President Jeff Pembroke says the company has “a unique global culture based on continuous improvement and learning” and has “been fortunate to attract people with a real passion for excellence and customer service. The quality and commitment of our employees has been critical to our success, and we strive to acknowledge that through competitive compensation, attractive benefits, and continuing career opportunities.”

Award-Winning Culture

In June, Nordson EFD (www.nordson.com/en-us/divisions/efd) was selected as a winner in the Providence Business News’ “Best Places to Work in Rhode Island 2010” competition.

Pembroke attributes the recognition to several factors. “We are a manufacturing company who is committed to our employees and who chose to stay in Rhode Island rather than move overseas or to a different state,” he says. The company employs more than 400 employees globally, including 210 at its recently renovated 116,000-square-foot headquarters in East Providence. It designs and manufactures precision fluid dispensing systems for benchtop assembly processes and automated assembly lines.

Pembroke also points to “the longevity of our highly skilled and committed workforce... Nordson EFD is a good place to work, and people tend to stay. A number of our employees have been with us 20, 25 or even 30 years.”

Training Programs Offered

The company uses a variety of training formats to educate its workforce, including classroom instruction and hands-on learning experiences.

The training provided to each Nordson EFD employee depends on his or her function within the organization. The company strives to equip employees with “the tools they need to do their jobs better, experience personal growth, and develop new skills for potential advancement within the company,” says Pembroke.

“Our goal is to have every employee complete at least 40 hours of training every year,” he says. “Supervisors monitor progress monthly and suggest additional training as needed to meet that goal.”

The company offers product training for new employees in its demonstration lab, where new hires learn about Nordson EFD products and how they work, as well as training for current staff on new products as they are developed.

Cross-functional training “keeps us continuously learning and improving our organization,” says Pembroke. Nordson EFD also provides “training as new software systems are implemented, as well as outside seminars and workshops on relevant topics.”

Tuition Reimbursement

The company also promotes continuous learning by providing tuition reimbursement. “Nordson EFD provides financial support to eligible employees enrolled in job- or career-related educational programs offered by accredited organizations,” Pembroke explains. “This includes individual formal courses, degree programs, special short programs and correspondence/online and programmed instruction courses.”

“Upon satisfactory completion of each approved course, eligible employees are reimbursed 100 percent of incurred covered expenses which include tuition, required texts, entrance and equivalency exams, professional certification, registration and necessary fees up to a maximum of $5,000 per calendar year,” he says.

Nordson EFD reviews applications for tuition reimbursement on a case-by-case basis, looking at factors such as the employee’s performance record and, for graduate level course work, whether the coursework is relevant to the employee’s current job or whether it closely aligns with the employee’s development plan.

Benefits of Training

Providing ongoing learning opportunities to employees has contributed to a positive work environment at Nordson EFD—“good morale, higher productivity, day-to-day job satisfaction and greater profitability, in which we all share,” Pembroke says, referring to a bonus program that is tied to company profits.

Training is “well worth the investment, reinforces the fact that we care about our employees and want to give them the tools they need to develop their skills. This helps to keep everyone motivated to find new ways to do their jobs better and more cost-effectively,” he says. Training also provides “the opportunity to work with and learn from other employees with whom you don’t typically interact.”

Advice to Consider

Employers that want to promote a culture of learning need to create an environment where employees feel comfortable asking questions, being innovative, and learning from mistakes.

They also should:

Set goals and track progress toward them. Have supervisors meet with their subordinates to set career goals and identify training opportunities that will help them attain those goals.

Offer cross-training. This is a proactive way to prepare employees to step into new roles or to fill in when another employee resigns or takes leave. Cross-training provides other benefits as well, such as fostering a sense of teamwork when employees interact with their colleagues from other departments and helping them gain a better overall understanding of how the company operates.

This article is provided to members of the Northeast Human Resources Association
as a member benefit, compliments of Business and Legal Resources, Inc.