Avoiding the Inflight Video

Paul Fisher, Rosanna Freye, Javier Lopez, Ryan Dickson & Bruce MacKay

Winter is a hectic period as greenhouse operations rapidly increase staff numbers for peak spring production. Seasonal workers are hired who may have never worked with living plants. Their past work experience in construction, factories or other fields means that fast and efficient training is essential.

Technology is no longer the limitation for training—you can easily shoot videos with your smartphone, upload to a cloud server and access anywhere with your phone. We also have training videos in BackPocketGrower.com to help English and Spanish-language employees with production processes.

Avoiding the airline safety video problem
Be honest. When was the last time you actually paid attention to an airline safety video on a flight? The same challenges arise when training your new employees. We’ve learned from experience that while videos are a helpful resource, showing a video doesn’t in itself make an effective training program.

Videos or printed step-by-step work instructions are helpful in that they always cover the same points. Providing this standardized training can improve on just pairing new employees with experienced workers because over time even experienced staff drift away from your standard operating procedures (SOPs) and bad habits might be passed along.

We suggest using videos in the following ways:

Identify who will be the trainer and when they’ll provide the training. For cuttings training, we suggest that the sticking crew supervisor trains new workers before they begin the process. Repeat training either on a set schedule or when mistakes are observed by the supervisor.
Decide where to train. Consider installing a television in the lunchroom or similar—modern screens can be plugged into a laptop and some can directly access the Internet. Back Pocket Grower is formatted for any device with a browser, including a smartphone or tablet.
If you shoot your own videos, consider posting them on a video server such as YouTube. To increase security, publish your videos as private or unlisted in your own channel. That way no one should be able to find your video with a browser subject search and you can only access the videos if you log into your own channel or know the specific video URL address. If you have Wi-Fi and a compatible device, an alternative is to store the videos on a password-protected cloud server, such as Dropbox or OneDrive, or on your own local area network.
“Train the trainer.” Someone in your company with experience in training, such as the production or HR manager, should review the video together with the supervisor and discuss how the video applies to your own SOPs. Write down key points that need to be emphasized in your business. This checklist will guide the training session.
Organize and demonstrate materials used in the task. For sticking cuttings, this will include work tools, trays, gloves, aprons, spray bottles, dibbling tools, trays, media and plant cuttings.
Supplement videos with live demos. People learn and should be taught in more than one way. A video is one tool, but can be passive like watching television. Include a live demonstration where the supervisor shows and talks through the process; get the new workers to hold cuttings and use work tools, and have them actually run through the process.
Decide on explicit specifications for the process and product. You should be able to “grade” whether an employee is doing a high-quality job.
Test learning. Construct simple tests to verify employees have processed the information and to provide feedback.
Refresh learning. Drifting away from SOPs inevitably happens over time. You can modify the training scheme for experienced workers by asking them to first go through the process (such as sticking a tray of cuttings) at the start of the training session. The trainer can then grade their work according to key points in the SOP. A discussion and the standardized training guide follows, and then workers redo the process.

Common themes in training videos
Many processes have similar features that should be incorporated in a video script or training outline:

Terminology. We use many jargon terms. This includes the product components (tray types and counts, growing media, plant cuttings and plant parts, plant varieties), the tools and materials, and the process itself (“dibbling”, “sticking”). Consider providing a cheat sheet (glossary) of the terms you use, in the language of your workers.
Interpreting labels and locations. For many processes, it’s important to be able to read a label or sticker. This includes sticking cuttings, fixing trays, pinching, pulling orders and checking inventory. Misinterpreting labels costs time and leads to shrinkage. Provide a map or key to your location descriptions. “The old range, house 3A, bay 24” might be clear to you, but time wasted by new lost staff costs money.
Horticulture. Handling a plant is different from any other factory work. For a sticking crew, have cuttings on hand and demonstrate an unrooted cutting, a rooted liner and a finished plant. (It helps if they can identify the top and bottom of a cutting!) Emphasize that cuttings are valuable and sensitive living plants, and that the way they are handled will have a big impact on whether the plant grows or dies.
The process. Each step in the process has tips on how to effectively complete the task: cleaning and sanitizing the work space, receiving the components (tray, cuttings, labels), matching tray and cutting labels, dibbling holes, removing cuttings from the bag, holding the cuttings and placing them in cells, closing the dibble and moving the finished tray off the sticking line.
Worker safety. Every process has its potential hazards, such as machinery, knives, latex gloves, sanitizing chemicals or plant allergies.
Sanitation and disease. Many workers won’t know plants can contact diseases from dirty surfaces or that smoking can be a virus issue. For propagators, emphasizing personal hygiene, washing and sanitizing protocols are critical.
The work day. What needs to be done at the start of the day, such as washing hands and putting on aprons and gloves. At break times, the worker may need to finish entire bags of cuttings or place moist paper over partially filled trays. Clean-up at the end of the day is important for both sanitation and efficiency.
The importance of their job. Each step is part of a production chain, affecting both crop quality and efficiency in subsequent steps. If their specific job is done well, it helps co-workers in the chain and adds to the success of the company. Emphasize the dollar value of each plant and show them the beautiful and valuable final product. Let employees know how their performance will be recognized and rewarded.

We hope you access our training videos in BackPocketGrower.com and find them useful in your operation this spring! GT

Access the tool on www.BackPocketGrower.com with your smartphone, tablet or desktop, or use the desktop version at www.WaterEducationAlliance.org.

Thanks to our industry partners in the Floriculture Research Alliance (FloricultureAlliance.org) for funding development of these training resources. Trade names are included for illustration purposes and no endorsement of products is implied.

Paul Fisher, Rosanna Freyre, Javier Lopez and Ryan Dickson are with the University of Florida, and Bruce MacKay is Managing Director of thomasBaine Ltd. in New Zealand.