News & Articles

Human Resource Management
Published in the Rochester Business Journal
January 27, 2006
© 2006 HR Works, Inc.

Local employers place priority on workforce development

By Candace Walters

Maximizing the value that employees deliver requires that companies hire the best people, clarify performance expectations, and ensure ongoing employee development.

A recent report by the American Society for Training & Development found that, in 2004, employers devoted an average of 32 hours of training per employee, up 23 percent from the previous year. They spent $955 per employee on employee training in 2004, up 16 percent over the previous year.

Anecdotal evidence from Rochester-area employers suggest that similar trends are playing out locally, as companies of all sizes are emphasizing workforce development in 2006.

What do organizations hope to achieve through employee development, and what kind of training do they consider most important?

For most, workforce development is a key part of an organization’s strategic planning and core values. Rarely do companies simply allot a certain number of hours and dollars to training; instead, learning initiatives are expected to support critical organizational objectives.

“Development of our employees is one of our core values, and we will continue our development initiatives in 2006,” says David Drake, vice president of human resources for Baldwin-Richardson Foods Co. Examples include on-site APICS certification training for several employees, strategic purchasing for the procurement team, innovation skills and ongoing management development. (APICS training is designed for managers who need to increase their knowledge of diverse business functions to reach company goals, according to the Association for Operations Management.)

At the YMCA of Greater Rochester as well, employee development is viewed as essential, particularly as the organization executes a multifaceted expansion plan.

“We want to ensure that our employees have the skills and competencies necessary for success in the workplace in the 21st century,” says Fernán Cepero, vice president of human resources. The Y has launched several expansion initiatives and will open of a new facility in Penfield this year.

Industry-specific training

Respondents to the ASTD survey cited “profession- or industry-specific” content as the highest priority for training. At Baldwin-Richardson, that involves technical food-related programs and a chef certification program, Drake says.

At WXXI Public Broadcasting, “keeping up with technology is key to the success of our organization,” says Fran Lipani, human resources manager.

And at Fairport’s CooperVision Inc., acquisition and expansion activity is driving the need for increased workforce development efforts. As CooperVision’s parent integrates Ocular Sciences Inc., a California-based contact-lens maker, and builds an $8 million consolidated U.S. distribution center in Henrietta, “we are finding the need to upgrade skills and add resources,” says Janice Jones, director of human resources. HR professionals at CooperVision are busy integrating policies, processes, benefits and compensation structures, and planning to hire some 200 employees for the Henrietta plant, bringing Rochester-area employment to about 1,200.

Responding to employees and customers

In some organizations, the push for training comes as a direct result of employee surveys.

“When we recently asked employees what benefits they were most interested in,” says Leslie Zornow, senior vice president of Fairport Savings Bank, “training was near the top of the list.”

The current training emphasis at St. Ann’s Community grew out of customer surveys and employee feedback, says Patricia Thummel, vice president of human resources.

St. Ann’s strives to provide the best quality of care, and to be both a provider and an employer of choice. Toward those ends, St. Ann’s conducts annual resident satisfaction surveys and focus groups, and budgets for training to address any issues that emerge.

Customer-service training for employees led to a finding that employees wanted more support from their supervisors. In early February 2005, St. Ann’s conducted an 180-degree survey to benchmark the competencies demonstrated by 70 managers and supervisors, including their relationships with employees.

St. Ann’s then designed an in-house training program for those supervisors. One year later, another 180-degree survey will be conducted to determine progress. The training will continue through 2006, with regular readings. group discussions and steps taken to achieve specific customer-service objectives.

The focus on management development at St. Ann’s, Baldwin Richardson and other local organizations also mirrors ASTD results. Survey respondents cited this as the second-most important content for training activities.

Finding affordable options

To achieve the optimum return on their training investment, organizations seek effective, affordable programs.

To prepare employees to successfully execute the YMCA’s plans, the organization plans to pursue a new state training grant. Beginning this year, the Building Skills in New York State (BUSINYS) #37-L program will use federal Workforce Investment Act funds to support employer strategies for upgrading the skills of employed workers so that employees may enjoy career growth and higher wages.

Last year, the YMCA received $70,000 under the state's #32-I grant and used that to equip employees to successfully carry out the organization’s expansion plans.

WXXI has collaborated with public stations statewide on a number of training initiatives, Lipani says. “Pooling our resources has given us the opportunity to afford more training that is specifically targeted to our industry's needs.”

Similarly, Fairport Savings Bank “is a small business with limited resources for training,” Zornow says. “We are using a combination of external and internal training sources. We ask both the employees and their supervisors what their training needs are and look for resources (that will deliver the most value).

“We also use internal resources to do training,” Zornow adds. One administrative assistant developed a bank-wide training program in Microsoft Outlook. “We also hold a monthly training session called FSB University where we discuss a wide variety of topics including sales skills, compliance and technology.”

In addition, the bank has doubled its tuition reimbursement benefit. “We value education that employees can get outside the workplace,” she says. “But we found that very few were taking advantage of the tuition reimbursement program. We hope the richer benefit will encourage more employees to investigate higher education opportunities.”

Complying with mandates and minimizing liability

In every industry, proactive employers conduct periodic training to ensure compliance with new and existing government mandates and legal precedents. Requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 have spurred publicly held companies like CooperVision to upgrade the skills of their finance employees.

For organizations of all types, conducting regular HR compliance training in proper interview and discipline techniques, avoiding harassment, and other supervisory skills go a long way toward minimizing legal liability and warding off Department of Labor scrutiny.

Conclusion

In this highly competitive and rapidly changing marketplace, workforce development has never been more important, and the costs of training are considered an essential part of doing business.

Human resource leaders in organizations are insisting that training deliver a measurable return on investment. The best workforce development programs are those that advance an organization’s strategic imperatives and culture, clarify expectations, and improve the bottom line.

Candace Walters is president and CEO of HR Works, Inc., an HR management outsourcing and consulting firm serving more than 600 clients in the Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse and Baltimore/Washington areas. HR Works provides HR Department outsourcing, part-time and interim HR managers, affirmative action plans, HR*Stars recruitment services, legally reviewed employee handbooks and supervisor manuals, compensation programs, training and more. To offer comments, write walters@hrworks-inc.com

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