Picture this – it’s the first day of your new manufacturing job. After a brief orientation, the manager takes you over to your new machine and gives you a rough outline of what it does and how it works. Then, they disappear.

While they’re gone, you field questions from coworkers about things you simply do not know. They ask you to, “Get a measurement with that mic,” but do you know what a mic (micrometer) is or how to use it? More questions or commands come up through the day. By the end of your first day, you’re feeling overwhelmed, defeated, and wondering if you’ve made a mistake.

In many manufacturing firms, that is what the hiring process still looks like. It used to look that way at Webco, too, but not anymore. Webco Industries (headquartered in Sand Springs, OK) with major manufacturing plants in Oil City and Reno reinvented the training process with their Boot Camp program.

Webco Boot Camp is a five-week program for new hires now in use in Webco’s PA facilities that gets to the heart of what it means to be a Webco employee.

Webco is a technology-driven manufacturer, and Boot Camp helps employees build the skills and specific knowledge they need to have a successful career in manufacturing.

Skills aren’t the only thing built during Boot Camp. New employees also build relationships with fellow new hires and the instructor that make the transition into their new role on the Webco team easier – but the training doesn’t end upon graduation.

What separates Webco Boot Camp from regular training programs is that the instructors continue acting as mentors to the new employees, meeting with them periodically to see how things are going with their new job and position.

Why do instructors choose to mentor new employees in this way? The company believes in and lives out the idea that: “People make the difference at Webco.” That means every Webco employee, from the new hires to 20-year veterans, are valued members of our team.

The new Boot Camp program is more than a solid foundation of skills and knowledge to help new hires be successful; it’s also how they ensure that working at Webco is not just a job, but also a family, working towards a shared goal of a Forever company.

In other words, Webco Boot Camp helps mold the future so that Webco can continue being an Employer of Choice in the region for many years to come.

This article was published in the Venango Chamber’s October 2021 VenangoWorks! Newsletter.