[Editor’s note: This survey is closed. To see an analysis of results, see “How Can Building Professionals, Improve Training,” Feb/2022).]
To find solutions for homebuilders, remodelers, and other residential and light-commercial contractors, JLC has teamed up with M.T. Copeland to launch a survey aimed at sharing ideas to improve our industry’s chances to close the skills gap.
Share Your Ideas
What is your take? Preliminary response to this survey from the JLC community has shown clear insights on what’s needed as a starting point from new hires:
“First they need to be the right person in terms of character and personality. Then we evaluate their abilities. If the person is intelligent, thoughtful, and eager to learn we’re happy to hire someone without a ton of trade experience and train them as we go …”
“My emphasis on hiring is evaluating work ethics, desire to learn and grow, and care for quality. Skills can be taught, attitude is hard to teach. Someone with great attitude and work ethics is most important to me …”
“At this point it’s hard to be picky so I mostly look for someone with a good attitude and willingness to learn.”
Yet turning that eager new hire into a skilled professional is another matter. For the most part among the respondents to date, few companies have a structured on-the-job training program and almost no dedicated budget for bringing new hires up to speed as productive members of the team. And while there are few structured programs in place now, there is an almost universal desire expressed for better training tools that can be put to use by employers to improve their team’s knowledge base and set the stage for more effective hands-on training.
On-the-job training is how homebuilders, remodelers, and other building contractors have traditionally raised the skill level of their crew and trade partners, and we at JLC believe this still offers the most promising path to closing the skilled labor gap for the industry as a whole … with the right training tools. We have been impressed by the approach M.T. Copeland has taken to offer such tools – namely, well-produced video lessons taught by building professionals – that align well with JLC‘s “by builder, for builder” approach to providing building knowledge.
Seeking answers from our community of builders, contractors, carpenters, and hands-on design professionals, we are hoping to learn more about real-world training needs and explore ways to better employ a full arsenal of training tools – including videos, magazines, other online resources, books, trade shows, seminars, lumberyard classes, and hands-on instruction – to advance training on the job where it happens already.
This survey is intended as a way for our community to share ideas and experiences to improve our collective efficiency at bringing new professionals online. In the spirit of one team, one fight for the future of our industry, please join us.