Training: Teach Your Employees Well

Finfrock Design-Manufacture-Construct
(No. 36 Midsized)

Finfrock, a design-build company based in Apopka, employs a training manager and a full-time videographer to create safety, training and instructional videos. [Photo: Finfrock Design Manufacture-Construct]

Finfrock Design-Manufacture-Construct, an Apopka-based firm that designs, manufactures and constructs parking structures, has a training manager and full-time videographer on staff who helps the company create its own videos, PowerPoints and video/PowerPoint combinations on 20 topics, including finishing concrete, product handling and fall protection. The company also offers its 185 employees optional “lunch and learn” programs with videos and outside speakers on a variety of topics. Finfrock pays 100% of the cost of outside seminars and provides tuition reimbursement for longer classes that are approved and relevant to the company.

.decimal
(No. 11 Midsized)

Sanford-based .decimal (pronounced dot decimal), which provides radiation therapy products to hospitals and cancer centers, has a full-time training manager who coordinates the company’s in-house learning initiative, called “l.d.” Each employee has a spreadsheet showing training required, completed and annual requirements. The company also provides CPR training periodically and offers outside tuition reimbursement on a case-by-case basis.

ABB Concise
(No. 21 Midsized)

ABB Concise, a Coral Springs-based distributor of contact lenses and other optical products, spends about $100,000 annually on training and is developing an “Academy of Excellence” to track and create training programs to meet the company’s “ever-changing needs.” The academy will offer both online training through the web as well as instructor-led courses for employees. Each employee at the firm receives specific training in his or her department as well as on-the-job training supplemented by outside education/seminars. ABB executive coordinator Nan Callan says the company has not cut back on training, but has actually increased it. “With fewer people, we believe training is even more important to continue.”

Fairwinds Credit Union
(No. 5 Large)

Fairwinds Credit Union in Orlando does 99% of its training in-house, with classroom, video and online courses. Entry-level employees in member services participate in a four-to-six-month self-study promotion program, with a final test that promotes them to a second-level services representative. Once at that level they get a 4% raise. The credit union also provides tuition reimbursement for undergraduate or graduate-level classes that are career-related, paying up to $4,000 for undergrad and $5,500 for graduate school. Employees unable to pay tuition upfront can also get no-interest loans from Fairwinds and then use the tuition reimbursement to pay back the loan.

Insurance Office of America
(No. 37 Midsized)

Insurance Office of America in Altamonte Springs spends about $96,000 annually on group classes and outside training for its employees, each of whom receives on average between 25 and 61 hours of training per year. The company has a team of employees who work with new hires and assist current employees who need a refresher on procedures. The company also offers training through an employee assistance program that covers subjects such as stress reduction and financial planning. Marnie Blaser, corporate recruiting manager, says that cutting their training budget is not an option. “Continued education is required for our employees to maintain current licenses. We work to train our employees as efficiently and productively as possible, but this is not something that can be eliminated; it is a priority.”