Skills Management at Kruger Inc., Place Turcot

Background

The Kruger mill at Place Turcot manufactures linerboard from 100% recycled fiber. The 180-employee mill has been awarded many prizes for innovation. It is certified ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 and is working on obtaining Oshas 18001 certification for workplace health and safety.

Challenge

Mill Management decides to adopt a skills management approach to human resources development. The new orientation involves all employees at all levels, both unionized and non-unionized.

Solution

In order to support the strategic plan and manage its new approach, the mill purchases HUMENG International Inc.’s skills management software, TransliaisonsTM.

The objectives of the mill’s change in orientation are to:

	respond to increased customer demands
	satisfy ISO requirements. The following is a comment from one of the ISO auditors on TransliaisonsTM "… an indispensable element in human resources management and in the quest for continuous improvement in all activities of the company"
	increase mill efficiency and productivity
	increase mill competitiveness
	obtain uniform product quality and increased performance

Training becomes a decentralized process where supervisors are responsible for follow-up after training. Training needs and budgets are managed by each department and supported by the human resources department.

The skills management system is based on identifying the gap between a job’s skill profile and the skill profile of the employee occupying the job. This gap is composed of knowledge (what needs to be done) and know-how (how to do it). The new system’s main objective is to responsibilize all employees by increasing their skills to a level which will allow them to be more autonomous in their work.

Results

In 1998/1999, after implementation of the skills management approach, the mill documents the following results:

Increase in global efficiency of 4.5%
    Decrease in planned shutdown time by 0.2%
       Decrease in paper breaks by 2.7%
           Decrease in rejects by 1.8%
              Decrease in downgrading of linerboard by 2.9%
                 Decrease in training time and costs by 18%

Additionnally, the new system contributes to the succession plan by managing:

	skill profiles
	training budget
	training activities
	resources

Without a doubt, the implementation of a skills management system and approach, TransliaisonsTM, contributed greatly to these results.

According to Mr. Marc Farrier, Human Resources Manager, Kruger Inc., Place Turcot:

"TransliaisonsTM is a very efficient tool to track skills and meet ISO requirements in terms of validating training results."

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