Importance of Hourly SME's in Organizational Culture 2013 VPPA-Region IX Conference

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture Overview – What defines a company’s culture? What does it look like? What is an SME? – Why should you develop an SME program? Culture Development Employee Ownership – What should you expect from a program? Technical expertise Employee involvement and solution based thinking – Who should be involved in the SME program? Hourly vs. Salary – How do you go about building a program? Developing the infrastructure to ensure quality of instruction and jobsite application of the learning Appropriate follow up/follow through (‘Inspect what you Expect’

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture First things first…. – Define where your culture is today versus where do you want it to be – From the outside looking in, what would others say is the most important values to your company Two different approaches depending on current culture status. – Already strong –focus on the program – Not there yet – focus on the benefits and build the culture with the development of the program For the purposes of this discussion, we must assume to start with a supportive culture, then work from the inside out; both scenarios are workable – How will the development of a healthy SME program be a staple of the strength of your culture?

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture What is a Subject Matter Expert? Someone who… – Been there the longest? – Been to the most outside training? – Is the best teacher? – Is the ‘go to’ person in your workplace during challenging circumstances? Defined one way online as… “The Subject Matter Expert is that individual who exhibits the highest level of expertise in performing a specialized job, task, or skill within the organization.”

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture The first questions to ask in evaluating your organizational culture is... – What is the most important asset in your company’s arsenal of valuable resources? People, Equipment, Brand, Profit? Where does the company invest financially? – How are employees valued in your organization? Empowered, Delegated to, Accountable – What steps does the company take to continuously develops its human capital/knowledge base? – Most importantly…your culture is around when you are not…whether it is a good one or a bad one determines those results!

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture Why Implement an SME Program? – What does a culture look like where the members of the team are not valued? How do the members of the team see their role within the organization…do they feel their contribution is valued? – Changing workplace technology upgrades require an equal pace of training to be maintained – Economic downturn has created the need to preserve and grow the individuals’ value to the company – As a result of the workplace climate, ‘competitive employment’ (headhunters) have begun to poach high performers as leaders in other organizations – Defining career advancement pathways is the key to retaining the talent pool for Gen Y workforce

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture What should you expect from an SME program? – Greater ownership of each employee in the greater goal of the organization Goals that are not just monetary or numeric Goals that provide for sustainability, cultural growth, enrichment, and “operational wisdom” – Opportunities for SME’s to play a role in project teams, training of peers, ownership of the process within your facility – Stewardship of the direction of the facility-true participants in the process of developing goals and direction for your plant – Experience + Education =Success SME program provides structured path to ‘Success’

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture Why should your company invest in SME’s? – High performance workforce vs. just working for a paycheck Personal significance of the individuals that make up the team Workgroup that understands the ‘why’ and not simply following orders and checking a box – Contractor management by individuals that understand the work; reducing contractor waste, underperforming contractors, and proper contractor guidance – Work load that may have been previously outsourced could soon be brought in-house

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture What should you expect from a program? – Technical Expertise Be mindful of defining levels of expertise (what is an ‘expert’ and what is an ‘expert in training’ Create opportunities to utilize newly learned information and techniques – Employee engagement in planning and ownership of the processes in your facility – Well defined pathways for each designation of SME Coursework/seminars should be vetted and curricula/syllabi should be verified Base set of coursework with variations dependent on SME tracts or specializations

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture Who should be involved in the SME program? – Hourly employees Operational Maintenance Office Staff Technical Experts – Union vs. Non-Union – Salary employees Niche Specific Task Specific

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture How do you go about building an SME program? – What not to do? Leave unstructured and open for interpretation Can create inequality of mistreatment of the training opportunities within your team Utilize SME’s as the only means for expertise – Stay current with industry standards Penalize SME for involvement or ownership – Take proper care in nurturing the development of the experts

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture How do you go about building the infrastructure of the SME Program? – Identify the specific SME areas – Identify potential sources for SME training Onsite/OJT Offsite courses (college or otherwise) Training seminars Company-provided training (in-house) – Vet your training resources for content validity and application to your worksite**

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture Provide application after each ‘training session’ or at least semi-annually if OJT is the primary means of training – Research tasks – Project management – Contractor reviews – Safety Meeting presentation/teaching moments – Involvement in leadership planning meetings – Reviews of existing equipment or processes to evaluate for Best Management Practices Bottom line…inspect what you expect Just like any onsite expert, there is always more to learn and no expertise is ever a destination but a journey

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture The Bottom Line… – An SME program isn’t about the $ bottom line $ – The program is designed to improve/support strong organizational culture through… Employee ownership of the workplace and its processes Lifelong learning as a means of continual improvement Makes no difference what your title is today…You need to make your culture a ‘buyer’ of a good SME Program Continual means to raise the bar of operational efficiency and employee knowledge – Knowledge is a very powerful tool to promote operational safety!!!

Importance of SME’s in Organizational Culture Questions???