Created by:
The Centre for
Education and Work
www.cewca.org

GT Machining & Fabricating

GT Machining & Fabricating (GTM&F) has about 100 employees working in a total of four plants, three in the industrial complex just south of the 401 highway in the town of Napanee, Ontario, and the fourth plant, the Mold Shop, about 10 km north of the 401 on "Goodyear Road" near a manufacturing facility of the large tire manufacturer, Goodyear Rubber Tire Company. Each plant is specialized to its own product line. Plant 1 has approximately 25 employees; Plant 2 has 32 employees; Plant 3 has 11 employees; and Plant 4 has 17 employees. The company enjoys the active management involvement of the owners, but also has a General Manager, plant manager/supervisors for each site and a Human Resources Coordinator, plus sales and office staff.

The contracts handled by GTM&F range from small, specialized machining and fabricating jobs to major contracts with the U.S. military and the military of European countries, plus Goodyear Tire and Bombardier. The plants are structured to handle efficiently the wide variety of contracts the company receives, many of which are ongoing and long term. Many employees have been with the company for many years and have worked their way up the ranks through GTM&F's policy of promoting from within. Unlike the other plants, the Mold Shop operates 24/7 with 4 shifts per 24 hours. An unusual aspect is that the Mold Shop's weekend and night shift employees work at the Goodyear plant just down the road, not at GTM&F's own facility, where they clean and service the tire molds previously sold to Goodyear by GTM&F.

GTM&F is an innovative learning organization. One way this is demonstrated is through the company's focus on effective problem-solving. When a large contract is initiated, there is a sit-down, often lengthy, strategic planning meeting held of all the key players and stakeholders in the company that will be involved in delivering the contract. All aspects are hashed out in advance, in an equitable way, so that everyone knows their roles, the project objectives and structure, and the anticipated issues. These meetings, as well as the monthly meetings of the senior managers, human resource coordinator and supervisors, are efficient in terms of facilitating effective workflow, and also function as important on-the-job learning mechanisms for both junior and senior staff in the organization. All participants in these meetings benefit from observing how others tackle and solve problems, and because of these observations, know who to ask for advice as particular problems emerge on a day-to-day basis.

The Human Resources Coordinator and General Manager facilitated the introduction of these meetings, in spite of the initial opposition of the company's owners who were concerned about the time-off from work for the participants in the meetings, but the owners are now full supporters, as they have seen the pay-off in productivity and increased learning. GTM&F has a policy of promoting from within, and ensures that staff have opportunities for external formal training - the company supports tuition costs and time-off from work for this training. Opportunities for on-the-job learning are also made available, through cross-training, observing and special assignments. Each employee's needs and style of learning are considered and, although the learning plans are not formalized, management ensures that appropriate experiences come the way of employees who show an interest in learning more about their current job or other jobs in the company. The company's philosophy is that employees should be challenged in every role at the company and a training plan is formulated to "bridge the gap" in the learning for each employee.

The supervisors express high regard for the learning focus of the company and feel that the learning opportunities they have in their jobs have increased their effectiveness as practitioners. They feel there is strong support for them from all of the senior managers -- the owners, the General Manager and the Human Resources Coordinator. Many have received promotions since starting with the company, in spite of the fact that some do not have a lot of formal education in production management. All felt they could readily consult with others at their own level and with senior management on an "as-needed" basis, and that the managers' doors "are always open".

The Human Resources Coordinator was referred to the WILM consultant by a former supervisor whose organization had also participated in the WILM research study. He thought participation in the WILM research would be an opportunity for GTM&F to learn more about the various competencies required and practiced by the senior supervisors in the organization. After explaining the purpose of the WILM research and the process to the company's owners, and gaining their go-ahead for the company to participate in the study, he contacted the four supervisors and briefed them to prepare them for a call from the WILM consultant to set up appointments. The HR Coordinator remained available for the WILM consultant, but did not involve himself directly in the interviews. After the process was completed, the WILM consultant shared an anonymous compilation of the results of the four interviews with the HR Coordinator, and he reviewed this document carefully. He said he would be using these results to plan further training experiences, and expressed great interest in seeing the final report of the WILM research across Canada.