Workforce Training: Crafting Tomorrow’s Workforce
Newport News Shipbuilding supports career education beginning in the local schools and advancing to senior employees.
Lea A.P. Tonkin, editor in chief
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| This 2006 photo shows the hull painting of the aircraft carrier George H. W. Bush. |
Don’t wait for tomorrow’s workers and leaders to knock on your door, skilled and workplace-ready. You need to reach them, cultivate needed understanding and skills, and let them know about career opportunities in
This nuclear shipyard continues to update and sharpen its strategies for attracting, training, developing, and retaining its future workforce. “There is a greater sense of urgency across the entire business,” said John Shifflett, NNS director of leadership, professional, and technical development. “We do have a maturing workforce. We also have a sizeable order backlog; our output requirement is substantial. Through industry and education and government, we need to prepare our kids to go to work.
“We have been involved in workforce development for many years,” Shifflett said. He cited the shipyard’s respected Apprentice School as a key factor in providing a highly skilled workforce for the yard and in various management areas.
Reaching Students Early
“Through a system or series of processes, we also interface with area schools,” said Shifflett. “We participate with schools because it is a good thing to do, and because it is rewarding when we help them and they help us. For example, we participate in a program at the federal level called Career Pathways through the Department of Education. Schools can apply to participate in the program. Together, we connect with students about the fact that they can have good careers in manufacturing.
“We can reach students in grade school about what they are learning in science and how it can apply to a job,” he said. “By middle school, we can introduce them to applications — how their interest in math, technology, and understanding how things work relates to building things with their hands and also to work in human resources, legal, financial, engineering, and other areas. We know by experience that there isn’t a great deal of understanding in many schools that manufacturing can provide good, stable careers for a lot of people.”
Connections to Future Careers
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| A shipyard painter touches up the bow unit of the aircraft carrier George Bush before it was lifted into place and attached to the hull. Photo by Ricky Thompson. |
By starting in elementary and middle schools, there is a greater chance of creating interest with both the children and the teachers, according to Jennifer McClain, manager of Career Pathways. “In most cases, neither of those populations is aware of what we do in a company, particularly in shipbuilding. We have a chance to describe what we are about in manufacturing and in business support — accountants, attorneys, contract negotiators, and all the directly related manufacturing processes.”
When the students and their adult supporters, including parents, teachers, and guidance professionals, understand the many job options at companies such as NNS, they begin to see career possibilities. “They make choices that lead them in our direction, seeing that what they are learning in school can connect them to a future career that they actually like,” she said.
Students participating in shipyard-supported activities such as egg drop games and other team-building exercises have fun. They also learn (through NNS volunteers participating in the programs) about design, budgetary, and critical thinking skills that apply to NNS and other jobs.
Pre-employment Coaching
“We get more systemic pull when we look at all levels, also working with community colleges and other post-secondary institutions,” Shifflett said. “We need to build understanding about what businesses need their employees to do and to provide education and training that support what students will be doing in the workforce. Pre-employment training in collaboration with our educational system, for example, is a key way to do it.
“Whether we like it or not, we are training a workforce — in machining or other needed skills,” Shifflett said. “When students learn what’s needed to perform our work, the more quickly they can become a productive part of the workforce. So when they take trigonometry, they will understand that it is about how to bend a pipe and get it right the first time, or how to design and cut a series of stair steps.”
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| Launch preparations for the USS Texas in 2005. Photo by John Whalen. |
Pathways to Workplace Readiness
The Career Pathways program in Newport News Public Schools offers opportunities to share information about potential careers with students. The program includes sessions on manufacturing engineering, science and technology, and other career-oriented topics. Its career readiness training materials focus on problem-solving, work ethic, teamwork, and other areas.
The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curriculum series of programs also brings greater attention to math, science, and other core curriculum studies. Students gain needed skills for successful careers and contribute to a larger pool of potential workplace-ready employees, McClain said.
Opportunities also include job shadowing for high school juniors and seniors. Students visit different areas in the shipyard and offices, learning about everything from design and the beginning of the NNS processes to output — mechanical, electrical, simulation, and other areas of engineering.
“It gives them a sense of what they can get into and what they need to focus on,” McClain said.
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| This 2000 photo shows the lower bow section of the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan being lowered into position. Photo by John Whalen. |
Student internships designed flexibly around school schedules, clubs, and other activities emphasize career skills as well as the importance of science, engineering, and math. NNS also offers a shipyard speakers’ bureau, in which volunteer participants talk about citizen and career readiness (ethics, communication, etc.) as well as programs in résumé writing, mock job interviews, and mock engineering projects.
“We are changing perceptions of our industry, an understanding that we have people working with their hands and those using trigonometry and many other skills,” McClain said. “More teachers are starting to understand this, but a lot are not aware of our industry. We are doing our best to cater to them as effectively as possible. We can’t rush them into it. ”
The Apprentice School
The shipyard’s Apprentice School provides another strong connection between students and careers. When it opened in July 1919, the school offered “on-the-clock” training for apprentices, replacing informal “over-the-shoulder” training, said Everett Jordan Jr., director of education for the Apprentice School.
“When I started as a young apprentice shipfitter in 1973, the school’s primary focus was to train me to become a highly skilled shipfitter by graduation four years later,” Jordan said. “Today, our school focuses a great deal of energy on leadership to complement scholarship and craftsmanship. We want our graduates to be outstanding craftsmen who are capable of stepping into supervisory roles and ultimately becoming mid-level and senior managers across the company for decades to come.”
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| The aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush in dry dock. Photo by Chris Oxley. |
He cited several vice presidents and other NNS executives who graduated from the Apprentice School and noted that 42 percent of the shipyard’s production management team
“The Apprentice School contributes significantly to the recruitment, training, and retention of employees across the shipyard,” Jordan said. One of every 18 applicants makes the cut for school enrollment.
“Shipbuilding is much more complex than it was 20 or 30 years ago,” said Jordan. “We are a nuclear shipyard, and it’s beneficial to the company that we recruit, train, and retain bright students.
“Beginning on day one of the program, you are an employee of the company,” he said. “That continues when you graduate.” More than 80 percent of the school’s graduates stay at least 10 years, and 75 percent remain beyond 15 years. NNS does not require grads to work at the yard.
Following completion of the four- to five-year program, graduates benefit from a student services initiative that matches them with promotional opportunities. Many continue on by taking advantage of company educational assistance in pursuit of their bachelor’s and master’s degrees with virtually all costs covered by the company.
New Programs
Apprentice School programs adapt to meet current and projected NNS needs because, as Jordan pointed out, leadership traits and critical thinking skills are important to the business.
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| This 2009 photo shows machinists fitting a sleeve onto a propeller shaft section for the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford. Photo by Chris Oxley. |
NNS focuses on developing skills that will be needed in the future. That includes writing and communications, reading and interpreting complex procedures, and developing a disciplined approach to problem solving.
“In the last decade, our company has shifted to the use of frequent team projects, so our students learn and mature those skills through student government, professional societies, and athletic programs,” Jordan said.
Collaborative programs with area schools, colleges, and universities bring broader understanding and skills. NNS recently implemented a new program for advanced shipyard operations students in conjunction with the College of William and Mary’s business school. The week-long program focuses on the complexities of leadership. Students also attend programs at Old Dominion University, Thomas Nelson and Tidewater Community colleges, Saint Leo University, and other educational institutions.
Adapting to Today’s Workplace Candidates
The student population also continues to change. “We have students coming from every walk of life,” Jordan said. “Fifty-three percent enter the program with previous college credits. Millennials differ in that they are entering the workforce at more advanced stages than previous students, bringing with them diverse backgrounds. The average entry age is 24 to 26, which is several years older than in the past.
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| A panoramic view of today’s shipyard. Photo by Ricky Thompson. |
“If they were underachievers in the past, this is a great opportunity for students to put it behind them,” he said. “We help students understand that being one of a select few chosen to work for a Fortune 500 company brings a great deal of responsibility. It’s a precursor to a career that can last 30 to 40 years. Who knows what’s around the bend in life? For me, spending my career on the waterfront building the world’s
NNS spends about $50 million a year on training employees in both nuclear and non-nuclear skills. “Without this investment, we couldn’t run this business,” said Jordan. The Apprentice School is scheduled to break ground for a new educational complex.
Editor’s note: Glenn Marshall assisted in the development of this article.
NNS managers John Shifflett and Jennifer McClain shared their rules of the road for effective collaboration with educators in workplace readiness initiatives:
- Provide information to faculty, staff, and school superintendents about your workplace and needed skills/capabilities.
- Be flexible to meet educators’ schedules and restrictions.
- Take time to find and involve educators actively working to help students connect with career opportunities. Share and ask for ideas.
- Ask educators how you can help them meet their goals.
- Create and support an infrastructure or network of people inside your company who will talk with students about workplace activities and careers.
- Develop a long-term development process. Start by connecting with children in grade school. Then continue with middle school and high school programs followed by partnerships with community colleges and universities.
In the welding program at nearby Thomas Nelson Community College, for example, NNS provided welding equipment and trained their welding instructors for the types of welding done at the yard. Participants completing the program earned NNS job offers. This program enabled NNS to cut the welders’ qualification time in half when they came to the shipyard and improved welder trainee retention rates from 50 percent to 90 percent. “They knew what the job was, they were interested, they accepted jobs, and they were retained, a cost savings for us,” said Shifflett. “Developing these successful candidates helps us to prepare our future workforce.”
Collis P. Huntington launched Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) on the banks of the James River in 1886, envisioning a company that would build the finest ships in the world.
“We shall build good ships here at a profit if we can; at a loss, if we must; but always good ships,” Huntington said.
Generations of shipbuilders continue to carry out his mission, serving today as the sole designers, builders, and refuelers of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. NNS is one of only two shipyards capable of designing and building nuclear-powered submarines.
When the U.S. entered World War I, the Newport News, VA, shipyard ramped up production of destroyers and battleships. During postwar doldrums, the company nearly went broke. NNS workers manufactured freight cars, bridges, turbines, and street signs to stay afloat.
Then World War II brought new orders for big carriers. NNS workers built nine carriers, including the Enterprise and the Hornet. Supporting the yard’s progress were well-trained workers trained through its apprentice and incentive pay programs.
Since the shipyard’s inception 125 years ago, it has transitioned through several ownership changes. In late March, shipyard owner Northrop Grumman spun off its shipbuilding division to Huntington Ingalls Industries, a new independent, publicly traded company.
NNS plans to hire approximately 10,000 workers during the next five years in response to attrition and to meet its backlog of ship orders. NNS employment topped 20,000 by mid-June 2011, compared to 19,000 employees in 2010.
Houston-based American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) is a nonprofit and global leader in process and performance management, benchmarking, and knowledge management that created the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. APQC supports school districts across the U.S. and the world through the APQC Education North Start Project, a transformational K-12 education initiative designed to help school districts save money and improve effectiveness. By using performance improvement concepts based on more than 30 years’ experience with thousands of global organizations, APQC aims to improve educational outcomes.
By failing to focus on processes, school districts hinder their performance (curriculum alignment, facilities expenses, etc.). “We offer a methodology and toolset that most educational leaders in our country are not taught,” said Fred Bentsen, executive director, education. “We are creating dialogue and relationships with local school districts.”
In addition to helping schools become more efficient, they also help schools reduce dropout rates, improve students’ workplace readiness, and enhance curriculum planning. “We analyze processes that work and those that do not work well, through process mapping, root cause analysis, and process redesign,” Bentsen said.
While APQC charges school districts for its North Star services, the payback is generally substantial. Bentsen noted that the school districts participating in the North Star program saved more than $43 million during the past three years, thanks to completion of process improvement projects.
“For example, one school district spent $35,000 for the program and saved $2 million over two years,” he said. “Our plan is to help all school districts in the U.S. become more efficient and more effective.”
