Job Specific Training (JST)-keeping it simple

Abstract

Present day companies, just like the companies in the past, strive to maximize their profit and increase proficiency by finding the time and resources to train their workforce. This will be a never-ending story. One way in identifying new and innovative work methods is to benchmark companies that are outstanding or world class. This paper benchmarks two internal facilities. The two internal facilities report to the Parent Company where the researcher is employed. The Job Specific Training (JST) program in use at the researcher facility was constantly under scrutiny from the quality department and the associates. The electronic data base, (filemakerpro) used to document, create and maintain the JST records was to be state of the art. With this system the JST records grew to 173 different job specific tasks, and made it very difficult to manage. The site-specific procedure (257-003) was so generic it became uncontrollable. Too many people were making JST records. New records would be developed even if the task were the same as another from in a different area. When it came time for the associates to assist in another department they were not always certain they had the appropriate training. The records were not easily accessible and not all associates were computer literate. The supervisor, in most cases, did not even know if the associate had the appropriate training. Supervisors also thought that it was too time consuming and inconvenient to look up the records. When the audits (Third Party, Internal, and Process) are performed, one area that has consistently been hit with nonconformity is JST. The auditors would circulate within the facility and ask the associates if they were trained for the task they are working on. Their response was often one of uncertainty. When verifying the associate was trained, it took from five to thirty minutes to find the associate’s JST records. If they did not show up in the electronic database the hard copy would have to be found, and, in some cases, they never were found. The task team for conducting the benchmarking of the two internal facilities realized in a short time that it’s facility would benefit from what had been observed. With a close evaluation of the JST’s current program, and the positive areas identified from the benchmarking activity, an improved JST program could be developed and implemented in the researcher’s facility. With a positive outcome of the development and implementation of the new JST system, the researcher can see additional benchmarking opportunities, in the future.