I was reading a recent IndustryWeek article: Fighting the war for Talent the author, Jonathan Katz, discusses how "Manufacturers faced with Engineering and Skilled Labor shortages are taking matters into their own hands." It's not something new nor is it an idea that is that old. Many industries still use the Apprenticeship as a way of developing employee talent homegrown employees or newly added talent. In an era of "At-will Employment"; outsourced Human Resources, and machine screened resumes, some basic rules still apply:
- Hire People who can replace you someday, (Tomorrow, 1 Year, 5 Years).
- Hire Good People (desire and willingness to learn, works well with others, great 360 degree recommendations)
- Interview lots of candidates not just the perfect fit on paper. The best talent is sometimes on the edges of your job description.
- Let your teams have a say over who will join their group / work team.
- Apprenticeships do work
In several organizations I've managed we had production, technician, purchasing, and engineering personnel give tours to potential employees / candidates. A tour of the office or plant floor with the candidate as a part of the interviewing process always revealed interesting feedback that we wouldn't have discovered until after the candidate was hired. Our employees felt like they owned the process of bringing on a new team member, they didn't want them to fail so they trained them right. We didn't call it apprenticeships but in many ways it provided the same benefits.
I believe that Apprenticeships offer opportunities to train employees in one of the most effective ways utilizing as many senses as possible. Our senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste) help to lock in our knowledge to recall experiences more vividly and this definitely applies to the apprentice in a manufacturing environment and to all apprenticeships. If the current economy is creating a place for apprenticeships in Manufacturing and other areas of our economy, I for one am all for it.
For more information checkout the Apprenticeship article on Wikipedia.org
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