LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT Craft Training STARCON's craft training is based on the curriculum developed and provided through the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. The NCCER develops and publishes standardized construction, maintenance and pipeline curriculum as well as safety programs. In order to fully utilize the resources of the NCCER, STARCON has obtained the status of Accredited Training Sponsor with the NCCER. This means that we can now deal directly with the NCCER regarding their detailed paperwork process and can certify our own craft instructors and Team Members. All craftspeople are required to complete an NCCER assessment test to verify their skill level. Skill deficiencies are identified and appropriate training is conducted. All of our craftspeople are trained in areas such as personal protective equipment, lock-out/tag-out, confined space entry, fall protection, supplied air and more. Training records are maintained and up-dated in our training database. Although most of STARCON's craft training is done on the job at remote maintenance and project sites, STARCON's main training facility, the STARCenter, is located at our corporate office in Manhattan, IL. This 7000+ square foot facility contains three large classrooms, a computer lab, a welding lab and also an extensive hands-on craft training lab. Management Development Program The goal of the Management Development Program, or MDP, is to expose our college interns & graduates and military graduates to the realities and challenges of our industry and the opportunities for our organization (and for them individually). These managers in training, or MDP's, spend their first summer in the field as a Laborer and work with the other crafts to get a better understanding of the work we do. The MDP's are then eventually rotated out of their laborer position and begin working on different estimating, planning, scheduling and project management assignments. The MDP's are also exposed to the different departments within STARCON so they have a better understanding of how those departments contribute to STARCON's overall success. Leadership Development Program STARCON's future leaders must be prepared to handle the significant challenges presented in our industry and in our business. The Leadership Development Program (LDP) and the Ten Leadership Competencies provide the framework for preparing our future leaders to handle these challenges. These competencies describe what outstanding performers do more often, in more situations, with better results, than most people. The Ten Leadership Competencies are: Integrity, Character & Personal Excellence Technical Expertise Customer Focus Results Orientation Business Savvy People Skills Team Member Growth and Development Team Building Change Orientation Systemic Thinking STARCON strives to provide career advancement for our future leaders through extensive learning opportunities including: mentoring, personality profile assessments, recommended reading, 360-degree feedback, instructor-led training, experiential learning, and most importantly, follow up and reinforcement in their jobs. The ultimate goal of the LDP is to achieve meaningful results. These results fall in to four key categories: Team Member Results, Customer Results, Organizational Results and Financial Results. Results are not an academic aspect of our program, but are the core of the LDP curriculum. Participants will not only grapple with how leaders target and achieve meaningful results, but they will actually produce real results during their program year. Lunch & Learns The goal of our Lunch & Learns is to inform & educate our Team Members, reinforce culture & initiatives, and create a workplace of learning, communication and collaboration. These sessions are held every other month in both the Manhattan, IL and Deer Park, TX and the facilitators leading the sessions are volunteers with an interest in that specific learning topic. Topics are voted on by the office to ensure interest, excitement & attendance. The topics range from Conflict Resolutions Skills to Protecting Your Home Computer to Win-Win Negotiation Skills. As the name suggests, Lunch is provided for those in attendance. Collectively, all of these learning and development programs allow STARCON to provide a SAFER, more engaged workforce that will provide a more productive, higher quality service to our customers.