Most of us associated with plant operations and maintenance were excited about learning to make and fix things while we were in school. But that rarely seems to happen in today’s schools. Basically, our model was learning by doing. More accurately, it was probably the learning by-doing-something-I-could-use model. Most adults learn that way well beyond their school years.
THE CONUNDRUM
For years prior to the COVID-19 crisis, there had been a growing skills gap in our workplace, especially when we looked at jobs in manufacturing, transportation, utilities, and construction—jobs that require hands-on or applied technical skills and knowledge. And, looking beyond the stark reality of today’s horrific unemployment numbers, you can bet that once the economy begins coming back, the industrial arena will again be dealing with skills gaps. The conundrum for us to ponder now is how to teach the next generation (Next Gen) to work. Many were already in the workplace or in school before the coronavirus pandemic began taking its toll. Going forward, as in the past, it only makes sense that education and training for all of their jobs and careers be based on proven applied-learning models.
When we delegate a student’s education exclusively to schools, we are primarily teaching students how to become even more educated. It’s when our schools adopt applied-learning models that the education becomes more relevant to the world in which we live.
We often hear that experience is the best teacher. To be meaningful, the “experience” cannot be merely random, independent, or accidental. Experiential learning must be purposeful, applied to specific outcomes, goals, or an objective. Let’s explore some creative fast-track applied learning models for today’s hands-on workplace and our Next-Gen workforce.
1. TEACHER BECOMES MENTOR
If experience is the best teacher, then the teacher must first master the art of becoming a mentor. Life-altering learning occurs when real-world-of-work experiences are included in the teaching process and when students learn by applying new knowledge to specific projects.
A mentor may not necessarily be an educator or someone with a formal education. What mentors have to offer are their life experiences. It’s when those experiences are aligned with the student’s learning objectives and supported by a project with defined and observable outcomes that the mentoring form of applied learning truly works.
2. WORKPLACE MENTORS
Imagine applied learning in today’s workplace. Imagine how effective learning could be if we were to harness the experiences of some of our most skilled and knowledgeable employees as one-on-one teachers, coaches, mentors.
Imagine how much could be learned when new skills and knowledge are applied immediately on the job. Imagine how the performance of our plants would improve if people learned what is needed on the job to keep the plant running efficiently and cost effectively.
What we would be imagining is at the heart of the apprenticeship model of learning, not necessarily the modern-day model with governmental oversight and certification requirements. Rather, it’s an apprenticeship program within the walls of your plant—a proven old-world model of a mentor and protégé.
3. SCHOOL PROGRAMS (INDUSTRIAL CURRICULUM)
A growing number of schools, especially two-year community colleges and post-secondary technical colleges, have expanded their offerings to include industrial and manufacturing-related courses of study. Some of this falls under the headings of “Industrial Maintenance (Mechanics) Technician” programs, either two-year associate degree or less academically intensive one-year certificate programs. While some of these programs are specifically targeting advanced manufacturing, industrial maintenance, or industrial mechanics, it’s the courses and subject matter that really count, not the title of the degree program.
Ideally, the courses and content were designed to address the specific needs of companies in the local service area with an active advisory committee. Thus, students who graduate from such programs should be immediately employable in local industry. (Look at the school’s graduate and employment records to determine the effectiveness of the education.) Here, though, is where “mentoring” comes in. The teachers in these educational programs have to know their stuff, so the speak. They must have credibility with local industry, be able to demonstrate what their own industrial experience has taught them and serve as true mentors to students – much more that a teacher.
Interestingly, industrial-education teachers today may NOT be degreed teachers. They may NOT have prior classroom or teaching experience. What they DO have, however, are invaluable experiences to pass on to the next-gen industrial employees.
Here is another “mentoring” opportunity for the community-college faculty and staff. Mentor these industrial teachers. Help them learn how to organize their course content, how to teach, how to coach, how to evaluate, how to work in an educational setting vs. an industrial setting. The “four-step method of instruction” has served us well over the years: preparation, presentation, application, evaluation.
By engaging semi-retired or retired industrial mechanics and technicians I’m afraid the classes would tend toward the academics of industrial work, taught from and book, an OEM manual, and other technical documents. While community colleges are always recruiting students, they cannot overlook the need to recruit teachers, mentors, and other faculty personnel with invaluable industrial experience to pass along.
In decades gone by, I served on a community college’s technical-education faculty. My degrees are in teacher education and administration. I also served as a director of the institution’s technical division, where I hired and coached experienced industrial employees (and retirees) to serve as part-time faculty. I learned 1) that not everybody can teach; and 2) that not everyone who can teach knows how to demonstrate and teach a skill. A highly-experience industrial person with excellent communications and interpersonal skills is a solid foundation to build on
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4. INTERNSHIPS OR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION (CO-OP) PROGRAMS
Students enrolled in industrial programs at a community technical college should get a taste of the real world to apply what they are learning in an industrial environment. These internship or co-op programs allow students to return to the college classroom/shop and share their learning with others, not to mention help them apply their what they’ve learned to new opportunities in the classroom. These students may be a future employee of the company, or another company after graduating. The in-plant applied learning experience is an invaluable way to motivate the next-gen employee of the future to stick with the program.
An internship of co-op program also puts the pressure on the company to assure that the student intern is assigned a “qualified” mentor to serve as their coach. The local college should commit to helping the assigned mentors become high-quality educational mentors with some initial training and on-going coaching.
Beyond in-plant learning with a company mentor, it’s crucial to expose the student to the scope of the industrial job: what we do here, how work gets done, what are the safety rules, how people work together, etc. The in-plant applied learning must also include observing typical industrial tasks being performed, assisting with some of the tasks, understanding why tasks are performed the way they are.
CALL TO ACTION
The next generation of industrial employees is already here. We know who and where they are. Given the fact that the economy will ultimately come back, and even non-essential operations will eventually be up and running again, what can we do help ensure these individuals will be productive employees in our line of work? With social distancing the norm for the foreseeable future, and many communities and regions under shelter-in-place or lock-down directives, most of the following activities will need to be done through phone calls, emails, texts, and/or “virtual” meetings for now, and kick off or continue in person later.
- Connect with your local community college or technical college. Learn what it has to offer your company and others in the community, especially where workforce shortages have been growing.
- Volunteer to serve on the college’s technical advisory committee to help shape their course content to the needs of local industry.
- Recruit prospective “mentors” from your company to serve as in-plant applied learning mentors for student interns.
- Recruit highly skilled semi-retired or retired former employees to consider teaching at the local college.
- Promote industrial internship and cooperative-education arrangements for students at the local college. Arrange for PAID internships to help make their experience worthwhile and show that the company is willing to invest in the student’s education.
- Identify and encourage employees in your own company to pursue education and skills training at the local college with an internship in your plant. The best employees of the future may already be working for you.TRR
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bob Williamson is a long-time contributor to the people-side of the world-class-maintenance and manufacturing body of knowledge across dozens of industry types. His background in maintenance, machine and tool design, and teaching has positioned his work with over 500 companies and plants, facilities, and equipment-oriented organizations. Contact him directly at 512-800-6031 or bwilliamson@theramreview.com.
Tags: reliability, availability, maintenance, RAM, workforce issues, skilled trades
