Jan Schmidlkofer
Management Services Committee Chair and Women of EASA Chair
K&N an Impel Company
Spokane Valley, Washington
Employee recruitment, retention and succession are all areas that are challenging and infinitely important to business and personal success. Increased employee engagement translates into enhanced quality outcomes and generally positive working conditions. So, how do we get there? Providing an opportunity to learn together is one path, and EASA’s Online Learning Center offers a multitude of topics from which to choose that measure comprehension with testing.
I spent some time browsing the EASA Online Learning Center and realized EASA has an a la carte menu for career path training regardless of a person’s position in the company. At the beginning, I was most interested in the Electromechanical Repair Technician (ERT) Certificate Program, but I needed to figure out how to implement it. Should our company only ask new employees to participate? When in the employee’s beginning months do both the employee and K&N commit? Do we set completion expectations? What about those employees who are more senior but still have plenty to learn? I must admit, the various considerations slowed me down somewhat. So, I redirected my focus to the EASA General Learning Library and looked at the 43 management and leadership courses licensed from the American Management Association (AMA).
The management and leadership courses are about 20 minutes long and include a short comprehension quiz. This was something I could begin to implement with my company’s leadership. At the minimum, we would learn together! I bought a General Learning Library subscription, and I passed around the learning opportunities by assigning training to myself, our shop manager and then the shop foreman. The classes are concise and provide substance for discussion among the three of us. The experience also convinced me that it was time to integrate the technical lessons into our company’s workforce.
The ERT course has been worked into the training expectations of K&N’s structured training program (apprenticeship). Part of K&N’s new employee agreement is participation in our structured training program. The program awards pay increases starting at Step 2 and culminating at Step 9. K&N pays for the Online Learning Center subscription costs, and the employee agrees to a minimum of four hours of class time per week outside of work. As an example, one must complete the EASA Forklift Safety Training within their first 30 days. Volume 1, Safety and Volume 2, Basic Shop Skills must be completed within 90 days. This program is still in its infancy, but the learning has begun! Do you know why I know learning has begun? Because, thanks to EASA’s Online Learning Center, I receive an email letting me know when someone has completed a course. And I have received seven emails so far! Tracking is available when I assign courses.
The General Learning Library provides access to EASA seminars such as Principles of Medium and Large AC Motors. This and many other courses in the General Learning Library provide our more senior technicians an opportunity to expand their knowledge. Other classes such as How to Wind Three- Phase Stators, Forklift Training, Arc Flash and all of EASA Vo-Tech and EASA webinars are available at our fingertips!
In addition to EASA Vo-Tech, there are 27 licensed TPC courses in the technical category that range from hydraulics to lathes, lubrication to digital logic, and all sorts of topics in between. Each of these courses has five to 10 lessons, all with comprehension testing. K&N is using the TPC courses and the General Learning Library courses to develop our machinist, senior mechanic and rewind technician structured training programs.
The EASA Online Learning Center is so packed with training and comprehension testing that no motor shop employee is lacking in educational opportunities.
Related Reference and Training Materials
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