When work is risky and consequences are high, learning and development plays a crucial role in training workers to be both safe and effective employees. Industries such as energy, utilities, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and aviation carry a high level of both physical and financial risk. Training is one of the best ways, if not the best way, to mitigate that risk.
Chris Pickett, head of PG&E Academy, says that at PG&E, they are concerned with using training to improve efficiencies and cut costs, but with employees who drop from helicopters to work on 250-foot towers, “safety and compliance come first and second.” Only then does PG&E Academy look at efficiency and costs. Leadership development programs reflect those priorities so that they are “leading with safety.”
The Impact of Technology
Fortunately, innovations in training and technology make this task easier. In fact, 2015 research by Training Industry, Inc. and Raytheon Professional Services found that most companies use a variety of training modalities and focus on virtual training and e-learning. These methods can provide just-in-time access to content for situations where immediate access is vitally important. At PG&E, employees used to carry binders containing job aids and other materials. Now, they have iPads, and managers can use to update job aids every day through an employee portal.
“We will always be in the brick-and-mortar business,” says Pickett, and “you have to teach people how to climb a pole by doing it.” However, PG&E is exploring the use of technology to make training more efficient. The company is building its second virtual learning studio, which will broadcast training on equipment from the studio into the field. This means that instead of having employees drive bulldozers and other large pieces of equipment from day one, PG&E Academy uses simulators for the first half of training. Pickett says this simulator training is faster, safer and greener.
Filling the Skills Gap
According to a 2016 McKinsey report, 14 percent of millennials say they wouldn’t work in the oil and gas industry because of its negative reputation, which is the highest portion in any industry. This factor, along with economic shifts, means this sector is facing a skills shortage as baby boomers retire and insufficient numbers of millennials enter the industry to replace them.
Other high-risk industries face skills gaps as well. The British pharmaceutical and global aviation industries recently reported significant skills shortages. In 2015, two studies predicted that over the next 10 years, there would be two million unfilled manufacturing jobs due to a gap between the number of retiring baby boomers and the number of millennials who want to enter the field. Researchers pointed to the importance of developing current employees to help fill those gaps at manufacturing companies.
Pickett says that PG&E stopped hiring new linemen for about a decade, but when California started investing in more infrastructure, leaders realized this model would no longer work. The Apprentice Line Worker program solves this problem by recruiting line workers for a five-year apprenticeship that includes ongoing, cumulative knowledge and skills assessments. The program provides the workforce for PG&E to keep costs low and has also resulted in an “exceptional safety record,” according to Pickett.
Using technology in training programs in high-consequence industries not only minimizes risk, but it can also help close skills gaps and engage millennial employees. Whether it’s mobile training, using simulations, broadcasting live training virtually, or even using augmented or virtual reality, such innovations can make all the difference when it comes to keeping costs low and keeping employees – and customers – safe.
