Teach a Man (or Woman) to Fish

Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.
Teach a man to fish: and you have fed him for a lifetime.
Let's put it another way
Teach a man how; he will complete the task. today
Teach a man why; he will complete many tasks and build a career.
How teaches the repetition of tasks to complete a function.  When you go beyond how, to why, you teach reasoning skills to go much farther.  Robots know "how" but lack the intelligence to reason.  Teaching why allows the individual the power of reason.  The power to solve problems and find new and innovative solutions.  Organizations that teach their employees why, increase their potential. 
Innovative companies are now going beyond what and why and attempt to unlock the full potential of their team.
Organizations are made up of several departments with distinct functions.  Traditionally, employees were trained in the tasks and functions of their department.  The best companies trained the whys behind the whats within an employee's department.  That's not enough in today's competitive environment.  Individual departments never operate alone. Each departments impacts and interacts with every other department in the organization. An effective training program goes beyond an individuals assigned department and teaches the functions and interactions of all other departments.  It teaches the process and defines the companies goals and vision.
That's the goals of Ebsco U.
Ebsco U is an ongoing comprehensive training program designed to reach beyond traditional training and create a team that understands the entire organization.  With knowledge beyond ones department comes true team work and progress. Ebsco U encompasses all Ebsco training.  Most areas will continue to expand and develop with time. The following are current elements of Ebsco U.

• New Employee Orientation. Our new employee orientation consist of a full week.  Several team members play a role in the orientation. The program is designed to bring the new employee into the team instead of focusing on simply teaching job skills and rules. One of the keys to our orientation program is the assignment of mentors to each new employee.
• Safety Training. No new or innovative topics here.  Most on the job injuries are from basic inattention. Our safety program focuses on basic safety topics. Repetition is the key to effective safety training.  It's employee driven from the safety team
• Ebsco U The Coarse.  Ebsco U consists of several ongoing units and is attended by all employees.  It introduces all departments and their functions, the processes, machinery and the science of springs.  It provides detailed information on Human Resource topics.  Ebsco U has just begun but initial feedback looks promising.
• Evaluation Process.  Ebsco has launched an innovative evaluation process that focuses on goal setting.  This is new to most employees.  Ebsco has addressed this with an orientation session to help employees get the most out of the process.
• Team Leader Training.  The Team Leader position is new and unique to Ebsco.  Our monthly training session will supply our Team leads with guidance and tools to effectively perform in their new position.
• Management Training. Effective management skills don't come with the position.  It is essential to continually develop ones skills.  Our ongoing management training program will address diverse topics focused on building management skills.
• Mentor Training. With our new orientation program we will utilize mentors in each department. Our new mentor training will identify the experienced employees in each department and provide them with the tools to effectively mentor our newest team members.
• Coiler Training.  Going beyond the usual on the job training, we will begin to conduct coiler training classes.  These sessions will be held when we are not running production to allow participants to focus on the material.  We are developing classes from basic skills to advanced techniques.  Our coiler training will have something to offer everyone.

Ebsco U will continue to evolved based on the input from our employees.  I am really excited to see the enthusiasm and commitment from all of our employees and management on training and developing our capabilities.
In our analogy a man was given a fish or taught to fish.  Ebsco is doing all of that and teaching agriculture and proper diet.  Effective training goes well beyond what one does today and tomorrow. Effective training looks at everything related to what you are doing and examines how they interact.
We have the best team, they deserve the best training.