With a strong labor issue in the housing industry there is an equally strong need to invest in training. Training provides opportunities to create efficiencies and productivity, offers an intrinsic value to your employees, creates better succession planning, and reduces turnover. Depending on your employee base, a huge variety of training opportunities exist, some leveraging technology to be more impactful, and others leveraging hands-on experiences.

Mark LaLiberte, principal partner at a leading training service called Construction Instruction, points out that consumer expectations will continue to put pressure on builders to build higher quality product, which bottom line translates to the need for a more skilled workforce.

Here, Forrest Performance Group's Jason Forrest, CEO and chief culture officer, and Mary Marshall, vice president of sales and marketing, speak to the strength of marrying technology and training. In this short video, they point out the ways that technology can help remove geographical barriers and provide a platform for trainees to develop and contribute to content.

LaLiberte says technology is appearing more and more on jobsites, but it’s typically used for looking at designs or the bill of materials and rarely for a training opportunity.

“The biggest issue is our industry,” LaLiberte says. “The business is so challenged by the complexity of product and regional issues. Regional areas change training dramatically, what’s available in that area along with skill sets in that area.”

In Utah, 2006 state code for home building was expanded to 2022, even though an improved 2018 code exists. According to LaLiberte, the extension helps builders avoid a next level of training, but it compromises the quality of energy performance for new homes.

Jaren Davis, executive officer at the Salt Lake Home Builders Association, explains that the state wants to provide legislation to help promote housing. In this case, the builder is able to moderate the spend on training to offer a more affordable product. “We’re all for [energy performance], but it needs to be practical,” Davis says.

Changing the building process is the right direction for the industry. That's what Clayton Homes is working toward, as BUILDER's John McManus explores in this in depth report. LaLiberte agrees that the industry should be headed in the direction of automation and process improvements, which will ultimately help to align higher quality product with consumer expectations.

“There certainly is an opportunity for technology to popularize training content,” LaLiberte says. “I could see using technology to leverage a skilled worker on-site, use their knowledge and convert it to knowledge in the field."

This story appears as it was originally published on our sister site, www.hiveforhousing.com.