“There is no substitute for hands on experience”. There’s that phrase again, and nobody disagrees that actual experience is vital to development of any skill. The only issue I might suggest is that unsupervised labor with no background or classroom training can be just as dangerous as the employee that is occasionally looked in on without follow up. New packers should understand why we pack, how the materials and cartons we used are properly filled or used to wrap, weight limitations on cartons as well as why they must be filled and not “bulging”. The importance of a proper “hand-off” to the load crew and how a “perceived” failure during packing can cast a negative pall over the entire move.

Any expectations we may have for any worker needs to be explained thoroughly prior to their arrival on a pack job. Customers may not be impressed with the lack of productivity, sloppy labeling, and confuse lack of skill with “not caring”. How hard would it be to spend a day in the classroom and demonstrate these skills to new workers? To have them demonstrate the same skills back to an attentive trainer/teacher? How about some actual testing, then review of tests and clear up any confusion? Their fellow crew members and lead people will thank you for it, your claims department will thank you for it and your customer might reflect some gratitude in your service review, this makes everyone happy because after all is said and done, it’s the customer’s opinion that counts.

“Well done is better than well said” Ben Franklin