Livonia, Mich., July 26, 2011 – As manufacturers across Michigan respond rapidly to increasing production requests after having drastically scaled back their facilities in recent years, demand from clients is placing undue stress on line managers and supervisors. In response to this demand, Davenport University has recently been engaged with a consortium of Michigan manufacturers to provide a series of workshops to help line workers and supervisors effectively address these challenges.
Modules such as “How to Teach a New Job”, “Motivating Employees” and “First Time Supervisor” are available for line managers, while topics such as “Business Ethics” and “Gaining Mastery of Your Time” are offered to production workers. Classes are available in morning and evening sessions to accommodate first through third-shift workers, and take place inside the manufacturing facilities.
Focusing on increasing employees’ communication and leadership skills makes a difference in manufacturing environments, where personnel changes between shifts often impact productivity. “We believe that providing our staff with tools to effectively communicate makes a difference in how they are perceived both on and off the floor,” said Manager Kurpinski of Butterball Farms. “We asked Davenport to help us with this goal because of their record as a solid partner and training provider.”
According to Davenport University Executive Vice President for Organizational Development, Dave Veneklase, the advantage of working with an educational institution on business challenges such as these translates into long-term opportunity for session participants. “Davenport is able to offer University credit for many of the training classes we provide,” said Veneklase. “Many organizations choose to work with us because they are able to maximize the value of the education and stretch their tuition assistance dollars in a way that makes a lasting difference in the lives of their employees.”
To learn more about employee training opportunities for your manufacturing facility, please contact Dave Veneklase of the Institute for Professional Excellence at Davenport University atdave.veneklase@davenport.edu.
