Water Well Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/557876
T he National Ground Water Association will be offering training products from Learning Without Scars this fall. Learning Without Scars is a relative newcomer to the training business, having been incorporated in September 2014. However, it's a company created to combine the train- ing services available from R.J. Slee & Associates (yours truly) since 1984 and Quest Learning Centers since 1994. It features webinars, study programs, and certification op- portunities for parts and service operations. I'm really excited about it. Motivated to Learn I have been involved in education since I was a teacher at McGill University in Montreal early in my career. I love teaching and seeing the lights go on in people's eyes when they "get it." I think today more than at any previous time in my career, continuing education is critical. Finding talented, curious, and self-motivated employees is critical to the same degree. In order to succeed, any business is completely dependent on these employees for its success. Attracting, developing, and retaining talented employees is one of the most critical requirements of business. I began as a classroom lecturer teaching day and night classes. I saw the difference in the motivation of the night school students who were there with a serious purpose. Don't get me wrong—day students were there to learn as well, but their motivation was different. I believe the motivation of the workforce today has to come from a similar place. An associate of mine, Edward Gordon, wrote a book called Future Jobs: Solving the Employment and Skills Crisis in 2013. It talks about the changing dynamics of the workforce and predicted the large number of jobs currently still open without candidates today. The number of open jobs in America is 5,400,000. These are jobs that cannot currently be filled. Gordon anticipates the number will grow to well more than 10,000,000 by the end of the decade. Couple that with the shift in the workplace of the baby boomers to retirement—and we have a challenging time ahead. I still remember when I began in the workforce in 1968. I had a lot of questions, and I'm sure I was a real pain in the behind to a lot of my managers and mentors. I'm pleased to see nothing in this area has really changed. Young people wonder why we do things a certain way. I love that they question the status quo. It forces those of us who have been around for some time to rethink the answers to that age-old question: "Why do you do it that way?" Learning in a New Way I'm excited about the relationship we have developed with NGWA. I am particularly excited to be able to offer the train- ing products we have developed in Learning Without Scars. Within the range of product offerings are classroom semi- nars, a "new" form of webinars, and Internet-based self-study programs. We focus on the operations side of the business, parts operations and service operations, and also offer market- ing and selling training for the product support side of the business. This fall we are offering 41 webinars. Each is an hour of intense learning. We are the only company supporting the capital goods industry with an interactive webinar. We use a high-definition camera, and rather than sharing a computer screen during the webinar, we share a projection screen. This allows me to "turn off" the projection and walk into the image the learners are viewing. They will see me and hear me talking to them stressing critical elements from the RON SLEE THE AFTER MARKET STEP RIGHT UP A new training program is available for parts and service operators. Attracting, developing, and retaining talented employees is one of the most critical requirements of business. waterwelljournal.com 50 September 2015 WWJ NGWA Members Enjoy Special Pricing NGWA members can become a Learning Without Scars member for just $35 per calendar year, enabling them to enjoy special pricing on every LWS program offering. Do so by going to www.learningwithoutscars.com and click on Classes, Webinars, or Self-Study and go to the "Buy Membership" box. Then before purchasing any program, go to a section of the Class Enrollment page titled Additional Information. Enter your company name and job title and check NGWA from a list of associations. You will receive back a promo code to complete the registration. The code entitles you to a special $15 reduction. For webinars, this means you pay only $55 instead of the regular $70 price.