, often making it much worse. As a result, they make changes in hopes of improving a situation, but without really knowing that maybe what they are already doing is already the best thing. The changes they make often come with much more work for everyone that doesn’t produce much, but only gives them a sense of being able to say “we tried everything”. So don’t over react. If you had a maintenance strategy or processes you believed in when times were good, then how much more important is it to stay the course on that strategy when times are bad?
2. Not Focusing on the Fundamentals – Working on new projects means something else won’t get done. Make sure the basics are covered and the fundamentals of keeping your plant up and running are not neglected.
3. Cuts in the Training Budget – You might make some short term gains on a budget issue, but the cost will only show up somewhere else, and in much bigger numbers. “Turning-them-loose-training” (learning from your mistakes), “Follow “Old Joe Training” (learning bad habits from others), and “Band-aid-training” (sitting a worker in front of a boring video or webcast), while sometimes are good supplements, are poor substitutes for professional training from a live human being. The costs for taking these shortcuts will eventually surface.
4. Communication Neglect – People tend to keep their heads low when they are stressed. This causes poorer communication across all lines at a time when it is more important than ever to have clear and consistent communication to pull your company through.
5. Employee Neglect – If management is stressed, you can bet the employees are too. Forgetting to remind people of the good job they have done or acknowledging their accomplishments will only make the situation worse. Improve their morale by letting them know you appreciate their work.
6. Putting Off Small Repairs – The stories are endless about companies who “hold off” on minor repairs during a budget crisis so that they can concentrate the bigger issues, only to have their neglected small repair become the bigger issue.
7. witching Vendors to Save a Buck – If the lowest priced vendor wasn’t good for your company before, what makes you think they will be good for your company now? Trying to save money on a $1,000 component might sound like a good idea until you have to face a shut down for days or weeks at a time because it hasn’t been delivered. Stick with what has kept you up and running.
8. Laying off the Wrong People for the Wrong Reason – Don’t create a worse problem down the road than you already have. Maybe laying off the young novice to keep “Old Joe” around sounds like a good decision, but not if Old Joe decides to retire in the next year and leaves you high and dry. Likewise, laying off Old Joe because he makes the most money might help your short-term budget, but if he really can “do it all”, you probably need to figure out a way to keep him around. Be careful to analyze your needs and company polices before making a quick decision. Knowing your employees on a more personal level can help to clarify these decisions as well.