The training dilemma in print is well recorded. On one hand, print is a greying industry, making it vital we equip the leaders of tomorrow with the skills to succeed in what is an increasingly challenging sector. On the other hand, that same challenging climate makes it all the more difficult for many companies to find the extra time and money to put their staff through training.
It’s easy to talk about addressing the industry-wide skills shortage, but then stop short of actually implementing training on a company level. Maybe then the problem is that training seems inaccessible or not flexible enough to fit the needs of modern print businesses. But there are a whole host of different channels to access training. In-house or through a trade association, from vendors or consultants, there’s a range flexible options available.
Trade associations
GAMAA executive director Karen Goldsmith says the need for management and succession training in print has never been more necessary than it is today. Education is the only answer, she adds.
The benefits of GAMAA’s workshops and industry scholarships are well documented. The manufacturers’ association is currently planning its 2010 Leadership Program. Since the beginnings of the program in 2003, more than 300 participants have come away from these courses with a deeper understanding of management and other industry issues. Scholarships are awarded to those students who demonstrate a high degree of industry commitment and who are prepared to further their studies at tertiary level.
One of the program’s early participants, Richard Rassmussen, now holds a Masters of Marketing from Monash University and is pursuing a successful career as an independent management consultant and business broker.
Rassmussen gives high praise for the GAMAA trainers. He says they were of equal standard to those he encountered at university. “One of the peripheral benefits of the course was the networking opportunities it provided with people within the industry,” he says.
Also leading the training agenda is the Printing Industries Association of Australia. Its Printing and Graphic Arts Training Package is co-ordinated by Neal McLary, PIAA general manager Queensland/ National Training. McLary says PIAA’s programs are continually updated to match industry developments.
As you’re reading this, two groups of aspiring print industry participants should be attending the first of the year’s Print Awareness workshops on File Preparation for Pre-press and Print Production Techniques. Led by the Printing Industries Association of Australia, the courses are to be followed by modules on Dynamic Leadership Skills and Effective Sales in Print & Communications.
GASAA is also on the training trail this month. Environmental specialist Paul Kohn has been retained by the body to run its fourth Truly Green program, a stepping stone to achieving ISO 14001 certification.
Executive director Gary Knespal is committed to accelerating GASAA’s emphasis on education. He says the results of a 2009 needs review showed that members regarded these as key services.
“Training and general information sharing remains a focal point for GASAA in 2010.” Knespal says his members rated training services in environmental and colour management as important or very important to their business needs, along with educational events and technical support services.
“GASAA’s staged environmental courses, its FSC, PEFC audit training, its unique Green Leaf Carbon footprint ratings programs and several training offerings in the area of colour management are popular. Training is a key and growing service of GASAA,” he says.
In-house initiatives
Printing companies, particularly at the big end of town, are known for effective in-house training programs. For instance, independent consultant Guy Williams, now of The Training Guys, lists work at Bluestar Print as part of his “extensive training and coaching experience”.
Other training consultants who cut their teeth in-house include SkilledForce’s Wayne MacDougall, along with Wayne Harris and David Galbraith, who all had stints at PMP.
Two years ago, PMP implemented its group-wide Learning Seat electronic platform, which offers more than 400 learning units to all levels of staff to enable training and career development contracts to be built for every PMP staff member.
“The system is an important vehicle in delivering frontline management training,” says Graham Plant, Pacific Micromarketing/PMP Digital managing director.
Independent Print Media Group (IPMG) has an in-house resource that assist its businesses with their training development and delivery. IPMG subsidiary Offset Alpine won the 2009 Work Cover Education and Training Excellence Award. Sales and marketing director Garth Hackett says that “given the choice, we prefer the in-house concept since this gives us more control”. He notes, though, that external training also takes place where appropriate.
Vendor-run training
Of the plethora of programs offered by equipment and software vendors, arguably the most comprehensive is Heidelberg’s Print Media Academy. The academy benefits from its international connection to the company’s head office training centre, which caters for students from around the world.
The local branch, located at the manufacturer’s recently expanded Melbourne headquarters, is renowned for its Next Generation course. The program is aimed at candidates who aspire to supervisory and management roles. It provides emerging talents with the skills to help them reach the next level in their career development.
It did just that for Blair Cariss of Tullamarine’s Cariss Printing. He recalls the management role benefits he derived from the course. “A manager is someone who gets things done for the good of the business in an optimum manner via other people. This sums up the message I derived from the course and for which I will now strive,” he says.
Craig Edmondson of Snap Printing in the Sydney suburb of Rockdale also has praise for the course. He says it “opened my eyes to the small things you forget to think about”. Edmondson adds it provided him with a broader range of management issues, many of which he has already implemented.
“Some of the very general content was a bit disappointing at the time but once back on the job I quickly changed my mind, especially about the financial controls component. It’s given me more motivation to drive our business into the next generation,” he says.
Outside specialists
There is a comprehensive roll call of training programs offered by government and private institutions. Providers include the Australia-wide TAFE network and well-entrenched private enterprises such as Billy Blue and Macleay, as well as many tertiary institutions, led by Melbourne’s RMIT.
Talk to a swag of printers throughout Australia and there are many who have called in an outside specialist to rally the troops. One of the current flavours of the era is the concept of Lean Management and Lean Thinking, which aims to eradicate a lot of wasted effort and streamline processes.
A recent example of a printer successfully calling in the aid of a third-party training expert is the mentoring program at Lindsay Yates Group, delivered by SkilledForce’s Wayne MacDougall.
Paul Richardson, managing director of Lindsay Yates, says the decision to undertake the program was prompted by the benefits of measuring all departments against specific company objectives. MacDougall, who now follows up to observe operations, confirmed that the program had achieved impressive results.
As well as calling specialists in, printers can head outside for help. It used to be called “going to tech”, and there is now a comprehensive network of TAFE colleges throughout Australia delivering a wide range of high standard training courses.
Alan Wetherell, education program manager at TAFE Ultimo, says the principal topics are print graphics, pre-press, finishing and desktop publishing. There are also short courses for industry start-up aspirants.
Lands Information Centre communications officer Anna Moran is one graduate who regularly won prizes during her course. She says the program provided her with a breath of industry knowledge not otherwise available. “This and much more made it far superior to in-house training, which tends to be a little limiting.”
Another recent graduate, Carter Holt Harvey’s Tim Bright, was equally positive about his TAFE experience. He says that as a result of his qualifications, his next step was a management role.
“[The TAFE course] gave me a very practical insight into the type of work I wanted to be involved in and it certainly helped me to advance my career”, he says.
It’s the type of sentiment that should be framed on the wall of every industry trainer, and ideally enshrined in training strategies across our industry.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter