Small firms awarded for training efforts

The challenges of investing in employee training are greater for a small business than for larger organizations.

Small employers seldom have the spare capacity to research, develop and monitor training opportunities. People working at small workplaces are rarely able to take time away from their desks or work-stations, even if spending that time to learn new skills can yield improvements in the long run.

And yet, in the national perspective, the role of small business in skills development is too important to ignore.

“Given that Canada, more so than the United States or many other economies, depends on small businesses, this is a big issue in the country,” said Michael Bloom, director of education and learning at the Conference Board of Canada.

In an effort to promote and showcase the value of skills development, the Conference Board of Canada is teaming up with RBC Financial Group to offer the National Award for Small Business Skills Development. The objective is to recognize small businesses that develop employee skills in ways that contribute to overall business growth. A $5,000 cash prize will go out to the winner, to be presented at the Conference Board’s 2005 Workplace Education and Learning Conference in December.

Bloom said judges are particularly interested in training programs that develop employees’ capacity to be innovative and entrepreneurial. They’re also interested in training on essential skills such as literacy, numeracy and the ability to work with others. That’s because those are “the foundation for the development of people that will allow them to gain job-specific skills and technical skills that support high productivity.”

Bloom said in a small business, there’s a lot of overlap between innovation and essential skills — or what Bloom calls employability skills.

“Part of innovation in a small business is having the awareness that you can do something or having the confidence to think of something and speak up. It’s that sense of self-confidence that you can work in a team and make a contribution even though you’re not the boss — that’s the overlap with employability skills,” said Bloom.

The award is open until June 22 and employers with fewer than 100 employees are eligible. A winner will be announced in August.

For an example of an innovative training program, Bloom pointed to the Chemical Process Operator program developed by National Silicates, a Toronto chemical company employing around 90 people.

Lynda Ryder, director of employee relations, said the company pooled resources together with four other chemical companies when it became apparent to recruiters in the industry that the right skills just aren’t out there.

“When I first started here we had 60 operators, and we have 20 now,” said Ryder. Although computers have made some work easier, business conditions today require people to be able to work in different areas and on different machines in the plant operation.

The program, made up of 90 CD-ROM modules that take 6,000 to 7,200 hours to complete, was designed to equip learners with skills in various tasks at the plant. Course content covers a range of skills, from basic literacy, basic math and basic chemistry, through to technical processes such as filtration and instrument control.

Six employees have completed the program since its start in 1995.

Ryder said training costs included the money it took to build a quiet training room and to equip it with a computer station, as well as overtime pay for employees to stay after hours to train.

But the gains include “zero voluntary turnover, reduced overtime hours, reduced outside contractor hours, reduced plant downtime. Our employees are more versatile. We have improved efficiency, improved productivity, improved safety and improved morale. I think that covers the gamut,” said Ryder.

“It’s a great model. Other industry sectors that are facing a shortage could certainly do something like this.”

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