Is Formal Training worth it?
Money's Worth
Why Get formal training when hands-on teaches you to get the job done?
Fire alarm systems are a life safety requirement. We need them. Most importantly, we need the fire alarm system to work as it is intended to work. Formal training tells you how the fire alarm system is supposed to work, what the requirements are for making it work properly, and the best method to achieve a proper installation. The word “best” in this case includes the fastest, easiest, and more importantly, the method that reflects better workmanship. Methods that have been created by eliminating the ones that do not stand up to what they teach. A process of elemination. Keeping what works and removing what does not fit code. A format of uniformity. To get the lights to work as they need and the bells to ring how they are supposed to ring.
Though hands-on teaches you plenty, it cannot possibly teach everything necessary to meet requirements, unless you are an apprentice for many years. Imagine you are in an ambulance receiving medical care. The person giving you the most help says “You’re in good hands, I skipped medical school but I’ve had two months hands-on training, Jimbob taught me well. He’s had three months hands-on.” You’d be kind of scared, right? What we install and inspect is supposed to prevent ambulance rides. hands-on is just one guy’s process, and it may be watered down from many years of shortcuts and misunderstandings.I disorganized process of just getting the light to work and the bell to ring.
Is the risk worth the reward to get employees trained?
Do people actually Learn anything?
Yes. Many old sayings you have heard your whole life ring true in this case. "Nothing good is ever free", "What if I train them and they quit and what if I don't train them and they stay", "Good labor is never cheap, cheap labor is never good". There is a motivation that is created by advancing credentials. There is a morale that is created when people can help each other understand the correct methods. Imagine being the only employee that is at level-1 while everyone else is level-2 or higher. Competitive nature and shear desire to not be left behind will start that motivation.
Does it mean anything to have a bunch of certifications?
The short answer (that offends the less enlightened) is yes, if you know what it is the certed person knows. or No, if you (or their employer) do not partake in understanding certifications. The long answer is; Everyone has to understand what the certifications are for, so everyone knows what they are looking for. Yes, some people can study and pass tests and not retain anything. If you know what the certification is about, then you can check that employee and verify that they did or didn't retain anything while studying for that cert. If you don't know, then you can only check for what you need, and it is pretty likely the certification doesn't cover all of it. So they probably won't pass your test.
Certifications without experience
The double-edged sword of this industry. Studying the formalities and basics without experience gets shunned by those who are adamant about hands-on being greater skill than knowledge. You get a Copernicus situation. Ridicule from those that should know better, and possibly a much lesser chance to get proper guidance so that you can get the hands-on experience. Imagine the person training you has zero knowledge in studies, but has 20+ years hands-on (scary thought) and you correct them. They will shut down and stop helping you, either out of offense or out of spite toward what they perceive to be a know-it-all. You may even shutdown. Why would you listen to someone that does nothing but violate code?
There is the possibility that the years of hands-on has taught them to never help the guy with study knowledge. Due to the two never really speaking the same language. Study guy may say "Circuit" while the hands-on guy may say 'Wires" or "Cable". Study guy may say 'Spot-type" or "Line-type" while hands-on guy has never heard either but doesn't ask because he doesn't want to sound like he knows nothing.
Certifications make you lazy
One thing for sure, a person that studies is proof they want to know more. They want to be more. They want the most they can get out of their career. It is clear they do. They learned something they do not know. They passed tests they couldn't pass before. but can they get the hands-on they need? Only if the person training them speaks the same language as them. That is something that something hard to come by, especially if the upper-management has zero study knowledge.
If management sees a guy being trained by a non-certified person, showing them the best way to hold cables with dried hardened bubble gum and paperclips, and the certified guy refuses to do it, he might appear lazy to the less understanding. If the training person leaves the approved plans in their van and installs all 65 devices (all at 110cd) on the same circuit and the certed person does nothing to help wire them up, sure that looks lazy to the unknowledgeable. Is it lazy? No. It isn't. not in the least bit. Refusing to violate code or jeopardize the occupants is not lazy, regardless of budget and time constraints.
How it pays
When your employees get good at their craft and don't break laws that could get people hurt or sued, you've changed the dynamic. You've brought yourself from some trunk ran halfwitted crew that improvises everything, up to a crew that can stand with the big crowd and understand what they are saying. A crew with a sight of what needs to be done, how it must be done and what it will take to achieve the end product. Better quality, more timely production, and increased workmanship. You'll take them from basic hired labor "with some know how" to craftsmen.