At the time of writing we don’t yet know if the All Blacks will win a historic third consecutive Rugby World Cup, but they’re looking like a decent bet.
Quite apart from being an entertaining sports team to watch on the field, they’re also an inspirational organisation to observe and learn from.
There is of course no single secret to their successful winning record; it’s a combination of many things. Their skills are excellent, their fitness and strength are world class, and the depth of players in every position in New Zealand rugby certainly helps too.
But one of their often-overlooked strengths is their culture of learning. With a brilliant coaching team and some really smart people helping with the soft skills, this is a team that has made learning a key part of its DNA. They learn from their wins, and they learn from their losses.
Here at Entec, we are working on how we can improve our performance as a learning organisation. Why do we think this is important?
Well, just like the All Blacks we employ really smart people who are really good at their jobs and who are interested in improving themselves and advancing their careers. We think that developing a core competency around learning is good for our people, good for our customers, and good for our own organisation.
We invest significantly in training for our people…
- We currently have 10 apprentices (around 12% of our total workforce) in the instrumentation, electrical or mechanical trades.
- We continually invest in OEM factory training courses to upskill our rotating equipment and gas detection service technicians, and to keep pace with new product developments.
- We’ve recently had staff graduating with tertiary qualifications in accounting and management.
- We have specialist training currently planned for staff in the fields of electrical inspection, rotating equipment alignment and failure analysis.
- In 2018 we trained 24 of our team in the principles and practices of lean management, aiming to bring in a culture of continuous improvement, better workplace management and reduction of inefficiencies across our business.
- We have eight of our management and supervisory staff enrolled in a 12-month Active Management Programme to build our management skill base.
- And our leadership team attends three workshops per year which cover strategy and leadership topics.
And on top of all of that, we are developing better ways of learning as an organisation. Simple things like asking ourselves, “What went well?” and “Where could we improve?”.
It’s an old cliché but it’s true – our best asset is our people. We’re really focused on attracting and retaining the best people we can.
