The SAIMC Zambian Branch celebrated a successful third anniversary on 1 May. Members and the branch executive pledged to forge ahead and to continue to contribute to the industry in Zambia, in the field of measurement and control. The Chingola sub-branch has re-organised itself and picked an executive to be chaired by Larry Franklin, head of Instrumentation and Control at Konkola Copper Mines.
A technical presentation on 'The importance of training in industry' was given by branch treasurer, Rodgers Kayombo.
A précis of this paper follows:
The importance of training in an industry
Introduction
Any industry should recognise the importance of the training and development of its employees for it to realise its corporate objectives. It will be established that a well designed, well placed and coordinated training and development will result in the retention of people with appropriate knowledge and skills as well as the most effective use of labour for maximum productivity.
With the privatisation of the mining industry in 2000 in Zambia, training of C&I personnel has adversely been affected. The reason for that is simple, most investors were only interested in production and so abolished training investments. They felt that there were no real returns on training investments.
The importance of training
* Maximises and increases productivity.
* Accomplish tasks in house without depending on contractors.
* Develops employees to find ways to quickly and systematically solve difficult problems. Improves troubleshooting.
* Makes employees more effective.
* Improves continuity in others absence and succession planning.
* Reduces stress.
* Builds confidence.
* Attracts and retains employees.
* Gives employees a sense of company loyalty.
* Boosts employee morale.
* Establishes accountability and responsibility.
* Improves delegation.
Obstacles in training
* Giving an employee time off or away for training.
* Costs of courses and travel.
* Finding appropriate courses.
* Providing the right mentor for on the job training.
* Putting learning into practice.
How to train
* Training must be done in small groups.
* Keep sessions short or else people will lose concentration.
* Make training hands-on and not just theory.
* Accommodate employee schedules.
* Measure what is learned by using various methods, such as task observations.
* Establish training plans to meet sectional/departmental requirements and objectives and individual needs.
* Implement task training on the job by departmental supervisor or by a member from the training function.
* Apply knowledge immediately.
Conclusion
Finally and not least, some companies see training as indispensable and cannot imagine corporate life without it. Imagine what would happen to our company if it were staffed with untrained employees! The answer to that is simple, it would fall apart. We are required to produce quality products like copper, cobalt and so on and sell them to our customers on the World's metal exchanges. We need to delight our customers and if this does not happen, then we are out of business. For us to be able to execute each of the many steps required to ensure that we continue to satisfy our customers with our products, we definitely need highly trained people. There is no other way out for us.
Jones Kalela
E-mail: [email protected]
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