Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1464867
14 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2022 much more competent and proficient than I would be trying to pick up auto mechanics on my own, piecemeal, a little bit here and there, without any kind of formalized training. Without that kind of formalized training program to put people through, you will have a very slow ascension to full productivity, and you also must deal with the potential side effects of training on the job like that, such as picking up bad habits and shortcuts that other people are using. You won't learn the vocab- ulary that everyone is using to communicate, or there may not even be a vocabulary that is shared amongst your teams, because everyone's learn- ing on their own. Having a formalized training process really moves the needle sig- nificantly forward in getting and keeping quality people. Barry Matties: What charac- teristics are you looking for in someone who might have a higher degree of success? For instance, Happy Holden always says that when he was hiring people, he looked for people who can solve prob- lems. Hernandez: It really depends on the role you're looking for, but my gen- eral rule has always been to find people who are curious, because curious people want to continuously learn. To be efficient in the long term in this industry, it's a process of continu- ous education. Oen, we settle for people who know their jobs will be the same every single day, pushing these same buttons, and they're comfortable with that. But I want to find peo- ple who are uncomfortable with that, who have a desire to learn. Feinberg: When you look at skill sets, it seems you're looking at ones you might need later. Identifying some potential future-needed skills could be very helpful. Are you seeing that? Hernandez: Yes, and part of the challenge is that we need people who think of their jobs as careers. Let's say that you start off as an oper- ator. e most I can offer you is that you're going to be an operator making more money 10 years from now. at's not much of a career, though. at's just a job. ose are the people you lose to the company across the street or to Amazon because they're paying them a little bit more money. Johnson: How can I grow that person? How do I develop a relationship with my employ- ees to grow, develop, and improve? at doesn't hap- pen in a vacuum. How does a PCB fabrication company start to set that up if they don't have one already? Hernandez: at's where we get into something that we call career pathways: Today you're an operator, and we will train you for these skill sets. at person across from you taking those boards and inspecting them before they get shipped off to the customer is an inspector. at job has a whole different set of skill sets. You tell your operator, "You can, over time, grow those skill sets by doing these different jobs here and by taking these training pro- grams." You've now given that person a clear roadmap of where they can go if they put in the time and effort. You, as an organization, then provide the resources. Feinberg: People are building new skills, but are they retaining and using them? Is the com- pany putting those skills to use, and can you measure it?