Gildan recognizes that over the course of employment, it is important to provide employees with ongoing education through various types of training designed to improve the technical, administrative and interpersonal skills necessary in their present job and position them with opportunities for future growth within the organization. Ongoing employee training is a key factor in upgrading technical and behavioral competencies in the workforce.
Upon commencement of their employment with Gildan, employees attend an induction training or information session where they are introduced to Gildan, its principles, policies and procedures, the Code of Conduct, corporate citizenship principles, the Gildan Quality System (GQS), and with their specific job responsibilities. The training also includes topics related to enabling workers to better understand the environment in which they will be working, as well as informing them of their rights and obligations.
Specific employee training requirements are identified at a later time through the Performance Appraisal process. Gildan continues to assess how employee ratings, as found on the performance appraisal tool, evolve from one year to the next. In doing so, we have been able to identify and build on our employees’ competencies, help them increase their knowledge and heighten their awareness of the principles of Gildan’s Code of Conduct. We have also been able to identify employees’ progress and take the necessary measures to address the gaps between their actual performance and the desired performance scores.
Gildan continues to help close employee performance gaps by providing training (on-the-job, internal or external) and coaching and by having employees participate in various projects or assignments throughout all Gildan locations. These efforts have yielded positive results that include internal promotions, increased employee engagement and productivity, just to name a few.