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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Entertainment Firms Find Creative Ways to Train Workers

New hires at Xytech Systems endure a 13-week program termed a boot camp. Rather than a drill sergeant barking orders and ordering 20 pushups, these employees who become consultants to the Burbank’s company’s big name clientele learn business and analytical skills, the ins and outs of Xytech’s software and a bit about the industry themselves. At the conclusion, that new hire is not only ready to represent Xytech in the field but an idea of whether the company is a good fit for them. “They get to give us feedback,” said Tony Johnson, vice president of professional services. “They tell us what they think, whether they feel this is the right job for them.” Two employees have completed the boot camp program and two others are now undergoing the training. <!– Achieve: New Wave Entertainment helps workers pursue career goals. –> Achieve: New Wave Entertainment helps workers pursue career goals. For those coming to Xytech with previous software and technical experience, the program can be shortened to five or nine weeks, Johnson said. Small businesses in the San Fernando Valley Xytech employs 60 people – are showing that even without multi-million dollar budgets they can still provide skills training and other educational opportunities to their employees. These companies recognize that a well-trained and educated workforce contributes to remaining competitive and offering value to their clients. These companies also recognize the importance of mentoring programs pairing veteran employees with new hires to learn the ropes. In a time when cost-cutting is standard, these companies find the expense of training to be worthwhile. Tickets for the three-day FITC rich media development festival taking place in Los Angeles the first week in October range from $249 to $949 yet Avatar Labs, an Encino company that designs rich media advertising for clients in the entertainment industry, is sending four employees to attend. “Tickets are expensive but there are a lot of classes that are very specific and appropriate to what we do for a few (clients),” Avatar founder and executive creative director Rex Cook said. Avatar is one company with a mentoring program in which for a two to three month period a new hire is taken under wing by a veteran. Xytech has a similar program and purposely pairs a younger employee with a mentor outside of their industry sector. Exposed to new things So a studio segment worker gets paired with a mentor who works with clients in the broadcasting or post-production sectors. What this does is expose the new employee to other parts of the entertainment industry and allows for more room to grow at Xytech, Johnson said. SADA Systems, an information technology provider in North Hollywood, doesn’t have a formal mentoring program but tends to pair its two-person support teams with one veteran employee and one newer one, said President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Safoian. The 18-employee firm is fortunate to have corporate partners, such as Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Google providing training either online or in person, for which the company picks up the expense, Safoian said. But SADA also recognizes the importance of its employees receiving non-technical training in skills that help the company and increase earning potential. For instance, several employees received English language training for which the cost gets picked up on a less formal basis. “No matter how long they stay with us, even if they move on to a different company, they are going to be more marketable if their English skills are better,” Safoian said. At New Wave Entertainment, new hires start in the mailroom literally. These employees make deliveries to the studios who are clients for New Wave’s production, post-production and graphics services. They are also building relationships with those working in the areas they want to pursue. New Wave prides itself on being a teaching facility and giving an opportunity to pursue one’s career goals, said Marisol Ordonez, director of human resources for the Burbank company. “Some of our most successful editors and producers have started out in the mailroom,” Ordonez said. Job shadowing New employees, however, do have access to equipment during off hours or can shadow a colleague working in the area that interests them. It’s an opportunity given to all different job descriptions, from editor to producer to graphic designers and audio mixers. “All the resources are available in all the departments,” Ordonez said. It works well for New Wave in that promotions can be made internally with someone already familiar with the company, its clients and its equipment, she added. Senior editors are developing short seminars for their assistants on the different elements of what it takes to be an editor and taking a project from infancy to delivery. In New Wave’s graphics department a weekly showcase highlights its new talent so that the company gets an idea of the creativity among its ranks. Further training, partially subsidized by the state with the company picking up the balance of the tuition, takes place at Video Symphony.

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