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Almost everyone learns how to drive a car and passes their state's driving test.  An automobile is a very complicated device, not to mention being a lethal weapon.  There are also complicated rules of the road enforced by friendly police officers.  People are able to learn the material and pass both the written and driving tests. Why,  because they are motivated and they really want to drive.

Is it possible to inspire employees to want to learn?  Probably not to the degree they want to pass their driving test.  That is almost in a class by itself as being a rite of passage to adulthood.  However, we can inspire them with a few simple tools.

1.  Show them we care about their training by keeping a database of what they have learned and what they yet need to learn for their job.  Everybody wants to know how they are measured and where they stand.
2.  Training needs to be a big deal for management.  If it is important, they need to get on the floor with the employees and talk up training.  This needs to be a constant, ongoing priority.
3.  Give the employees time to learn.  Schedule someone to come in a few hours early so the employee can take a couple hours to study and take a quiz on the computer.
4.  Put stars or some type of recognition on their employee badge for training courses successfully passed.  Post notices in the canteen when someone completes a training course.
5.  Immediate supervisors should follow up several weeks after training to see if the employee is applying the training.  It is one thing train, but it is another to learn and apply.
6.  Heap praise on the employee for a job well done and relate that to good results produced by applying their training.
7.  If an employee fails to apply what they were supposed to have learned during training, sit down with them and chart a course for learning the things they missed.

For a minute I want you to visualize something with me.  Imagine you have just been hired by a nonwoven company to run a nonwoven line.  You are an average learner but you have never worked in a manufacturing plant before.  Your first day the HR person is kind enough to orient you in the building and show you where the canteen and restrooms are.  A supervisor then takes you to the production area, gives you a brief tour of the nonwoven line, encourages you to work safely,  and introduces you to their best operator who has been assigned to train you for the next several weeks.  Of course they are short-handed and behind in production, so you are asked to start wrapping rolls while your trainer goes off to solve a problem with a clogged fiber line.  You do not see your trainer the rest of the day.

Now visualize this.  After the HR lady shows you around the building you are taken to a computer and you spend a half hour watching a video describing the company's background, goals, and objectives.  The video introduces you to the key personnel in the company along with a greeting from each of them.  After the video the HR lady quizzes you about yourself.  What are you goals, hobbies, interests, etc.  It is a friendly conversation and you tell her
all about your children.  She tells you that the company provides scholarship money for the local tech school if you make good grades and if the coarse work is related to your job.  She asks you to spend another half hour watching videos on safety and lock-out tag-out.  When that is over, your supervisor shows up to take you to lunch so he can get to know you also.  He encourages you to take advantage of opportunities at the plant and tells you how by hard work and study you can advance in the company.  After lunch you watch another safety video and spend a hour with the supervisor getting an overview of what the nonwoven line does.  You are then introduced to your trainer and he spends the rest of the day detailing what you will be taught and an expected timetable for your training.  Neither of you are pulled away for any reason from your meeting.

I am sure you know what happens to these employees.  The first one after ruining thousands of dollars of fabric via various quality issues quits after three months.  The second one goes on to be a supervisor.  What did it cost the company? - a few hours of time, the production of some videos, and some scholarship money.  A small price to pay for a dedicated worker producing profi for the company.

One concern I have is that many of the individuals who have grown up in the nonwoven industry and have much knowledge are not up to date on methods for distributing that knowledge.  How do we teach what we know and insure that it will continue to be taught when we are retired?  Education in general and industrial eduction in particular are rapidly changing in teaching methods.  The ability of production employees to understand a technical manual is rapidly diminishing as is the effectiveness of classroom instruction.

At the same time, the population in general is learning how to effectively use cell phones, iPads, Facebook, Twitter, MP3 players, Xboxes, and computers.  They are demonstrating that they have the ability to learn how these devices and software work.  They are motivated to use these devices and software and enjoy them very much.  Can we not use this to our advantage for training on how to run nonwoven equipment and general factory operation?  You bet we can.  It mainly involves putting training materials into a format that appeals to and reaches the employee.  The question is, are you up to date enough on hardware and software to use it effectively?

Check out these links to get an idea of where this is going.
45 million iPads expected to be sold in 2011
iPad to be sold at Verizon
iPad pushes tablet sales
Mobile device sales grew 13.5%
Average teen sends 3,339 texts per month

Nonwoven production lines have many electric motors moving the various parts of the line.  Do your production employees have any idea how these motors are controlled?   This week's definition may clear a little of the fog and help them understand a bit of what a motor controller is and does.

                          This week's definition

Here are a few links I came across researching this topic.
Variable-frequency drive from wikipedia
What is a variable frequency drive from Joliet Drives