Hey, there. Michael Stack here, CEO of Amaxx. I’m generally fairly handy. I worked in a wood shop in college for four years and I’ve always enjoyed sort of doing little projects. So will have a lot of fun doing projects around the house or working with the kids, teaching them some things, et cetera. There’s a lot of things that I can do, but there’s also a lot of things that I can’t do.
We’ve been working on expanding our bathroom for the last several months. It’s sort of a different story for why it’s taken so long. But about two weeks ago, my wife’s cousin is a licensed plumber, and he came out to help us install the new plumbing. We’re expanding our bathroom into some new closets and putting a new shower in, et cetera.
He comes out for the weekend, stays with us and brings a friend of his. And so we have a nice time. We get the project done, and all goes great. And while they were here, the plumbers were here, I was talking with my wife’s cousin’s friend, and he’s been in training to become a licensed plumber. And I asked him, well, how long does it take to become a licensed plumber? How many hours that you need.
8,000 Hours to Become Licensed Plumber
And he told me. It takes 8,000 hours of training to become a licensed plumber. 8,000 hours of training to become a licensed plumber. I want that number to sink in with you. I want that concept to sink in with you. And I want you to think about what it takes for your, particularly your skilled labor at your organization, of why you hired them. The training that they have to go through in order to get up to be a valued employee and the experience that they’ve had in working for you.
One of the biggest challenges that companies often face, particularly with skilled labor, is that they say, well, we just don’t have any transitional duty for these guys. They’re not that good at office work and we just can’t really find anything for them to do. And maybe that’s true. Maybe they’re not that very good at office work.
Think Creatively Regarding Transitional Duty
But ask yourself this question. Over the course of this 8,000 hours, or whatever the training looks like for your organization, do you think they learned anything? Do you think they picked up any intricacies about how to do that job better than the average guy that may come in, filling in as a replacement? Do you think that the value that they can bring to your organization can be still substantial even if they’re not at 100%?
I want to challenge your paradigm, challenge your thinking to put this number, or whatever it is at your organization, into some perspective. I want you to get creative in regards to your transitional duty, leverage the skills, leverage the experience, leverage the knowledge, leverage the expertise that your employees do have. Put them back to work, bringing value to your company and to themselves, as well. Dramatically improving their recovery. Dramatically driving down the cost of their claim.
Again, I’m Michael Stack, CEO of Amaxx, and remember your work today in worker’s compensation can have a dramatic impact on your company’s bottom line. But it will have a dramatic impact on someone’s life. So be great.
Author Michael Stack, CEO Amaxx LLC. He is an expert in workers’ compensation cost containment systems and helps employers reduce their workers’ comp costs by 20% to 50%. He works as a consultant to large and mid-market clients, is a co-author of Your Ultimate Guide To Mastering Workers Comp Costs, a comprehensive step-by-step manual of cost containment strategies based on hands-on field experience, and is founder & lead trainer of Amaxx Workers’ Comp Training Center .
Contact: [email protected].
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