How BuildWitt Training Can Enhance the Ways You Already Train

People often think BuildWitt Training is meant to replace their current training program. 

You can do that, but we hope you don’t. You’ve done a lot of things right in your training program to make it where you are today.

So we’re not here to replace what’s working. We’re here to help you enhance the ways you already train. 

Here’s how you can level up your people with BuildWitt Training.

Scale and standardize training

Training a small team is pretty simple. But how do you standardize training as the team grows? 

“The owners were able to talk to everybody . . . and now we've grown to the point where it's not feasible. So I'm getting some instructions in front of new hires and even our entire crews out in the field.” - Ben Cox, Oak Hill Contractors

“We had 50 employees, so we could all come together once a month . . . Once we started growing, we got so big we couldn't do that.” - Mickey St. Clair, Dragonfly Pond Works

Oak Hill and Dragonfly started using BuildWitt Training so they could train like small teams, even when they were spread out. Plus, since every crew can do the same lessons, you can standardize training across your company.

Give new hires better onboarding

Onboarding takes many forms—packets, checklists, videos, and orientations. Check out how some of our customers do it:

“I've been . . . handing [information] out as we hire on, and they have it from day one. With BuildWitt Training, I can see that really helping to get that information out there.” - Ben Cox, Oak Hill Contractors

“We give [a checklist] to new hires and then also to their foreman, to remind the foreman what they should be training on. And also to empower the new hire to be proactive and ask about things.” - Michelle Walker, SSC Underground

“I created an automated orientation video that every one of our employees went through . . . In my past, the orientation videos you’d get were very cut and dried. They were the same 30-year-old OSHA videos . . . they just looked like trash.” - Director of Safety & Employee Development, Evergreen Siteworks

However you onboard, you can upload your own documents and videos into BuildWitt Training. New hires can also complete our First 50 Daily Videos: New to the Industry course to familiarize themselves with the basics of safety, the industry, and their jobs.

Plus, the videos are modern and engaging. No more boring, outdated orientations!

Give your crew more ownership 

When we asked 600 Dirt World workers what would most increase their job satisfaction, their top two answers were “a pay raise” and “training.” 

Your people want to learn. But often, they have to wait for you to schedule training for them. They have no ownership over their own learning.

That’s where BuildWitt Training comes in. Crew members can watch any video in the content library—even beyond the ones you assigned them—so they can finally own their training.

“We wanted something that was a little bit more interactive—something that people can self-pace. If they want to learn more, they can.” - Travis McLeod, Birnam Excavating

Train for promotions from within

You have people in your company right now who want to move up and make an impact. 

“Our main foreman, he's like, ‘I want to run a plant one day.’ I was like, ‘Okay, well stick around long enough. I'll get you out here.’” - Nick Pickrel, Kingsway Services

How do you help them do that? You give them leadership training, teach them how to perform a supervisor’s tasks, and teach them how to manage a jobsite and—more importantly—people. 

You also train the people who will fill their old job.

“These are our best laborers and grade checkers and operators. If they move into foreman roles, who's going to take their job over?” - Ryan Delozier, Geotex Construction Services 

Training creates a talent pipeline to fill these positions. And it creates a talent pipeline for new hires, too. When people know your company will invest in them and give them a path to grow, they’ll want to come work for you. 

Get the right training to the right people

One complaint we hear is, “We have training material. We just can’t get it out to everyone.” 

That’s where BuildWitt Training comes in. You can assign training to any crew member, anywhere, and monitor their progress to ensure they’re on track. 

“BuildWitt Training, it's something that's easier to roll out. The work has already been put in to get the basics there.” - Mickey St. Clair, Dragonfly Pond Works

Train by role

Pulling the whole crew into training isn’t always effective, especially since it shuts down production. 

“We just did a three-part series for our foremen. We made it mandatory, so we pulled them out for three afternoons in three weeks. [We’ve] kind of been training for that. But otherwise, it's difficult—shut a whole crew down or shut up.” - Travis McCleod, Birnam Excavating

What if you could quickly and easily train people by role? 

BuildWitt Training has learning plans just for:

• Foremen
• Grade checkers
• Laborers
• Operators
• Pipelayers

You can help people learn the skills they need in their role. Since they can watch the videos in just a few minutes, you won’t have to halt production as long or as often.

Make cross-training easier

You want people to be able to jump in where they’re needed. 

“As we would bring people on, we started cross-training. . . They're constantly learning something else to where we're not so dependent on one or two guys.” - Nick Pickrel, Kingsway Services

You can assign crew members BuildWitt Training lessons for other roles, then supplement that with cross-training in the field.

Train in the field

There are some things people can only learn by getting their hands dirty. 

“A lot of our skilled people come in not knowing anything. They just work on a crew for five, six, seven, eight years and then they eventually . . . gain more experience.” - Ryan Delozier, Geotex Construction Services

One way to improve field training is to let people watch and learn first.

“Instead of a two-man crew, there’s a three-man crew so [new hires] have the opportunity to learn. We give them the target of, ‘This is what we need you to be able to do in order to be the second person on a crew.” - Michelle Walker, SSC Underground

You can also enhance on-the-job training with BuildWitt Training. Learning plans like Toolbox Talks help foremen teach crews important safety and life skills. 

Crew members can also watch any lesson, at any time, anywhere in the BuildWitt Training app. For example, they can watch a video about inspecting a dozer while standing beside one.

Plus, videos are super short—so crew members are more likely to watch them. 

“I can count on [crew members] to watch two one-and-a-half minute videos every day of the week.” - Director of Safety & Employee Development, Evergreen Siteworks

Train more efficiently

The more efficiently you can train, the better the return on your efforts. Here are two ways to improve efficiency with BuildWitt Training.

Train faster

“My training was like a college lecture. I'd have to have somebody in a room for two hours to feel like I got enough data in front of them to make it worth it.” - Director of Safety & Employee Development, Evergreen Siteworks

Even if you can give the most interesting training talk in the world, people will still tune out if it takes too long. 

The way to win their attention? Keep it short and simple. 

“I think [BuildWitt Training] is going to allow my training to get to a whole other level. With BuildWitt, they can accomplish that same goal in 30 minutes.” - Director of Safety & Employee Development, Evergreen Siteworks

Train more often

Repetition increases retention. So, the more often you train, the more likely your crew members are to remember and apply what they learned.

“Before, we just had one day a year that we called ‘Safety Day’ . . . [We started using BuildWitt Training] to expand that.” - Travis McCleod, Birnam Excavating

“Previously [training] was just once a month . . . Now, we like to assign a due date and put two or three videos . . . Do that once a week and say, ‘Hey, let's do these videos.’ And we continuously do that.” - Mickey St. Clair, Dragonfly Pond Works

Make training more engaging

Like efficiency, increasing engagement levels can improve your training program. BuildWitt Training can help you do that.

Regular meetings

“Every month we have a safety meeting with an outside company, and to say that we have trained people on this topic, they all sign in.” - Joe Sylvester, Bachtel Excavating

“We have a regular Monday morning toolbox . . . in person at the headquarters, and you might have to drive for an hour and a half after[ward] to your jobsite.” - Michael Suddes, Andrew Goldman Excavation

You probably have regular safety meetings like these, so why not incorporate BuildWitt Training? 

You can watch a video together at the beginning of the meeting and use it as a conversation starter, or you can end with a video summarizing what your team learned.

Classroom sessions

Having a training room is great. You can play videos, project PowerPoints, and all that good stuff. 

But getting people from the field into the classroom can be challenging. You don’t want to hurt production, so you try to cram as much info into every session as possible.

Unfortunately, that makes most classroom training sessions pretty long, and crew members are more likely to tune out. 

“I was a consultant for a while. So I would be called to . . . do random trainings for three days. Well, that's literally just . . . the same presentation over and over.” - Director of Safety & Employee Development, Evergreen Siteworks

You can keep classroom training short and sweet with BuildWitt Training’s microlearning lessons. Use them as conversation starters during classroom training, or use them in the field to cut down on the amount of classroom training your crews need.

Another perk: the videos come from real industry experts on real job sites. So, your crew members are more likely to listen up. Then, they can get more out of their time in the classroom—and get more time in the field.

Add to your training content

Maybe you’ve got some training materials, but you need more. 

Preloaded BuildWitt Training content covers many basics for you—like safety, machine walkaround inspections, and soft skills such as leadership and communication. 

You can use this preloaded content to teach the basics. Then, you can focus on creating training for company-specific topics—like in-depth lessons on jobs you do or your company values.

“So now we just have to develop questions pertaining to our kind of work . . . to bring it back to our business. It just makes it easier.” - Mickey St. Clair, Dragonfly Pond Works

You can also upload a quick video to address a safety issue or teach crew members how to handle a situation on their particular job site.

Learn more about using your own content in BuildWitt Training.

Build on past training

Maybe you hired an experienced worker. Or maybe your crews get union training. 

“We're a unionized company . . . The expectation is [that new hires] come with certain training, but that's not always the case.” - Travis McLeod, Birnam Excavating

Whether they have great training or some educational gaps, it’s time to build on what they know. You can use BuildWitt Training to catch them up on foundational skills or help them level up.

Train for non-repetitive jobs

Some jobs lack repetition, and that makes it hard to train.

“Our tunneling division . . . you could go months without ever [being] on the same project doing the same thing . . . There are certain things that depending when you're hired, you're just not going to get exposed to.” - Michelle Walker, SSC Underground

With BuildWitt Training, you can give new crew members safety and task-specific training before they head to a job—so they’re not flying blind when they get there.

Create structure

Some training programs have the right material, but it’s poorly organized. That makes it harder for your crew members to apply and harder for you to track their progress.

“We’re really trying to further develop [our training]. It really didn’t have a structure at all.” - Ben Cox, Oak Hill Contractors 

BuildWitt Training organizes preloaded content into manageable chunks:

• Courses are like the chapters in the book.
• Lessons are like the paragraphs that make up the chapters. 

You can also organize any content you upload in the same ways to help your team learn more effectively.

Takeaways

You don’t have to ditch your training program just because you’re interested in BuildWitt Training. Instead, you can use this software to enhance what you’re already doing. 

For example, you can use it to help: 

• Scale and standardize training
• Give new hires better onboarding
• Give your crew more ownership
• Train for promotions from within
• Get the right training to the right people
• Train in the field
• Train more efficiently
• Make training more engaging
• Add to your training content 
• Build on past training
• Train for non-repetitive jobs
• Create structure

Want to learn more about BuildWitt Training? Find out the top five reasons your peers in the Dirt World are using this software.