City company investing $1 million a year to train skilled tradespeople
In an industry that can spend millions on a single machine, it doesn’t make sense not to spend the money to train the employees required to run it, says Darcy King, CEO and president of Unique Tool and Gauge.
Last month, the Windsor company launched its school-withinthe-plant concept it believes will help fill its need for skilled tradespeople.
“We could have hired 20-30 people on the spot in the past year, but we just can’t find them,” King said. “Anything we do here is going to help the industry. We’ll try to retain as many as possible. But over the course of the next 10 years, we’ll be creating we hope at least 200 well-trained employees for the industry.”
King said the startup costs ($500,000 to $750,000) for the first group of 10 people will probably take six to 12 months to recoup. The company is budgeting close to $1 million annually for the program, which King hopes will quickly expand to 16-20 students. “The cost of not doing anything was much greater,” King said. “There’s such a skilled trades shortage.
“We’ll do some self evaluation in six months and look at how many we can handle in the next intake. This program is here to stay.” The plan is open to non-students. Meanwhile, the company has hired a veteran skilled tradesman whose only job is to teach the individuals in the program.
“We didn’t want to limit it to just students because we didn’t want to shut out potential employees, who may be mechanically inclined, but didn’t know how to access a route to the skilled trades,” King said.
The company has also created a written curriculum.
The students are paid during their yearlong training and qualify for the company’s benefits plan. Currently there are six students with the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, two high school students taking dual credits with St. Clair College and two non-students in the program. “We’ve tried everything to attract new employees,” said human resources manager Chad Thomas, who designed the program at Unique.
“We’ve tried social media, advertising on buses ... nothing worked. “It’s a major commitment by the ownership. I’m asking them for $1 million a year to run this program, but they ’ve been very supportive.”
Thomas said he also consulted with local school boards and St. Clair College in creating the program.
“We wanted to make sure we met all OYAP standards and we exceed them by far,” Thomas said. King feels the keys to the program will be the mentorship of experienced tradesman Bob Clifford and having the students rotate through the company ’s entire operation.
Students will serve six to 10week rotations in each of five areas — electronic discharge machining, high-speed CNC (computer numerical control), bore milling, basic mouldmaking and engineering. “That’s how I learned the business, learning about every aspect of what the company does,” King said. “I don’t want to hear after 15 years the only thing an employee knows is how work on the lathe.” King said those who complete the training with a positive rating from Clifford will be offered jobs. If a student wants to continue on to earn his apprenticeship papers through St. Clair College, the company will provide the required placement hours.
“We’re hoping for a 60 per cent retention rate,” King said. “We’d consider that a success, if we got 60 per cent of the group of 16-20 each year.”
Auston Grech, 20, is one of the two non-students in the program. He left another factory job for the chance to enter the skilled trades. “I was talking recently to a friend who’s working at another factory, and I’ve learned more here in six months than he has in two years,” Grech said. “It’s much harder to learn when you don’t have a trainer like we do. The one-on-one mentoring is very helpful.”
Grech said he’s excited to get a chance to try his hand in the different departments in the company. “The growth opportunities here are very appealing,” Grech said. “The amount we learn and the experience we get in different areas, I just love it here. The eight hours just fly by.” For Clifford, taking on the role of teacher is a natural one. He’s always enjoyed working with young apprentices in a career that spans more than four decades. “This is an unusual program,” Clifford said. “They ’re not training people this way in the last three or four places I worked. Their statement is they don’t have the time and money to train kids.
“I say you can’t afford not to train these kids.”
Clifford said the company’s approach to training its own and exposing employees to a wide variety of jobs is also smart.
“They do it all, so they don’t get bored and jump ship,” Clifford said.