Page 24 - MetalForming December 2011

Workforce Development\McGregor Metalworking
MetalForming/December 2011 www.metalformingmagazine.com
status is based on key per- formance categories such as quality, delivery, cost management, technical support and wavelength, a measure of participation with Deere to improve products and services.
Skills Had
to be Addressed
Located in Southwest-
ern Ohio, McGregor Metal-
working once had its pick of experienced workers. Over
time, those workers aged, bringing competition for
new hires and creating the
need to prevent quality associates from taking their
talents elsewhere. Just as importantly, as McGregor Metalworking expanded, it
began to teach basic and advanced skills to bring associates up to speed on new equipment and technologies. “Metalworking skills are not transferring in the tradition- al way,” says Belden.
At one time, skills were learned on the job, with older, seasoned employees helping newer hires. Employees became more familiar with equipment and processes, and learned tips and tricks from the more experienced personnel. In recent years, Belden explains, the workforce has become more transient. Experi- enced tool and die workers retired or lost their jobs during downturns, the same with machine operators. Now, a dearth of skills in the pool of poten- tial employees makes training all the more important. Pay for Skills addresses these challenges.
“We talk a lot about our centers of excellence, but the equipment is only a small part of it,” says Belden. “These machines don’t run themselves, and workforce development is our com- petitive advantage.”
Pay for Skills Provides Pathways to Success
McGregor Metalworking’s Pay for
Skills plan compensates employees based on their level of training. Under this plan, hourly employees are paid solely on the basis of their skills, with- out regard to length of service. Train- ing coordinators work with supervi- sors to coordinate training activities, ensuring that each employee reach- es his maximum skill level. A pathway of training has been created for all production-related employees, taking them from new-hire status through each level of training. Pathways include press operation, material handling, secondary-machine oper- ation, quality, material services, pul- ley spinning, resistance welding, robotic welding and assembly.
Progression to higher training lev- els brings automatic pay adjustment. A press operator, for example, after achieving Level Four training that can be accomplished within 3.5 yr., will earn 40 percent more than his starting wage.
In addition, achievement of Level Four qualifies an employee for National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) Level III credentials, upon passing the applicable tests; this also earns a pay raise. That is
significant, as NIMS is the only meas- ure of standardization for employee training in manufacturing. McGre- gor Metalworking, the only NIMS- accredited metalforming company, according to Belden, offers other benchmarks along its Pay for Skills pathways that enable associates to earn NIMS Level I and II credentials. More than 60 percent of the compa- ny’s production associates carry NIMS credentials.
“We talk to local human resources groups to benchmark our company,” says Belden, “and based on that our pay scale and benefits outperform similar businesses.”
McGregor Metalworking’s train- ing program begins with entry-level safety training, accomplished prior to an employee’s first day of employ- ment. Next comes a new-hire orien- tation—5 to 6 hr. of in-depth training on site-specific safety issues and state and federal requirements. Employees then embark on training pathways depending on their particular jobs. All employees must pass written and hands-on performance assessments in order to move on.
The job pathways also offer some-
Training Gave This Trainer a Chance to Grow
As a 22-yr. McGregor veteran, Dave Buxton has per- formed and overseen pressroom operations across all three shifts. Hired as a press helper at OSMI, Buxton joined the McGregor team for the benefits he lacked at his previous employer. Within 18 months, the quest for challenges led Buxton to transfer to quality control, and a few years after he went back into the pressroom. From there he moved to team leader on a newly created third shift, and later assumed supervisory positions on third and second shifts. Eventually, Buxton sought a first-shift position, even if it meant giving up supervisor duties. With his knowledge of multiple positions and departments, a training position seemed like a good fit—and it was.
“McGregor Companies gave me opportunities to pursue growth and accommodated my requests throughout my career here,” Buxton says.
A true example of training the trainers, Buxton uses what
he learned in Pay for Skills—knowledge that allowed him to
grow at McGregor Companies—to provide advancement opportunities to current trainees. Does Pay for Skills really provide a better life for those who embark on the pathways?
“I always look for advancement and growth opportunities,” says Buxton. “Since I’ve been here there has not been a time where this company was not expanding, bringing in new processes or buying new equipment. The pay is very fair, especially the starting wage and the wage scale available after the levels of training.”
(Photo by Brock Cox)