A new way to train

“We’re changing the date of our training.”

“Great! When?”

“Thursday; it’s supposed to be stormy all day.”

This sample exchange reflects the roofing industry’s desire to schedule training sessions on inclement weather days.

In an industry that relies on good weather to move production forward, it makes sense to leverage every available day on the job. But Mother Nature does not always schedule inclement days according to training timetables.

Fortunately, if your company is practicing intentional training, it doesn’t need a rainy day.

Rain-day training

According to weather-and-climate.com, Colorado experiences 93 rainy days per year. Las Vegas experiences 26 days, and Chicago has 133 days. Florida boasts daily deluges but has few all-day rains.

The problem with relying on a rain-day training approach is rain days are irregular and, depending on your geographic location, infrequent. Many contractors do not have training plans that promote maximum effectiveness when rain does come, and rain days can never allow for a full, intentional training plan.

It also is challenging to quantify what comprises a rain day. If it will probably only rain for two hours or there will be mist but not actual rain, are these days to come to the office for training?

With so many variables, it is difficult to count on productive periods of time during which training is possible. If you only train on rain days, it is possible for training to get punted continuously. And without a specific training requirement, such as a certification exam, it is possible training might not occur at all when days are adequate for roofing work.

When you do determine inclement weather meets the bar for a training day, are you prepared? Or are you asking a foreman or safety director to cobble something together at the last minute?

It is possible to have an effective plan if the training has been prepared ahead of time and can be set up on short notice. This means someone needs to invest in advance preparation: mockups and props need to be ready, tools and materials have to be collected, handouts must be printed and videos should be downloaded. Not all training sessions require these items, but preparation is critical to good training.

In my introduction, a trainer is changing the day of a class to a rain day. If the training was a CERTA class, which is a daylong class to certify installers regarding propane torch safety, shifting the prepared course to a day that works better for the company is an appropriate use of a rain day.

But without preparation and intention, training sessions may devolve into a room full of bored employees staring at a video screen, listening to someone read from a PowerPoint presentation or watching someone demonstrate a skill because there aren’t enough materials for hands-on practice.

Intentional training

Intentional training avoids such drudgery and aims for good training. Intentional training is a deliberate approach to outcome-directed learning for a specific purpose.

There are several reasons why a company must conduct training, including the following:

• To meet compliance requirements from the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration, equipment manufacturers, insurance carriers or certification bodies
• Company tradition, such as holding a training event every year in conjunction with a company outing
• To make sure everyone is “on the same page”
• Bid documents that include verbiage about regular training
• Customer requirements

These are legitimate reasons to train, but the singular purpose of training is to change behavior by empowering people with knowledge and skills. Ideally, training is the solution to identified behavior deficiencies of otherwise capable and willing people.

Before training, three things should be established:

1. Skills gap or behavior deficiency. In roofing, this means an installer may not be installing one or more aspects of a roof system correctly, working according to company safety standards or communicating effectively with members of the crew or company.
2. Capability. This does not mean an employee needs to be a superstar, but there is reason to believe teaching him or her a skill will be successful. Sometimes an employer cannot know whether a person is capable until he or she is trained, but if it becomes evident an employee is incapable of learning the new skill, there is no point in training.
3. Willingness to learn. Employers can identify unwillingness in their middle- and long-term employees, and many contractors have allowed these employees to bow out of learning new skills. Employers need to decide what skills are required of their employees, and it must be understood unwillingness is a discipline issue not a training issue. Forcing an unwilling employee into training will diminish the effectiveness of the experience for everyone involved.

Closing skills gaps

Intentional training means foremen or other leaders who observe employees with an eye toward training needs. Ideally, ongoing contact will inform a foreman or another observer whether an employee’s skills can benefit from training assuming the employee is willing and able to learn.

Foremen and employers also need to be prepared to address employees with distinct skills gaps—the solution to which usually requires intentional, personalized training and not one-size-fits-all sessions.

Next, a skilled employee with good communication skills and patience to work with employees one-on-one or in small groups should be designated a trainer. Roofing companies are full of employees with excellent skills, but the number of people who also have the temperament of a trainer is fewer.

Trainers need to be resourced with mockups, materials, tools and equipment, and time. Intentional training does not need to take a long time, but it does need to be resourced and focused.

Intentional trainers

Identifying and resourcing a trainer is important. An ideal trainer is patient, personable and capable in the skills he or she will need to teach.

Each training session should have identifiable outcomes—actions trainees will be able to demonstrate by the conclusion of the session. The person may feel confident creating his or her own training plans but likely would benefit from existing resources.

NRCA has created training plans for several roof systems:

• Architectural metal
• Asphalt shingle
• Clay and concrete tile
• Single-ply: EPDM and thermoplastic

Each system contains about 30 hands-on training plans including specific objectives; a list of tools, materials and equipment necessary for each lesson; and detailed instructions for the trainer and participants.

The plans follow the same format, encouraging trainers to build rapport, provide thorough explanations, allow plenty of time and space for participants to practice and make mistakes, and review efforts encouragingly.

One training session alone may not close a skills gap, but there should be identifiable improvements in employee behavior. If improvements are not noticed, it is important to assess a trainer’s approach along with trainees’ skills.

When this practice is normalized and employees learn meeting with a trainer is an opportunity not a punishment, they realize there is a system available to them that allows them to improve. This can feed directly into a career path tool employees can voluntarily take advantage of to learn new skills to help them advance.

One of the first instructions included in NRCA’s hands-on training plans is to build rapport with trainees. For intentional training to take hold, a good trainer sets the stage for trainees to willingly expose their shortcomings.

The singular purpose of training is to change behavior by empowering people with knowledge and skills.

Intentional trainers leverage mistakes as training tools; they don’t shame trainees for making mistakes but lean into them. Trainers who are not connecting with their trainees will have a difficult time doing this in an empowering manner.

Companywide training

Individualized, intentional training sessions will result in the best behavior changes, but large-group and companywide training sessions also offer excellent opportunities to be intentional with training. For example, when all employees need to hear consistent messaging such as introducing a new system or technology, discussing policies or company practices, a large-group setting works well.

When you end up with a large group of employees in the shop for training as a result of a rain day, you are paying dividends on your company’s retention efforts if the day is planned ahead of time—a valuable component of your company’s intentional training efforts.

It’s no accident

Intentional learning means having a purpose behind what is being taught. In a learning environment, it is outcome-directed and deliberate training for improvement. No matter the subject or skills being taught, an intentional training approach is crucial for personal and professional growth and a skilled workforce.

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