Moving beyond show and tell: an improved method to train apprentice lineworkers.

• Author: Fugate, Donny
• Position: Report

The electric utility industry is racing toward a demographic cliff of retiring baby boomers, who are taking the skills and knowledge they possess with them (Morgan, 2004 as cited in Topping, 2006, p. 1). This departure requires that cooperatives enhance efforts to boost the staffing levels of new lineworkers and other highly skilled positions.

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It will also require increasing the skills proficiency and troubleshooting abilities of journeyworkers. Frequently, lineworker apprentice training begins with, "Follow Joe today, he'll show you how to...." This show and tell method has been a standard practice for apprentice training in other trades that even predates the first apprentice lineworker. Although it has worked, it is a slower, less efficient method of training apprentices Ivan Buren). A significant amount of research has shown Structured On-the-Job Training (SOJT) is a more efficient and effective method for training new employees (Alien; Dooley; Broadwell; Jacobs; Rothwell and Kazanas; Van Buren). Since its introduction during the Training within Industry (TWO project, manufacturing, hospitality, and several other industries have used this method. Prior to our entrance into World War II, the U.S. government launched the TWI initiative to advise war material manufacturers on methods to improve production, which included training all the new employees entering the workforce for the first time (Dooley). Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative (CHELCO) recently implemented SOJT in training apprentice lineworkers and found it to be more efficient and effective than the show and tell or "Follow Joe" method traditionally used in apprentice lineworker training.

Structured OJT is hands-on, skills training conducted in the work environment, or as close to it as possible, using a structured process and trained by Subject Matter Experts (SME) who have been instructed in educational techniques that facilitate (earning (Jacobs; Rothwell and Kazanas, Van Buren). CHELCO studied how SOJT affected the skills acquired by apprentice lineworkers. The co-op found that the apprentices learned more efficiently and retained the skills acquired when evaluated at least 8 weeks after the SME trainers trained them. Many of the apprentices had not had the chance to practice the skills in the time between the training and the evaluation, but all still were 100 percent proficient on the tasks (Van Buren).

Structured On-the-Job Training is a cost-effective training method cooperatives can apply immediately. Unlike the one-size-fits all approach that one must use in classroom training, SME trainers can tailor it to meet the needs and learning styles of the employees. Because of the hands-on opportunities it provides the learner, the co-op found it also resulted in faster skill building and that the apprentices retained better than they did with the traditional 'Follow Joe' method. SOJT's structure and consistency also provides co-ops with an affirmative defense posture in linework training related legal and regulatory challenges. If designed correctly, it also improves learning by presenting it in manageable pieces.

One of the pitfalls of the 'Follow Joe' method is the trainer-centered orientation versus a learner-focused orientation. Frequently, it also puts subject matter experts (SMEs) in the position to train, but it does not prepare them to conduct training, let alone learner-centered training; they frequently simply show and tell, which is usually not efficient or cost-effective training.

As the name suggests, learner-centered training places the emphasis on the learner and the environment and methods that help him or her learn more efficiently and effectively. In learner-centered, lineworker training, SME trainers adapt to the learning styles of the apprentices. Most people attracted to linework are hands-on (kinesthetic) learners who learn best by doing; that is inherent in the four-step method of SOJT.

Even more recently, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) enacted 29 CFR Part 29 (Section 29.5), which recognizes the need to have subject matter experts serving as trainers educated on how to conduct training. Now DOL requires it for any organization that has a state registered apprenticeship program. The regulation necessitates trainers "have training in teaching techniques and adult learning styles." The regulation leaves it to the individual states to identify how to implement the requirement (US Department of Labor).

Co-op Background. Choctawhatchee Electric...