Education is the lifeblood for growth for individuals and companies. With the constant changes in today’s world involving technology and now with artificial intelligence (AI) being thrust at us, it’s important to recognize that no matter what level of education a person has attained, continued and constant learning is a requirement for our future successful existence.
At Cleary Building Corp., we recognized certain deficiencies in education and training, or gaps in knowledge that prevented top performance or limited the successful outcomes that we had standardized. Instead of making excuses, we decided that to better control our destiny and growth, we needed to close or eliminate those gaps so that we could help expedite our team and our company in excelling at what we do.
Steely decision
We decided to create our own education center. We started with the name, and since many of our products are built with steel, we called our institution “Steelwood University.” We then created a logo and registered the name.
The next step was to develop the initial curriculum and courses. We knew that future evolution would have to be a fluid process with more courses being created, and that continuing change to existing courses would be needed to accommodate the ever-changing needs of our clients and our team.
For step 3, we looked at deficiencies and gaps in knowledge and training. This helped us create the agenda and the syllabus.
Step 4 was identifying the amount of time to allocate to the various sections of each course, and then who was the best person to teach these sections.
Step 5 was creating tests and setting minimum scores for passing that we felt would represent acquired knowledge to be successful.
Many courses are one week long, and when completed, we have a graduation ceremony. We have a corporate-to-college program with Madison College tied to some of our courses within Steelwood U.
Staying the course
Cleary Building Corp. has 20 courses today and many training videos that we produce in-house with our media team. Our extensive training programs are a powerful tool in the development of future leaders. Through our custom training and certification programs, both new and veteran employees are taught the fundamentals of success, leadership, and customer service.
Our philosophy encompasses more than just the manufacturing and construction of a high-quality product. We are building leaders as well. You can too.
Sean Cleary is president of Cleary Building Corp.
