Established in 1961, McLean Packaging began as a small box manufacturing facility located outside of Philadelphia. Focusing on creating quality gift boxes for products like shirt sets, chocolate gifts, and greeting cards, the initial 8,000-square-foot facility was just the beginning of McLean’s packaging enterprise. With a passion for creating quality packaging, McLean invested in printing and gluing technologies that are unique in the industry. Today, McLean is still privately owned by one of the founders and operates within three highly specialized manufacturing facilities exceeding 475,000-square-foot and more than 200 employees.
MRC’s Tailored Training Offerings Deliver Understanding and Exposure to New Ideas
“I knew these staffers had the ambition to better themselves, and through MRC we could give them the tools they needed.”
– Shawn Hintosh, Plant Manager
Hintosh—himself a veteran of several MRC training sessions early in his career—recognized that several individuals within McLean Packaging could benefit from similar instruction. From first-time supervisors and managers, to those working in safety, and others recently promoted within the organization, McLean turned to MRC for tailored instruction.
SOLUTION
McLean had already completed several Supervisor Boot Camps with MRC and instructor Wendy Beltzer. For this round, the company selected ten production floor employees who showed promise to become supervisors. “Those going through the course come out with a new understanding of their jobs and how they impact and can benefit the company,” Hintosh says. “Wendy understands our process and our people, and we know that she can deliver.”
The next step, following completion of the Supervisor Boot Camp, will be a Manager Essentials course in late February 2024. This extension of the Boot Camp will also involve Beltzer and the same students. “They’re hungry,” Hintosh says. “They’re like sponges when they attend those courses.”
A Train-the-Trainer course gave front-line supervisors a clear understanding of how to train their direct reports. With a step-by-step review of the various ways people can learn, tools for recognizing the ways to tailor training to the individual, and discussion of how to create training that meets individual needs, Hintosh expects this session to be especially valuable.
McLean’s Safety Chair, meanwhile, completed a 10-hour OSHA Training Course. Hintosh says that in addition to the coursework, that individual benefited in particular from the opportunity to engage his counterparts from other companies and learn how things work both within and beyond the packaging industry. Given the inside-the-building focus that comes with the role of safety chair, that exposure proved to be invaluable.
The same model enabled the safety chair to learn from others in a similar role through the Safety Forum training. “That session in particular uncovered some ideas that we plan to implement in the future,” Hintosh says.
RESULTS
• The ability to hire from within—as opposed to looking outside the organization and onboarding a new individual—can save the company as much as $80,000 per year.
• Supervisors who complete training have particular success managing temporary employees; Hintosh estimates that temp turnover has fallen by 50% following the training.
To learn more about McLean Packaging Corporation, visit their website at https://www.mcleanpackaging.com/