Chutzpa and the Audacity of Employee Learning

"Chutzpa" (or chutzpah, which, if you don't know, is Yiddish for "audacity") is how the Tacoma News Tribune describes General Plastics, a dynamic firm in our region that is making great strides in opening markets internationally. The company recently won a top award for its international prowess. And a good chunk of the credit for the company's success is due to employee learning -- and the chutzpa that comes from it. You can read the entire article here.

The Chapter is proud that Eric Hahn, a vice president with General Plastics, was one of first to sign on as a recruit for the Chapter's Employee Learning Week (ELW) Advisory Board. The Advisory Board is new this year to the Chapter's ELW effort. It is a group of high-profile executives who, on behalf of their organizations, publically endorse the proposition that employee learning is --and must be -- a key business strategy for success in today's changing economy. Thus, the Advisory Board is helping in a very powerful way to promote the workforce learning and performance (WLP) profession to the community at large.

As the article notes, General Plastics actively and continually seeks to develop its employees' skills through both informal and formal learning efforts. One prime example of a formal effort, mentioned in the article, is a manufacturing systems certificate program the company accesses through Tacoma Community College. (We are also proud to note that TCC is also represented on the Advisory Board.) The program "provides instruction in leadership, management, supervision, finance and project and supply-chain management." Bev Parnell, the Chapter's Director of Employee Learning Week, is one of program's instructors. It was through her excellent work as an instructor that Bev won hard-earned credibility and recognition within General Plastics and enabled Bev to recruit an outstanding executive from an outstanding company in our region to support employee learning.

The Chapter's Advisory Board roster for this year is filling up, but we always have room for a few more outstanding companies (or non-profits or government agencies) to be represented by senior line executives who have come to recognize that learning is fundamental to achieving organizational results. Contact Bev Parnell at bev.parnell@gmail.com to discuss recruiting strategies.