I know it sounds weird, but, I like to ride on back country roads – in the WINTER, in this crazy town we call Canada! It is cold and crazy but I love it and it is where MOST of my good ideas come from. One of those ideas this past season of riding was the idea of ditching our long standing presence at the local Home and Garden Show in lieu of a process that would cater even more to our clients needs by looking after our team first, the idea was to have…a “Deck Training Day!”
I had this thought, that if we could somehow orient all of our current installers to all of the new materials and choices in our repertoire of products and maybe invite our suppliers, we could have a great day. Then I thought, why not invite the local building department, then some supplier reps? That would be great. Then another thought…why not invite some tool demo reps? Needless to say, my “day of training” pretty much turned into a three day event, packed with safety training, install training and new learning for our team that we dubbed, aptly, “Deck School.” To make matters even better, we invited all of the candidates that we had interviewed for our next wave of hopeful installers, and ended up with the ultimate three day on site training, screening and educational process. Of course I was daunted with the thought…”what if nobody comes?” ….then “what if everyone comes?”
I am happy to report..EVERYONE came! From the Festool rep to the local building department, and everyone in between – they all came! As well as being a great success, the exercise was a tremendous team building event. One of the candidates in debrief even mentioned that they have never experienced an interview process of this nature and was impressed that “even if he didn’t get the job, look at what he was walking away with after the process…”
I actually was a bit surprised to be honest. JWS Deck School 2015 was a complete success! It made me reflect on what we had done right and the un-tapped potential of what we had cobbled together. It may sound hokey, but I was more, “moved” by the process and results than I ever would have thought. It kind of took me by surprise! First of all, the entire current team pulled together immediately and got behind my idea. The professionalism with which they conducted the sessions, blew me away! Not only did all of the Industry professionals that were invited show up, but they did an incredibly thorough job of explaining the ins and outs and do’s and dont’s of their respective products. The value of the take away experience was palpable and the cohesiveness of the team grew by the hour! We learned and grew together and were able to initiate the new job candidates into our culture and belief system as well as expose them to our collaborative approach to learning, working and leading.
My advice to any small company that thinks they can’t afford to take the time to train their team properly would be, think again. The feeling, the confidence and the team building that occurred over the last few days far exceeds any revenue we would have taken in during the same time. The investment in my team, our suppliers and our industry reps will pay dividends for this entire season and future seasons to come. Even better, the process is simple and can be the best thing you will do for your team this year!
The process is simple and here it is;
1) Time For School: Set aside a day or two or three to train your team. This is Band-Aid stuff here – make the decision and rip the time off. You’ll feel better later! 2) Make the Plan: Organize the training collaboratively with your existing team. Like any good team, they will know your strengths and weaknesses, needs and wants. Listen to them. Then, as lead dog, make sure you get everyone there that they want. Let them organize the rest and contribute where they feel strongest. 3) Let go of the Reins: If you want to use the training as a job fair, my advice – let your team do the interviews. Depending on your type of business, if it is the team working WITH the newbies, what better source to select them. 4) Forget “favours” – call in your supports! YOU are a customer ALL year with your suppliers. Call them, pitch your idea to them and likely, if they are worth their salt, they will be there to support you with bells on, samples, and pamphlets and pencils for all! I was overwhelmed by the response we received from our suppliers at Wellesley Home Centre, Waterloo Hydropool, Al-Mar Railing, Timbertech, The City of Kitchener, Festool Power Tools, and a host of other players in the game. 5) Food is Fun! Feed them and give them coffee. Pizza and coffee makes stuff more fun! 6) Go with it! Step back and let your team collaboratively own the process. (As the “Boss” it is sometimes hard for us to shut up and get out of the way, I know, but this is the time to do it.) 7) Always Thankful: Thank everyone for their support and debrief with your team. Don’t forget to let THEM tell YOU how it will all go down next year!
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