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Minnesota Power’s Approach to Employee Training
A major issue for many power companies is the challenge to locate, hire and train a well-qualified workforce. The ongoing retirements of seasoned power plant personnel (operators, mechanics, instrumentation and control (I&C) technicians, electricians and other skilled workers) is a serious issue across the country and internationally. To meet this challenge, leading power companies are offering their employees various types of “blended learning”. Blended learning simply means that combining multiple training methodologies (for example, classroom training, structured training, Web-based training and other methods) produces a more effective training program. The blended approach has shown that cost will be lower, the level of knowledge comprehension will be higher and the time to complete the training will be shorter.
Perhaps no one knows this better than Minnesota Power Operations Training Administrator John Batchelder. Batchelder is based at MP’s Boswell Energy Center and is a 29-year MP veteran who initially gained operations expertise while serving in the Navy. John is currently using a Web-based “learning portal” (General Physics’ GPiLearn portal) as are around 140 other power companies to manage the training and qualification of new and existing employees.
John’s experience has taught him that people are task-oriented in fulfilling job responsibilities - sometimes they can overlook how vital their work is to co-workers. Which is why, he says, training offered to MP employees needs to include the big-picture fundamentals on how electricity is generated. “You can’t put the roof on the walls of your career home before you build the foundation,” Batchelder says.
MP established the Operations Training Administrator position in 1999. As soon as he got the job, Batchelder began working to improve training opportunities for Boswell employees. His approach was based on a “something for everyone” philosophy; providing a variety of opportunities from beginner to advanced levels.
In 2004, John’s focus was expanded to meet his department goal of enhancing training at all MP plants by December 2005. Al Hodnik, Senior Vice President of MP Operations, also wanted to develop an enhanced growth and development plan for the Production Coordinator job position. Since classroom training was becoming more challenging to conduct due to staffing levels and scheduling issues, John investigated the potential benefits associated with “Web-based training” (WBT) to help improve the reach and cost-effectiveness of MP training programs. As the accompanying graph shows, WBT has grown substantially over the past several years and MP wanted to take advantage of the various benefits.
In conjunction with his supervisor, Madelen Schuemannn, Thermal Business Operations Manager, Batchelder analyzed several WBT vendor offerings. After reviewing the capabilities and curricula of each company, the GPiLearn System was selected as being best suited for their needs based on price, quality and the applicability of training modules.
At first, MP offered employees the chance to sign up for 100 company-paid training seats. Since then, employee interest in the GPiLearn Web-based curricula on power generation fundamentals has grown substantially and MP has increased the number of training seats to 200. Due to the efforts led by Batchelder and MP’s training site coordinators, as well as feedback from employees, the GPiLearn training content has been augmented with MP-specific training developed internally. “Right now, employees can tap into a total of 3,200 lessons and tests,” Batchelder said, from the following WBT topics: - Power fundamentals: 23 courses on power plant theory, equipment and math
- Mechanical maintenance: 23 courses for mechanics
- Electrical maintenance: 12 courses for electricians
- Instrumentation and control: 20 courses for I&C technicians
- Plant operations: 15 courses for power plant operators
- Coal handling: 15 courses for coal and material handling personnel
- Boiler water chemistry: 5 courses on boiler water quality control
- Heat rate: 10 courses on power plant efficiency
- Combined cycle fundamentals: 7 courses for GE Frame 7FA and Siemens 501F gas turbine-based power plants
- OSHA compliance: 39 courses addressing Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulatory compliance
- Environmental compliance: 17 courses addressing environmental regulatory compliance.
The MP site training coordinators can create specific curriculums for different job positions (or levels), then track and administer the progress of each employee through the GPiLearn portal.
To augment the core training content, Batchelder and the site coordinators consulted with a GP training specialist to develop several training curriculums. As employees complete the lessons at their own pace, they build their knowledge base and progress to the next level. For example, a craft worker can advance from basic math skills to more specific topics like gauges and instrumentation. “The training helps them handle their specific jobs better,” Batchelder said. “Because they now have power generation basics under their belts, they also have that big-picture view. Instead of just recalibrating an instrument, they know why the recalibration is important to their plant’s operation.”
Because each MP plant has specific training needs, Batchelder said an I&C training development group, consisting of senior I&C personnel from MP plants spent time traveling to each plant, discussing training needs specific to each location, and then creating a lesson plan germane to each location.
Interest in generation-wide learning has also sparked creation of an operator apprenticeship position. “In operations, the apprenticeship program was revitalized and that created more interest in training,” Batchelder said. “Those of us leading the training development initiatives learned a lot from watching how well the fuels area had earlier created an apprenticeship for a fuels technician job; they really broke the ice for all of us in how to create employee training levels.” He said that when employees successfully complete an apprenticeship, they’re also certified by the state as demonstrating expertise in their crafts. That means they can take certification status with them wherever their career takes them; to another position at MP or a utility across the country.
Tests are included for employees enrolled in the WBT program. “They go through what’s called the ‘check sheet’ to demonstrate their knowledge,” Batchelder said. The industry standard is for people to retain 70 percent of the training they go through, so that’s MP’s standard, too. If employees don’t pass the first time, they can take the test again. Both employee and supervisor can also check on the employee’s progression through training levels at any time.
“The goal is to encourage people to want to learn and to help them achieve their goals, whether it’s to do their current jobs better or to be promoted,” Batchelder said.
Supervisors like the new approach. First of all, employees have demonstrated interest. MP’s Boswell Energy Center alone has 81 people enrolled. Most interest has been evinced by operators, fuels and instrumentation crafts employees; they comprise 99 percent of the 138 employees MP-wide, who have registered. Second, anyone regardless of their department may enroll.
Third, the approach has inspired several supervisors to contact Batchelder to ask whether additional training can be developed to help their employees achieve licenses required for certain MP positions. Fourth, strong interest among supervisors of new MP engineers has been shown to ensure that their staff gets the appropriate power fundamentals training.
And fifth, it’s sparked development of more apprenticeships, as well as new training development for specific apprenticeships. For example, General Manager-Thermal Operations Mike Hambrock and Supervisor-Hydro Operations Tom Hughes contacted Batchelder to develop and create a hydro operations apprenticeship. The group is now developing that apprenticeship along with appropriate Web-based training curriculum.
Through GP’s “co-funding” option, MP, Ameren, Colorado Springs Utilities and other power companies are financially supporting creation of more GP training modules. “It’s good for all parties involved,” Batchelder said. “GP can offer more training to all their clients, and co-funding utilities can get the training they want to develop for their own employees.” For example, GP worked with Nalco to add their water quality courses to GPiLearn in the third quarter of 2006. Additional training programs for hydro plant operators, wind farm technicians, waste-to-energy plant operators and other job positions will be available in late 2006 and the first quarter of 2007.
Looking back over what’s happened in just one year, Batchelder says it’s gratifying to see employees responding to, and stepping up to help develop, more training opportunities.
“We dropped a pebble into a pond a year ago and it’s just incredible how the ripples have spread.”
Author: Julie Aho is a public affairs writer for Minnesota Power and Allete Co.
Power Engineering November, 2006
Author(s) :
Julie Aho
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