Throughout my career, I’ve had a lot of co-workers. For the most part, as technicians, we all generally wanted the same things when it came to our work experience.
- To increase our value by expanding our skillset, giving ourselves an opportunity for career growth.
- To be confident in our organization and know that the job we do is appreciated by those we work for and with.
Both of these are not only desirable for the technician but should be equally important to those overseeing the maintenance and reliability programs overall. There are a multitude of ways we can ensure these needs are met of course, but I can argue that at the top of that list is technical training. Below, I’ll list some of the most important reasons that training is critical in increasing the reliability of your equipment and will definitely help you #keepitrunning.
- Training increases skill level. This is probably the most obvious reason to offer consistent technical training. It helps technicians maintain their current skillset as well as add new skills to their knowledge base. Additionally, most maintenance crews consist of varying experience levels. Re-training experienced technicians is just as important as initially training newcomers.
- Training builds confidence in your staff. I’ve been on many jobsites where there were more questions than answers when it came to the task at hand. No one wanted to take the lead, because no one was confident in how to do the task properly. The result was a job that took twice as long as it should have and a lot of frustration along the way. Train your staff and help ensure that jobs are done efficiently.
- Training retains quality technicians. There is obviously more to retaining employees than training, but I’ve been told by more than a few people over the years that the lack of good training was a major factor in their career decisions. I’ve had similar experiences. An investment in training tells your technicians that you value their knowledge and skills and care about increasing them. If machine reliability is something your business takes seriously, investing in your maintenance program will pay off.
- Training will ensure that investments in equipment and tools aren’t wasted. I can’t imagine how much time has been wasted doing something the hard way because of a lack of confidence in how to use a new piece of equipment or tool. Even if there is some familiarity, a thorough understanding of all the functions and features of the tool will allow it to be used to its full potential.
At Ludeca, we believe in the importance of quality training. We offer a multitude of options when it comes to the tools and systems we sell. A tool is only as good as its user. Let’s #keepitrunning!
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Training by Tyler Wilson