Supporting Communication Skills at John Deere

For the past four years, the English department and John Deere have collaborated to improve the communications skills of John Deere apprentice welders all over Iowa. It’s a collaborative training course called the High School Registered Apprenticeship Program (HRAP) that has seen consistent and growing success.

In the summer months, welders meet with several of our faculty twice weekly to learn how to enhance their writing and public speaking skills. At first blush, these skills may seem extraneous to their occupation. However, the company knows that welders who learn to communicate professionally have more efficient, ergonomic, and safer workstations. Simultaneously, John Deere hopes that building apprentices’ public speaking skills and encouraging them to share their experiences will increase interest in the skilled trade fields and working with John Deere.

A majority of the apprentices who take the course go on to become full-time John Deere employees in Iowa. The program has been so effective that John Deere plans on expanding the program to other job sites.

This effort is a representation of the English department’s capability to teach and impact not only college students enrolled at ISU, but also high school students aiming to take on trade work such as welding. In addition to benefiting the students and John Deere, the program has also benefited our faculty, who learn about communication needs in an industry setting, which also informs curriculum development.

At the end of the program, apprentices put their public speaking and communication skills to the test by creating a presentation about all they have learned at their John Deere apprenticeship and delivering it to a room full of John Deere stakeholders. This past summer marked Associate Professor Brandon Sams’s second year teaching John Deere welding apprentices. He says, “Overall, the experience with HRAP went very well. The interns were engaged, involved, and delivered high-quality work, impressing the room, which included top managers.” One of these managers, David Ottavianelli, Director of Strategic Projects and Labor Relations for John Deere, has been the primary contact for the department. He expresses his view of the success of the program as follows:

“We thank each of the Iowa State University English instructors for the incredible impact that they have made on our students and employees. It is amazing to see the development of the student communications skills in such a short period of time. Four years ago, we decided to give this program a try. Now it has become an unreplaceable part of our student training, and we are looking for ways to expand its scope and impact in the future.”

The English department plans to continue it’s partnership with John Deere and apply the insights gained to develop new partnerships with more industry leaders. This project illustrates the real connection between what is taught in the classroom and industry communication training.