Continuous education is an important tool for the success and growth of employees as well as a company. Tecta America has developed opportunities for enhanced learning throughout its 74 locations. Roofers and foremen are always learning on the job, but Tecta America offers driven employees opportunities to enhance their soft and hard skills.

Across the country, Tecta America’s operational units participate in programs designed to develop technical and leadership talent further.

For emerging leaders throughout the organization, Tecta America runs Building Leaders for Tomorrow, affectionately called “BLT.”  This program was designed to foster better leadership among foremen, superintendents, and lead technicians. Participants learn how to manage effectively and enhance their communication skills.

Lindy Ryan, Vice President of Leadership and Development, established the company’s leadership program and said, “Foremen without any previous management experience who may have started as roofers learn how to manage teams out in the field effectively. They also learn how to have difficult conversations with team members and resolve conflicts that come up during production.”

Managers attending the training are also forging connections with Tecta America leaders across the country. “Forming relationships is essential within the company, as managers can often help each other even when they reside in different states,” she continued.

Tecta America believes training and growth are essential in any trade and should be available for employees at all levels. They invest in education and a higher level of development for the roofing industry as a whole.

Currently, some of Tecta America’s operating units are partnering with other roofing contractors in a three-year apprenticeship program designed to educate participants about roofing systems, safety, materials, job roles, and the vital importance of teamwork on a worksite.

This learning is combined with in-class training and in-the-field training, offering students an opportunity to apply their knowledge. The program is designed to teach future roofers the necessary skills for their trade, but it will also give them profound knowledge beyond on-the-job training.

“When someone joins a team of roofers, that person learns through osmosis. A roofer may understand how to do a job, but not why they have to perform a procedure,” Ryan said. “Foremen and experienced roofers may not be able to fully educate new team members during production because of tight project deadlines. This is why additional training is important.”

Sonya Shearer, Director of Training and Development, has been developing the three-year apprenticeship program and the curriculum to educate the participants on several facets of the roofing trade. The program also incorporates quizzes and testing to determine how much each participant is learning, retaining, and growing. “This helps us understand how each student is progressing and what modules need improvement,” added Shearer. Students are learning about reroofing, maintenance, repairs, the application of built-up roofing, and other applications.

“We hope to one day be able to take these learning modules and use them in the operational units. Management would be able to utilize this tool to further education across all levels of development.  Management would then be able to train roofers in more than one way,” she said.

Further proof that Tecta America is investing in its employees and the industry as a whole to produce the next generation of roofing professionals.