CHICAGO — Employee professional development is key in today’s business environment.
It keeps workers up to date on industry trends, technology, processes, and more—which is a plus for the business.
Professional development also benefits employees with increased job satisfaction—and employees who engage in training are more likely to stay with their current employers.
In the most recent American Laundry News Your Views survey, when asked how important professional development is for laundry employees, 100% of respondents said, “Very important.”
More than 33% of operators indicate that their employees ask about professional development opportunities “often.” Half of the survey takers say employees enquire “sometimes,” and only 16.7% indicate that their employees never ask.
What types of professional development are employees asking about? Responses include:
- Laundry technology related.
- HR laws, safety, computer skills, finance
- Technology and training in repairing equipment.
- Mainly about chemicals and techniques.
- Technical skills.
- Safety.
More than 80% of laundry operators who took the survey indicate that their operations offer professional development opportunities. Only 16.7% don’t offer such opportunities.
When asked “What opportunities does your laundry offer? (Check all that apply),” those operators whose laundries do offer training indicated:
- Mentoring, 14.3%
- On-site sessions, 19.0%
- Online training, 9.5%
- Classes through local institutions, 14.3%
- Off-site sessions/training, 19.0%
- Vendor training sessions, 14.3%
- Other (please describe), 4.8%
Examples from the “other” category include using www.laundryeducation.com and training on laundry optimization techniques.
When respondents whose operations don’t offer development opportunities were asked what prevents them from doing so, one survey taker writes, “The training available today is nothing like what was offered over 20 years ago.”
Further thoughts on laundry employee professional development from respondents include:
- Without education, there cannot be development.
- My development started with Milnor service schools then Huebsch originators.
- It is extremely important to keep up with development.
- It’s a big subject to describe. In short, regular training pertains to 1) machine knowledge, 2) chemical knowledge, 3) operation standardization, 4) employee motivation, 5) laundry unit optimization for higher productivity, 6) maintenance tools and skills for lower breakdown time, and 7) textile knowledge.
- Would like help.
While the Your Views survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific. Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100%.
Subscribers to American Laundry News e-mails are invited to take the industry survey anonymously online each quarter. All managers and administrators of institutional/OPL, cooperative, commercial and industrial laundries are encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define operator opinions and identify industry trends.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
