Key Equipment’s new training center putting young employees on fast track

SUPERIOR – To stay competitive in the leasing industry, Key Equipment Finance is focusing on developing and retaining high-level talent. As it has seen the job market getting tighter, especially for middle management positions, the company has taken on a “grow your own” philosophy.

According to Lori Frasier, senior vice president of human resources and facilities management at Key Equipment Finance, local companies are trading talent back and forth, rather than bringing in new folks. She sees the market getting tighter and tighter, especially as baby boomers retire.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, baby boomers are reaching the age of 60 at the rate of one every seven seconds. To combat this trend, Key Equipment Finance is looking at an initiative to provide more lease specific training to fast track its younger employees. The goal is to put them at the 15-year experience level in five to six years, Frasier said.

As a means to that end, Key Equipment Finance just completed a 2,247-square-foot training center at its global headquarters in Superior. Frasier said the new training center provides a more ideal training environment for a practice they have been committed to for many years. The company has offered training opportunities through its Leasing University program since 2000.

“We see training as a retention issue as well as an investment in the asset of our people,” Frasier said. “Employees will stay at a company that is investing in their development.”

In the first quarter of 2006, 49 percent of Key Equipment Finance employees attended at least one training class. Employees from Key’s worldwide offices can participate in the Leasing University through classes at the training center, online and through self-study courses. Frasier said classes are offered at the training center three weeks out of each month, with one to two classes per week, depending on needs. Overall, Key Equipment Finance spends approximately $500 per year on training for each employee.

“It really helps to make Key positioned in the market as having the best talent in the industry,” Frasier said.

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