Education begins at home

Paul O’Brien, brand director of Kitchens International, says companies should stop moaning and focus on staff training

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the USA, once said: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

That statement has been a huge motivator for me personally, and in my business life.

There are differing opinions as to its core meaning, but for me it is a simple metaphor for how important continuous growth and development is – for individuals and businesses.

It represents the importance of taking time to reflect, plan and prepare for the future.

How much time are you spending sharpening your axe?

I’d also like to share one of my other favourite quotes from Albert Einstein: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

I quote it regularly to people in our industry who have been telling me the same story over the past two decades. You know, it’s the story that goes… ‘Once upon a time there were no good, designers, installers, managers, etc… The End!’ There never seems to be a positive end to this story, and the people reciting it are certainly not living happily ever after.

Well, I will share a secret with you. There is a wealth of talent currently in our industry, and a new generation with untapped potential ready to join. They require two things to enable them to flourish, namely, the right environment, and the opportunity. I’ll expand upon this later.

Paul O'Brien
Paul O’Brien

There is a real focus and much debate on the subject matter of education and training platforms in our industry. I have spoken with numerous individuals and businesses that I absolutely believe have a genuine desire to make a difference. From my perspective, there has to be clear vision and purpose in place in order to gain buy-in and momentum, otherwise parties will fragment into separate silos, each asking the same old question… what’s in it for me?

For me, it’s not about what we need to do, but why we need to do it?

So what’s my ‘why’?

I joined an industry that was a world away from where we are today, and although I hold no claim to having a university degree, my technical drawing and art teachers would be proud of how I used those skills in my early years as a kitchen designer. Over the past 20 years, I’ve watched, and in some way hopefully contributed, to our industry developing into a respected sector. The calibre of designers, quality of installers, and the skill-sets of management are far more professional now than they ever were in the past, and I have no doubt that it will continue to progress in the future.

I have a responsibility to provide my staff with the very best opportunities to learn, and I will continue to offer my support to any initiatives that develop confident and capable succession within our industry. To this end, I remain optimistic that the current focus on training and education will serve our future industry well.

Which brings me to my main point: education begins at home.

There is absolutely nothing to be gained by continually moaning about the so-called skills gap in our industry. It is a complete waste of energy and valuable time to randomly point fingers of blame at others.

I suggest that your business, and indeed your sanity, would be better served by actively doing something about it.

As a business owner, I can completely empathise with other retailers who are faced with the challenge of training and recruiting new staff, but unless you seriously focus on ‘sharpening the axe’, you will be left behind.

I believe education does indeed start at home and that by creating the right environment – one that makes time for workforce development – amazing results will follow.

Most independent retail businesses are a direct reflection of their owners, which simply means, that if you don’t make the time to grow, then neither will your business.

Your ongoing commitment to learning and training will form the culture of your business, and subsequently your team will be directly educated by the environment in which they work.

As the director responsible for training at Kitchens International, I am in no doubt that the development of our current crop of apprentice fitters is enhanced by the calibre of their senior journeyman installer. It is they who set the standards and share the values of ‘why we do’ what we do. Similarly, all our retail branches are managed by staff that started their careers as design technicians within our company. This provides a foundation on which they can build, by using their intellect to reason and form judgements.

I’m not suggesting this is an overnight fix, nor is it my attempt to try to impress you, but it is most certainly is my intent to impress upon you the importance of self-help.

I encourage you to start by taking small steps. Find out what your business is missing, find out what skills need developing and, most importantly, make the time.

If you cannot commit a full day a week to training, then start by taking an hour a week. It is a true saying that ‘first we make our habits, and then our habits make us’.

My final point goes out to business owners who have a responsibility for supporting the development of new staff – for God’s sake, give them the opportunity.

I believe there is wealth of untapped talent in the industry and, just as these guys have a responsibility to keep progressing, business owners have a responsibility to give them a chance.

The biggest failing of independent retailers is being unable to delegate. It’s no good thinking, ‘They’re just too slow, they don’t have my knowledge, it’s easier to do it myself’. Nothing will change unless you give them the chance to prove you wrong. Give them real responsibility and be prepared to accept that they are going to make mistakes.

If not, nothing will change and you’ll simply become another statistic to support dear Mr Einstein’s viewpoint on insanity.

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