Exceeding Expectations

In 2004, WBI executives developed a 2005-2010 WBI Strategic Plan. One of the initiativesincluded in the Plan provided for the establishment of an executive management trainingprogram. In January 2008, a twenty hour training course began, with presentations on basicexecutive management skills as well as units on management of capital, projects, informationand risk management. All seventeen members of that historic first class graduated in June2008, followed by a second class that graduated in February 2009. Courses that related to theemployee’s job responsibilities were reimbursed by the company based on the employee’s graderesults, with final grades of A or B fully reimbursable.bWith increasingly complex projects and ever-tighter schedule deadlines, its well-trained workforce allowed Wayne Brothers to grow from horizontal projects to massive cast-in-place verticalconstructions and heavy excavations. WBI occupied a unique place among area concrete subcontractorsin that it could combine site and utilities services offered by its Civil and InfrastructureDivision, with excavations, foundations, and complex structural concrete placement by itsconcrete divisions. Milton Chicas pointed out that the registered apprenticeship training programalso resulted in less employee turnover and fostered better relations between employees andmanagement.Client companies also appreciated WBI’s emphasis on training. Keith Williams, lead safetymanager for the Manufacturing & Life Science and Chemicals Business Groups of CH2M HILL,noted that Wayne Brothers had completed six projects for those Business Groups within the pastfive years, on schedule and ‘incident-free.’” He described the “real strength” of Wayne Brothers as:their intensive training program. Under the tutelage of senior training manager, Jim Lunsford,Wayne Brothers has the most advanced supervisor training system this manager has everseen. Recently, I was asked to participate in a training seminar where all upper managersand field supervisors spent two days understanding how to accept and promote personalaccountability in their lives and at work. I know of no construction team so focused on thedevelopment of safety leadership training materials and that is continually spending moretime and funds on training than the leadership team of Wayne Brothers. I have never seen aprogram this aggressive within any other organization.The emphasis on training fit well with the companion emphasis on safety on the job site.To make the OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 hour construction courses more readily available to WBIA New47