Initial and continuing education and training as part of the corporate

The quality of initial vocational training creates the foundation for success. With this affirmation of quality, initial vocational training at DaimlerChrysler is undergoing continuous improvement.

On 01.10.1999, DaimlerChrysler published a document on the tenets of vocational training ("Grundpositionen zur Berufsausbildung"), specifying the qualitative framework and future direction of its initial vocational training. Taking a joint stance, company management and the works council underscored the strategic importance of initial training to the company's long-term success.

In adopting these tenets, DaimlerChrysler is making a commitment to recruit the next generation of production workers primarily from within its own initial vocational training set-up. As a core strategic function, initial training is a shared task for which all executive staff have responsibility - from the management board to the trainer on the shop floor.

The assessment system - AiD ('Ausbildung im Dialog' - 'training in dialogue')

In parallel with the publication of the tenets of vocational training, a new assessment system was launched. Called 'Ausbildung im Dialog' ('training in dialogue'), shortened to AiD, it was introduced throughout the DaimlerChrysler vehicle business.

It is a 'holistic' process which integrates the assessment of occupation-specific and key skills. Dialogue between the works council and company management was the key to establishing a forward-looking training culture which is passed on in dialogue between trainees and trainers, between the domains of training and production, between the workplace and the vocational school. The principle of dialogue gives the trainees a full and active role in the training process.

They assess the current status of their own qualifications, and this assessment leads them into dialogue with the trainer responsible for them. Furthermore, they have the opportunity to give regular feedback on the progress of their training. This means that they contribute to the continuous optimization of the initial training scheme.

But although the trainer's latest assessment and the trainee's self-assessment are the basis of the dialogue, they do not conclude the process. The cycle is only completed when concrete steps are agreed to foster further progression.

Quality assurance and the role of training: striking a balance with corporate tradition

In Mannheim the situation is rather unusual in that the vocational school is integral to the plant, so close coordination between the school and the workplace is possible at all times. The overwhelming majority of trainees have block instruction, i.e. every third week is a school week. This gives trainees the benefit of connected learning opportunities, both in school and in the workplace.

The trainees are grouped by occupation and by length of traineeship.

Throughout their traineeship, they are supported by supervising

instructors and additional instructors (skilled employees for whom this is a secondary responsibility).

At the beginning of initial vocational training (in the first few months) and in their second year (after about 14 months) all trainees take part in one-week personal and social development courses which are run by the supervising instructor directly responsible for them.

The Mannheim site has a training workshop (a factory used for teaching) which is fully equipped with modern machinery and appropriate teaching rooms. The trainees spend approx. 12 months of their initial training in the teaching factory, and approx. 24 months in different departments.

Figure 3.10: Core elements of vocational training at Daimler Chrysler Mannheim, Germany

Trainees initially master basic occupation-specific elements by undertaking training courses and project-based modes of training.

After that, they extend and consolidate these basic skills by applying

them to real manufacturing tasks. 'Workplace placements' generally begin from the middle of the second year of training, after the basic qualification phase is concluded. Prior to this, there are short 1-2 week 'taster placements' so that trainees can learn their way around the factory.

The objective of the 'workplace placements' is to enable the trainees to consolidate and extend the basic qualifications they have gained by applying them in real conditions in the workplace. At the same time, they find out more about potential future jobs.

Quality assurance and internationalization - what can corporate training contribute?

Modern-day 'workplace placements' follow a process-oriented approach: the 'Arbeiten und Lernen im Fachbereich' ('work and learn in the department') scheme, known by the acronym ALF, enables learning on different levels and a process-oriented approach.

The individual planning of procedures and assignment of tasks is geared to the department's current needs.

ALF is a form of on-the-job learning which also lends its name to the adapted 'workplace transfer placement' scheme (whereby initial vocational training takes place in production departments) operated at DaimlerChrysler AG in Mannheim.

After acquiring the basic skills of their trade in the training workshop, trainees are assigned to departments of the company where they apply their skills under real-world conditions, consolidating and extending them in a practical context. This also enables them to get to know different departments and areas of work in which they may later be employed.

The ALF scheme aims to meet the individual needs of the trainee equally as well as it responds to the department's requirements for qualified junior employees. To achieve this, the learning opportunities available in the department must be better utilized than in the past, by organizing learning differently.

Changes in corporate structures, in technology and in society's system of values are shifting the focus of training from occupational skills and expertise alone towards key skills. The importance of key skills is constantly growing because they will enable skilled workers to adapt to changing requirements in years to come. The ALF scheme aims to promote the training of mature skilled workers by using a phased development concept.

Organizing learning differently is an effective response to reforms in the organization of work (e.g. the introduction of work groups) and may interact usefully with such reforms as they are put into practice.

The ALF scheme is also intended to promote the idea of CIP (the Continuous Improvement Process). Only by making use of every possibility for improvement can the company realize its potential for success and maintain its all-important competitiveness.

The main parameter of the reformed scheme is a longer 'workplace transfer placement' period of at least 16 weeks in one department, for 3-4 trainees at a time. The trainees have time to become thoroughly integrated and familiarize themselves with the full range and scope of the department's work. Thus they can also be introduced to more demanding kinds of work, to which they can apply their occupation-specific expertise and skills to the full. In this way, they have the chance to work purposefully and independently on complex tasks from every angle.

Another prerequisite is the innovative use of supervising instructors.

These are fully qualified employees who are designated as supervisors and partners to assist the trainees in integrating into the work process.

This endows the workplace with a new meaning as a setting for learning. Concepts which have been developed for the purposes of initial training can often be used directly for the continuing education and training of skilled workers.

The activities that make up the work process are assembled and documented in operationalized learning assignments relating to particular work and activities, in line with the model of 'action competence' (Handlungskompetenz) proposed by Prof. Dr. Theo

H-lshoff of the University of Koblenz-Landau. Following this methodology, the action competencies necessary for the skilled accomplishment of each activity can be systematically collected and documented.

New training medium: the 'didactic database' ('Didaktische Datenbank')

For this purpose a new training medium was developed, dubbed the 'didactic database' ('Didaktische Datenbank').

The relational structure of a 'didactic database' gives users the flexibility to document every conceivable work procedure and the corresponding action competencies, and to update this information on an ongoing basis. The question of 'competence' is the guiding educational principle, so users of the 'didactic database' are free to contribute their own ideas and experiences to the information on job-specific procedures previously stored in the database. New media such as digital photos, videos and flash animations can be accessed via a 'didactic database' in the workplace, where the learner can consult them directly.

The Mannheim Plant's 'didactic database' training medium was named the 'production learning system' (Produktionslernsystem - PLS).

Internationalization

The experience that had been gained with the PLS at the Mannheim Plant was then put to good use for bringing the new Series 900 engine into production in Korea.

The training content needed for this operation was systematically assembled in Mannheim and translated into English and Korean. In late 2003, Korean training multipliers were then trained in engine assembly in Mannheim, with the help of the PLS. First they were introduced to the training content theoretically, using the PLS as a training medium. Afterwards they received individual instruction at the relevant work station or by working on a specially prepared training engine.

These training multipliers returned to Korea and passed on their knowledge to their colleagues, communicating the training content using the 'didactic database' on assembly skills which they had brought with them from Mannheim. Afterwards, individual instruction was given and skills demonstrated using prepared engines. Colleagues from Mannheim assisted them in putting this into practice.

Using this training concept which relates directly to the skills required for a given job, self-directed learning can be implemented in a standardized form anywhere in the world.