Part of our learning culture includes a strong commitment to associate development. TPI offers training to ensure that our associates are not only well-prepared to perform in the role they are hired into, but also invested in development of knowledge, skills, and abilities to enable growth and career progression. Training and development opportunities are offered on a regular basis and include new associate orientation, functional onboarding, safety and compliance training, technical training, and leadership development.
Training data is reported monthly by each manufacturing facility and functional area. Relevant operational indicators are discussed during this period which reflect the effectiveness of our associate training. TPI provided more than 470,000 hours of training, an average of 35 hours per associate, in 2022.
Leadership Development
Leadership development at TPI combines formal learning, individual assessment and development planning, and mentoring. Formal learning is provided at each facility and includes cornerstone skill development such as coaching, situational leadership, and emotional intelligence. In addition, TPI uses competency-based leadership assessments to create personalized individual development plans. Our formal leadership development programs at each operation are uniquely designed around senior, midlevel, and frontline leadership levels, and customized regionally to accommodate and enable cultural differences.
Mentor Programs
TPI continues to foster a culture of development through selective mentor programs. These mentor programs pair associates with management level leaders who meet regularly to help develop skills and competencies in a professional setting. The mentor programs focus on accelerating development for both the mentee and mentor by enhancing skills, promoting cross-organizational relationships, and providing opportunities for professional networking. Mentorships are evaluated on a regular basis to allow participants to share what they learned and provide feedback.
Microlearning
TPI supplements our formal educational training programs with a micro learning platform. We offer short learning modules on topics related to leadership and IDEA. A new focused topic is introduced to our leadership population every week, and our leaders can easily share key learnings with any TPI associate. This year, we had over 2,300 independent course completions using this platform.
TPI Academy is a critical platform for developing our technical talent. TPI Academy continues to expand and incorporate multiple technical disciplines within TPI such as quality and operations. The gaol for our engineers and technicians is to use TPI Academy to expand their knowledge of composite technology by learning from our most knowledgeable and experienced technical subject matter experts.
An accelerated learning path helps us lower costs, improve quality, and increase overall operational excellence. These benefits are critical to the long-term success of TPI and provide a unique competitive advantage with respect to our technical competency.
As we look ahead at our 2023 roadmap, we will:
- Continue to offer advanced course modules
- Build out more content at the foundational level
- Create and deliver several self-paced, eLearning modules to address multiple learning styles
- Ensure we have targeted training opportunities available to all technical associates based on their role and experience
- Make progress on our goal to have a culture of learning underpin everything that comes out of TPI Academy
