From the desk of Ben Rassieur: Developing today’s heat treating workforce

As the economy continues its slow recovery, hiring is increasing and more and more companies are looking for skilled talent to grow their businesses. As unemployment begins to dip once again, it’s incumbent upon business owners to invest in their workforce for the benefit of both their employees and their customers. A well-trained workforce is both more resilient to such dips in the economy and better able to help companies like Paulo deliver the best results for our clients.
Unfortunately, too little attention is paid to programs which help develop today’s workforce, and the heat treating industry is often no different. In 2016, for instance, around half of St. Louis business owners surveyed said that a lack of skilled workers was one of their biggest barriers to hiring for new positions. Similar reports have come from the other markets in which we have plants: Kansas City, Nashville, Murfreesboro and Cleveland.  Few parents and teachers, today, encourage their children to prepare for a career in manufacturing. This is why Paulo is committed to on-the-job training and continuing development for workers in the heat treating industry. We are determined to offer our employees the opportunity to develop by working with the most advanced techniques in metallurgical engineering and ensure that their on-the-job responsibilities are backed up by an understanding of the industry as a whole.
In terms of progression, we’re also committed to making sure that personal initiative and accountability are rewarded. Paulo has initiated a formal Management Development curriculum designed to do exactly that. It helps to guarantee that internal promotions are merit-based and reward the most effective members of our team.
We firmly believe that on-the-job training and plentiful opportunities for continuing education are more than just the right way to do business. All of our employees who affect product quality are trained and evaluated to ensure that they are qualified for the job. We’ve seen that investing in our employees increases job satisfaction and leads to higher staff retention rates, ultimately leading to better results for our customers and more repeat orders.
We’re proud of the work we’ve done in developing the heat treating workforce of tomorrow, but like our employees, we know the business of learning and growth is never done. Paulo is committed to continuing to invest in creating the most skilled heat treating workers in the field. We have recently tripled the size of our Human Resource Development team to ensure that we are acquiring the best talent, providing the best training and identifying the best fit between Paulo’s people needs and the talents of our team members.
Because we know that, ultimately, we’re only as good as our people.