Handling
difficult employees, using training programs, and complying with
labour laws
If you want your business to grow you must train your employees.
Training is necessary both to induct new employees, and to help
your existing ones upgrade their skills. Good training will help
your workers to become more productive. Further, by training your
employees, you are encouraging them to stay with you.
Training
may take the form of:
- Induction
training, when you train someone to do a job he has
not done before.
- Remedial
training, where you attempt to correct errors or mistakes
made by workers in a particular job; and
- Development
training, where you train an employee to do his job
better and faster, but with safety rules in mind.
The
need for induction training is obvious. When you employ a
new worker, he will work well only after you have shown him what
he has to do, and how. There is room for much more remedial
training in most countries, especially developing ones. Many
periodic errors and oversights appear in the work of unskilled
and semi-skilled workers, who, in many African countries are the
poorly educated. Ignorance or prejudice then often makes the White
boss think that this is due to design, or sloth, and the worker
is then paid off. More often than not, remedial training could
save the situation. Improvement training is becoming more
and more important as the pace of technological changes quickens.
New methods; new markets; and the computer. All these things call
for new skills, which can be obtained only by training. We recommend
to our clients that they read the book, "What Managment Is."
Check
our online book store.
Whatever the type of training you are using, you must ensure that
you do it in the fastest and easiest way. Take time to plan
your training. During the Second World War the Training
Within Industry Program of the U.S. Government had the task
of training millions of people to do the jobs of men who had gone
abroad to fight. The training program was based on the latest
scientific knowledge about, how people learn, and succeed spectacularly.
The procedure outlined below s is based on that program, and is
successfully used by a number of South African mines and chain
stores. The following two sections give you the core techniques.
- Get
ready to instruct. Here are four "get ready"
points it would be well to take care of before the new worker
appears for instruction.
- Have
a timetable showing how much skill you expect him to
have and how soon. Answer to yourself this statement, "Employee
should be able to do what job and do it well by what date."
- Break
down the job. You know that there is one standard way
to do every job. You know too that there are "key point"
in every operation that make or break it. There is an easy,
quick way to get the job done clearly outlined in your own
mind. Fill out a "Break down Sheet" for each of
your operations. It only takes three to five minutes. This
is for you own use. It is not to be given to the worker.
- Have
everything ready. Be sure you have the right equipment,
materials, and tools.
- Have
the work place properly arranged. Have it just as the
worker will be expected to keep it. When you have everything
right, the worker is more likely to follow the same pattern
Apart
from the above rules, which apply to all types of training, you
should also remember that there are various situations
in which you can do training.
-
On-the-job
training is the most usual method. It requires a great deal
of the supervisor's time, but does not take the employee away
from the job into a classroom. Its main advantage is that the
worker produces while he is training. One disadvantage is that
it tends to be haphazard because the supervisor has to attend
to his own job as well while he is training the new man, so
that the training may not be orderly or comprehensive. Another
disadvantage is that on-the-job training may lead to costly
production errors and interruptions, if the trainee forms part
of a production team while being trained.
Still,
the method is useful for training new employees whose training
would not take more than a few days at most, or where the skills
to be taught involve a few days at most, or where the skills
to be taught are simple and acquired easily. You may also use
it to retrain present employees from doing one job to doing
another that is very similar. Finally, on-the-job training can
help you cut out or decrease the continuous repetition of certain
mistakes.
Handling
problems with difficult employees, who are resistant to being
trained or retrained? Our partner "Bacal & Associates"
have a range of excellent products, such as books, guides,
seminars, and training programmes, with special reference
to "Defusing Hostile Customers" and "Conflict Prevention
in the Workplace", plus more important issues. Check this
site for more information and free services, and you
will find it makes managing a small business that much easier.Buy
Conflict Prevention In The Workplace - The Book (Electronic
Delivery) or
Buy
Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook - Electronic Version
-
Group
training by means of discussions, lectures, and role-playing
are especially useful when you introduce a new machine, or
a new method. Also when you wish to teach sales techniques
{and you can then use role-playing for practice purposes},
or; when you wish to develop high morale and a strong team
spirit.
Use
factory representatives to lecture you salesmen on the products
they sell. Invite instructors from makers of office machinery
to teach your staff how to use, maintain, and repair their
equipment. Training films,videos and programs are also available,
visit this website for details about obtaining material to
use and help your staff to become qualified.
-
Outside
training takes the form of sending your workers to follow
formal courses run by outside organizations. Many large
companies enroll their employees in courses at universities,
business schools, and technical colleges. There is no reason
why the small businessman should not follow suit. Even if
you don't pay the full cost of the courses, you may still
encourage your employees by paying part of the costs, or
by offering salary increases in recognition of exams passed,
especially if your employee has to undetake study in his
own time. In this case, online or study at home programs
are ideal, and our associate Delamere
Institute of Online Learning offers a wide range of
almost 400 different courses to chose from.
As
your company becomes larger you will also have to think about
training managers. The training of people who can help you manage
your business is called management development. The basic rule
of management development, is that all development is self-development.
The same rule applies in your treatment of your managers, as well
as in their treatment of their subordinates. Every manager has
the opportunity to encourage self-development, or to stifle it,
to direct a man's efforts, or to misdirect them. Management development
techniques include a number of methods. In our office library
is a publication called "Managing" by
Harold Geneen, Published by Grafton Books, and is compulsory
reading to all our staff. To get a copy, contact
us.
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Job-centered
training. The fundamental approach here is that of managerial
experience. The manager learns to manage by managing. But job
centered training must be consciously directed before it becomes
valuable. You may, for example, call in a manager trainee and
outline to him a problem that he has, to review his various
approaches, and ask him to suggest courses of action. Or you
may ask him to describe to you a problem that he has, to review
his various options, and to give you a convincing argument in
favor of the one he has opted for. If you want to develop future
managers, you must get them to think about their jobs. And thinking
means: (a) making sure they have all the facts; (b) outlining
the various possible courses of action; (c) studying their respective
advantages and disadvantages; and (d) coming to a reasoned conclusion.
And don't forget to encourage them to use the "Managers
Toolbox"
-
Job
rotation is an attempt to broaden the manager's experience
by shifting him periodically from one job to another, on the
assumption that each job will present a new challenge and learning
experience. The promotion and transfer policy of many large
companies is based on the desire to move people into new experience
situations, as is shown by the active job switching policies
of South Africa's large finance and insurance companies. This
is a sound policy for the smaller businessman too, provided
that your business is already large enough to offer novel experiences
for various managers in training, You should remember, however,
not to overdo this. If you switch a man into a new position
before he has fully absorbed his previous one, you are likely
to end up with a superficial "jack-of-all-trades."
One very important area of training is related to regulations
laid down by the Government Department of Employment, and even
small businesses are subject to these rules and regulations.
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Online
Courses in Environmental, Health & Safety - An updated
series of home study courses have recently been released
by our associate Delamere
Institute of Online Learning covering these vital areas
if environmental issues related to health and safety.
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OSHA
(Occupational Safety & Health Administration) 8-Hour "Hazwoper"
Refresher Course (Ref: MTC 2100) The goal of this
OSHA mandated training is to provide personnel involved
with the clean up of hazardous waste sites the knowledge
to safely work in a hazardous environment. This course
is intended to assist in satisfying the annual training
requirement of the "Hazardous Waste Operations
and Emergency Response" (HAZWOPER) rules.
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DOT (Department of Transportation) Hazardous Materials
Transportation Course (Ref:MTC 2101) This course
covers the fundamentals of shipping hazardous materials.
Our 10-step approach encompasses all of the activities,
which must be addressed when preparing a hazardous material
for shipment The course meets the requirements for training
as specified in 49 CFR 172 Subpart H, including
testing of participants. This course does not cover driver
training as required for each HAZMAT employee who will
operate a motor vehicle.
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Hazardous Waste Management and Shipping for Environmental
Professionals (Ref:MTC 2103) This course includes
a history and overview of hazardous waste management laws
and regulations, a guide to complying with the myriad
of hazardous waste regulations including how to recognize
hazardous wastes, how to manage waste correctly on site,
how to properly select, label and mark waste containers,
how to prepare shipments for transport to treatment, storage
and disposal facilities, and how to properly keep records
for compliance and enforcement. In addition, this course
includes a discussion of the DOT's regulations for shipping
supplies, equipment and samples related to hazardous waste
site investigations and remediation activities.
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To review the full contents of the above courses and for
more details go to the "Online Courses Page" click
here and select the section in the Course catalog
"Environmental, Health & Safety." For more
details click
here
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