Workforce development is a critical piece of the capital project puzzle. Online learning, mobile device availability and traditional training methods give organizations a buffet of workforce development choices. As a result, workforce development, competency levels and work practices across industry vary widely. Even within single organizations, some facilities have stellar performance while others struggle to achieve key performance indicators. When considering contributing factors, inconsistency and lack of standardization stand out as items that can be readily addressed with noteworthy success. This type of success is essential for large capital projects where a new workforce is learning new equipment, new tasks and new job requirements. Developing a new workforce is usually accomplished through a greenfield effort to build a program from the ground up, requiring significant time and energy and resulting in the risk of bottlenecks and delays. The risk can be minimized through the use of standardized processes and materials, resulting in a fast track to a qualified, competent workforce. Standardization has its place in existing facilities as well. In addition to the workforce development needs associated with capital projects, consider the challenges of integrating new acquisitions, replacing a rapidly graying workforce or adjusting workforce levels to meet changing market conditions. Standardized processes implemented locally at new or existing facilities provide the following benefits:
- Improve quality by reducing errors and increasing workforce knowledge and skills.
- Enhance safety through risk reduction by better recognition of hazards and realization of consequences of deviating from approved practices.
- Expedite results by speeding up overall time to qualification.
Standardized workforce development processes help achieve lean process improvement by maximizing value of improved human capital performance and minimizing the time required to achieve qualification. Additionally, standardization can be seen as a key element of operational excellence throughout an organization by improving overall efficiency and effectiveness.
Figure 1 shows a path to standardization that includes steps to accomplish the following:
- Provide employee involvement and ownership, leadership commitment and buy-in across the entire organization through a governing plan with stages for development, implementation and evaluation of the program.
- Identify best practices across the business; template processes and procedures; create common/core elements for consistent implementation, such as nomenclature, program-level policies and job descriptions; and review and accept standardized practices on a global basis.
- Rapidly implement programs by customizing standardized templates and practices on a local basis for existing facilities, new and expanded facilities, and acquired facilities or business units.
- Incorporate new best practices as they are identified or lessons are learned, providing continuous quality improvement of the standardized programs at every level.
Organizations implementing standardized workforce development programs across multiple sites reap the benefits of sharing in best practices, utilizing lessons learned and implementing continuous improvement networks. The benefits have been realized through reduction in initial qualification time by as much as 40 percent and through achievement of facility start-up below budget and ahead of schedule, thereby streamlining capital project timeliness and achieving project excellence.
For more information, please contact Ron Faciane at (225) 663-5826 or by email at rfaciane@gpstrategies.com.
