ASA University visualizes a new future for employee development and retention

2016 ASA Education Foundation Board of Trustees. Photo courtesy of ASA.

My good friend Dirk Beveridge, a leading voice of change and innovation throughout distribution, tells us that “Without vision, there is no innovation.” Driven with that thought in mind, the dedicated volunteers that comprise the ASA Education Foundation Board of Trustees (see below) met in April to continue to map out the expanding vision of ASA University and its impact on the future of labor in our industry.

Beveridge defines vision as “a future reality that you really believe is possible with committed effort.” Our association and our ASA Education Foundation trustees have set our bold vision to reflect our desire that “ASA members will develop and retain a labor force that will become the best educated, best trained, and most professional in the industry.”

This is a bold vision indeed, but one that we are devoted to achieving. With a focus on arming the industry’s employees, both current and future, with the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively perform their jobs, ASA University will continue to be the core component that will enable members to not only train, but retain their employees. Ultimately, ASA-U will become the industry standard by which employees are measured and will continue to help drive our content development, delivery technologies, and advisory support our members need now and moving forward.

Most owners in our industry would agree that continual labor training and improvement adds to their bottom line and future viability. ASA-U will continue to demonstrate the value of employee development to the membership, as well as provide the resources and support to successfully build a culture of talent management internally. Training can certainly occur without this type of culture, but when it happens within an engaging environment actively measuring and growing employees, it is most effective and lasting. A strong talent management culture will give ASA members an edge when it comes to retaining their employees, keeping them from jumping to another industry company or out of the industry all together. To help our members become these best of the best “Employers of Choice,” ASA University will expand new offerings around workforce planning, employee engagement, succession planning, training recognition and more. And we are not just content to simply offer resources; we have started to expand our capability to help with the utilization of these current and future resources through our one-on-one ASA-U Advisory Service as well.

“Inspiring and motivating our labor force is a focus for our Education Foundation and trustees,” says John Mills, ASAEF president. “To imagine a time when all our members will employ an elite workforce and stand out from the rest of the industry makes the journey toward our vision extremely rewarding.”

The vision of the trustees is just one component of the larger road map of the American Supply Association. The ASA Strategic Plan is reviewed annually to ensure relevance and much of our success can be attributed to the vision of our volunteers building the plan. A full updated plan can be accessed at www.asa.net/About-ASA.

Find out more about ASA University by visiting www.asa.net/education or contacting me at ablack@asa.net.

2016 ASA Education Foundation Board of Trustees

John Mills, President

WHCI Plumbing Supply Co.

Chris Fasano, President-Elect

Torrco

Todd Ford, Treasurer

Central States Group

Mike Adelizzi

ASA Executive Vice President

Jeffrey Beall

Amy Black