One of our main objectives at Grand Rapids Metrology is to constantly strive for improvement and to progress in a manner that continuously adds value to doing business with us. As our accredited scope expands, our headquarters undergo renovations, and our social networking reach increases, we asked ourselves, “What other aspects of our business can we enhance?” With this question in mind, looked toward our most valuable asset, our people, and decided to revise and greatly expand our technical training program.
To truly develop our technical staff, the largest in the state, we decided to make our training program more rigorous, detailed, comprehensive, and tailored for employee and customer success. The idea to improve our process actually came from our own service staff, who strive to learn and better themselves each day. With this new program in mind, our technicians expressed a desire to control their own destiny when it comes to career advancement. A team of employees got together to create and implement GRM’s new training passport program. The passport allows technicians to become certified and capably trained in numerous aspects of calibration, repair, install, overhaul, etc. Existing technicians are certified in required fields, but with this new program, they have the option to advance their careers and further their knowledge of this industry by becoming certified in as many areas as they wish. Likewise, technicians are given a physical, passport-like binder that contains instructions of the process of becoming certified, along with trainer/trainee information, a flowchart of operations, and a section for quality manager approval when evaluations are completed.
The allowance for growth brings value to more than just our technicians. Grand Rapids Metrology’s service coordinators will also benefit. By using a matrix created and maintained by our quality manager, they will be able to easily and visually see which technicians are able to perform which tasks and thus be able to send them on appropriate jobs. This will make work easier for our coordinators by reducing the risk for error and eliminating ambiguity when it comes to knowing a technician’s certified abilities. Similarly, managers will possess more confidence in their technicians and will be able to directly encourage them to purse continuous training. Lastly, our renovated training program will ensure top-notch quality for our customers, as well as a confidence that is hard to find elsewhere. We have always prided ourselves on promoting people from within, and have watched our employees create their own career path to find contentment while creating value. The training passport program is yet another path to measuring success.
