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There has often been a distinct divide between blue- and white-collar workers. Those in white-collar roles are typically in an office environment performing administrative and managerial duties. The term comes from the white collared shirts many people often wore in these roles. Those performing blue-collar jobs often wore blue clothing to conceal dirt and grease and worked mainly in trade or manual labor jobs.
There are elements of employee training that apply to all employees, regardless of the color of their collar or the work they’re doing.
Why You Should Focus on Training Blue-Collar Workers:
Types of Training in the Blue-Collar Sector-
There are organizations that invest minimally in training their blue-collar workers, since they are often learning through hands-on experience. But there are a wide range of methods you can use when training your workers.
For New Employees:
Begin by conducting interviews with your new hires asking them what kind of training they would like to receive. This can help you create a training plan specific to their interests and plant the seed of growth with the company. Conduct training through your learning platform during onboarding to help new hires get acquainted with the technology and the content that is available to them. This builds a culture of learning from the beginning that sticks with them as they move through the company.
Job shadowing is also a great way to train new employees. They can see how the job is done and ask questions along the way to better understand their role.
Establishing a mentorship program can be a great asset to new hires as well. Mentors can focus on giving advice, offering company insights, and provide support.
For Seasoned Employees
On-the-job training is what happens daily at work. As workers learn their role, they see how everything operates in real-time and learn applicable skills that are specific to your company.
Train your managers to act as coaches for their employees by providing continuous feedback, boosting morale, planning team building exercises, and motivating team members.
For All Employees
A blended learning program utilizes classroom learning in conjunction with online learning.
Classroom training is a great way to disseminate information to a large group at once. Safety demonstrations are a perfect example of what can be discussed in the classroom, as they offer information on the dangers of equipment without having to have a hands-on experience.
Within classroom training sessions, everyone can participate in an interactive group activity. This could include watching a video then completing an activity. This can help promote teamwork, collaboration, decision making, and problem solving.
Online learning is perfect for all workers as it delivers information in an accessible, manageable way without overwhelming learners. Microlearning lessons allow for information to be disseminated in small chunks that take no more than 10 minutes, so it’s easy to fit into the flow of work.
Training Topics for the Blue-Collar Worker
Training can cover more than just the technical skills needed to complete tasks within an employee’s role. It’s important to provide a way for personal growth and learning for employees – this kind of development gives you a huge competitive advantage when it comes to employee retention!
Perhaps the two most crucial issues blue-collar employees need to be trained on are safety and compliance. The costs associated with fines from local and federal regulations and the potential for risk of injury or death, requires blue-collar workers to be up to date on these critical issues.
However, beyond compliance requirements, soft skills training can help attract and retain employees. Soft skills that you can train employees on include:
Setting goals – Setting goals gives employees something to strive for and a reason to be invested in their work and personal lives.
Teamwork and collaboration – Working together is essential no matter what industry. When everyone understands why each role is important to the overall picture, you can create a positive work environment. You can also showcase what happens if someone isn’t carrying their weight.
Problem solving – Challenges arise and there’s no way to predict when or where they will occur. Employees should feel confident in their ability to respond effectively to any challenges that arise at work.
It’s also important to train managers and supervisors on skills they need to succeed in their roles.
Conflict management and resolution – Conflicts are sure to happen and they will be resolved more smoothly if supervisors know how to handle different types of conflicts and various resolution tactics.
Emotional intelligence – When someone learns to be more aware of their own emotional responses and how to manage them, it helps them to better understand how to interact with others in positive ways. This can help supervisors address employee issues with care and
3 Popular Yet Effective Training Methods:
1.Performance Support:
It integrates learning into the workflow.
Not time-consuming.
Creates higher productivity.
2.Learning on the Job:
One of the most effective ways of training employees.
By seeing how the systems operate in a real-time environment, workers learn applicable skills that are specific to their job or organization.
Has a high practical focus.
3.Coaching:
Provide professional presentations and evaluations; improving performance throughout the department.
Takes place at eye level.
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