Education and training investments pay off

While attending the Associated General Contractors of America's Executive Leadership Conference last month, I heard an interesting statistic that not only shocked me but dumbfounded most of the other attendees.

We learned that, on average, the construction industry's expenditures on education and training are less than 2 percent of gross expenses. While that may not sound shocking, it needs to be understood in the context that other industries surveyed reported expenditures of more than 10 percent. If it's true, and I have no reason to believe it isn't, the construction industry has got a big problem that will only be compounded if not addressed immediately.

The construction industry undoubtedly has many companies, both large and small, that put a premium on educating and training employees. And we all know who they are because of their stature and success.

They participate in various training programs in management, safety and business development, both at the local and national levels. They are the first to adapt to new technology, establish peer-mentorship relationships and strive to apply learning to the success of their businesses.

Some have gone so far as to establish a company "university," which places educational expectations on all employees. All this is done to raise the knowledge quotient for such lofty goals as greater productivity, improved employee satisfaction and increased profitability. Sound good?

egrettably, there are far too many companies in our industry that view education and training as a drain on work time, productivity and, yes, profitability. They view an employee attending a two-hour seminar on effective communication skills as reduced productivity coupled with the financial cost of the seminar. They miss the point that the educational experience usually generates opportunities to improve performance that will outweigh the time and financial cost of the seminar.

Those in the construction industry who have misplaced values on the benefits of education and training need to understand that short-term thinking breeds short-term results. For this industry to prosper, all construction companies need to show their commitment to an enhanced education initiative that will provide better value and a better product to our clients, the owners.

There will be some companies that will say educating employees is only for the big companies, those with vast resources. To them I have two points to make. First, how do you think they became big companies?

And second, associations like the AGC of Greater Milwaukee, AGC of Wisconsin, American Institute of Architects, National Electrical Contractors Association, Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Association, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, Metropolitan Builders Association and others put on hundreds of affordable educational programs and workshops every year.

These programs cover everything from supervisory training to business development and can take as little as two hours or run more than 30 hours depending on the individual needs. You name it, and it's probably available. If it isn't, most of these associations are prepared to develop new programs. It just takes the foresight to understand the merit of its application.

Education is what got us all to where we are today — whether it's a degree in engineering, architecture or marketing or an apprenticeship in carpentry or bricklaying. Whatever we did on the educational front, it usually paid off.

So let's not get complacent and think we've learned all there is to learn. Now is the time for our industry to make an earnest effort to move our knowledge quotient up and renew our commitment to excellence in education. It pays.