Director Jimmie Jordan, Jr. reviews apprenticeship retention strategies
In a move that hadn’t been accomplished for several years, Florida Regional Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer James Banks recently hosted an in-service session for all Council and Training staff to come together and focus on Council goals, specifically the goal of increasing membership by five percent in 2022.
Although the Council is on track to meet the five percent goal, EST Banks said the time was right to illustrate to all staff how they fit into the bigger picture of Council and Training operations and how to emulate successful strategies done by their co-workers to retain members.
Over the course of one-and-a-half days, training, field and office staff met in Ft. Lauderdale to hear about key programs meant to increase membership. Jimmie Jordan, Jr., State Director of the Florida Carpenters Training Trust Fund, outlined the status of an apprentice outreach program that he implemented in July 2021.
“We spend a lot of time and effort in recruiting, so it is a natural progression to work just as effectively to retain as many as possible,” Jordan said.
Under the plan, full-time instructors and coordinators contact apprentices at least monthly to see how they are doing, if they have any questions or concerns, and if they are working. If they aren’t, the caller makes sure the apprentice is on the ready-to-work list.
“Careful records are kept regarding the contacts, to help track success of the program, because what gets measured, gets improved!” Jordan added.
EST James Banks hosted and presented at the in-service training
Staff also learned how to use a newly rolled-out member retention system currently underway in Central Florida, where members who are - or who are at risk of becoming - delinquent can get back on track.
“Our goal was to encourage staff to think about how to complete both long-term and immediate tasks with our Council goals in mind,” said EST Banks. “All of our staff members do a wonderful job individually. We wanted to harness that energy and competency and bring them all together to share ideas and tips to raise our productivity and efficiency level even higher.”
“We are one team with a clear goal: Increase membership,” said EST Banks. “Achieving this goal will have a positive effect on virtually every aspect of our service to our members. More members means greater ability to answer labor demands from our employers, which means more work for everyone. That translates into higher contributions to pension and other vital member service funds, and that means a better quality of life for our members and their families.”
“It all starts with a laser-focused staff, and I believe that’s exactly what we have here in the Florida Regional Council of Carpenters.”