ORLANDO, Fla. — Most laundry operators would agree that the training and development of employees is important.
The challenge is to create a training and development program that is effective and benefits employees and the business.
Callie Rendon is the education instructional designer for the Association for Linen Management (ALM), and Jason Hartsell is vice president of operations for United Hospital Services (UHS) in Indianapolis.
They shared their training and development expertise during “Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes (oh my!): Creating Training Plans with Best Practice Frameworks,” a Clean Show educational session here.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT DEFINED
Rendon began by discussing the difference between training and development.
“I like to think of training as the foundation for workplace learning,” she says. “What does it mean for staff to be competent at their job? What does it mean for them to do their job safely, consistently and at speed?
“Development takes it a step further. Development is all about training and teaching your employees for tomorrow. What does it mean to grow into their current position? What does it mean for them to be great? And what does it mean for them to take on new challenges, new responsibilities and new roles for the future ahead?”
Rendon says the benefits of training are consistent and clear: It sets the stage for success.
“I like to think of that Brené Brown quote, ‘Clear is kind,’” she shares. “You’re telling people what success looks like on the job. What does it mean to be good? What does it mean to be competent? What do they need to do today? It also sets consistent standards and defines what quality and productivity looks like.”
Hartsell agrees that consistency in standards is important.
“Even when you’re training an entry-level employee on their first day on the job, if you don’t have clear standards on quality, on how they operate the equipment, what is an acceptable sheet, what is an acceptable bath towel, and you leave it to their interpretation, you’re going to be all over the place,” he points out.
“You’re going to have one employee who’s going to have their own standard, which is going to be completely different than what’s acceptable for you as a business.
“It’s important from day one that you start enforcing your quality and standards on the operation of the machine for safety reasons, the quality standards for the right product for your customers. That’s the basis of day one training, making sure that’s established.”
Hartsell has also found that it’s important to have one person do the training in a department.
“You don’t want to have a different trainer on a different day,” he says. “When you get that initial training, make sure it’s that same person to give the consistent message and consistent standard to the employee.”
When it comes to development, Rendon says there is a lot of data that shows having development opportunities in an organization not only builds employees up, but it’s also correlates with retention.
“There’s a lot of discussion about how development opportunities and workplace learning bring in employee morale, employee motivation, employee retention, and yet, this is a frequently missed opportunity across industries and across companies both big and small,” she points out.
“What’s interesting is that the LinkedIn Learning Report shows that about 93% of employees surveyed across industries indicated that if companies invested in them, they would invest in their companies.”
Check back Thursday for part 2 when an operator shares real-world experiences.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
