Association Insights: ISA

Around the first of the year, a news story certainly grabbed the attention: One in four U.S. jobs will be “severely disrupted” as artificial intelligence leads to more automated work. The Brookings Institute report said that automation would be so broad and so rapid that “many or most American workers—and certainly the young—will have to repeatedly retool themselves for new work over their life courses.”

When it comes to the sign, graphics and visual communications industry, you might quickly dismiss the idea of automation. We are in a creative industry that delivers individual products for our customers. Robots won’t take those jobs, will they? Perhaps not. But we need to be prepared for the coming revolution, which will impact us in some way.

As workers are displaced, they will be looking for stable industries like ours. They will understand the value that we provide to communities through business growth, jobs and tax bases. We are well positioned for the future—if we take advantage of opportunities to train these new workers. 

People like Stephanie Wilkins, project manager for Image National Signs, are coming into the industry from other fields, bringing skills that translate. Stephanie had used her project management skills in other areas of construction before coming to Image National Signs. While her knowledge in project management carried over, she did need to understand some of the nuances of the sign industry. 

Her company uses the International Sign Association’s online learning program to help its employees stay on top of the industry. A manager can assign an employee to complete a certain number of courses for onboarding or continuing education. 

In all, 69 online training courses are available, covering a range of skills from digital signage to installation. Learners can pursue individual badges in topic areas and those who complete six badges earn the Sign Industry Professional badge. A new course, “Intro to Signage,” is a great onboarding tool since it provides foundational knowledge, such as the different departments within a typical sign company, the different types of signs and their uses. 

Stephanie fully embraced the learning and was among the first to earn the badge. “This has been great for bringing myself up to speed to handle anything that comes my way,” she said.

The program is not just for newcomers, of course. Her coworker, Dave Jantz, was right behind her in earning the Sign Industry Professional designation. 

He has worked in the industry for 13 years. Still, “there is always something new to learn,” he said. “With the classes that are offered through ISA, it brought me back to the beginning, in a sense.”

Image National, Dave said, is “big on hiring from within and encourages us to flex into other departments. They want us to find the right fit or better fit for us. By taking these classes, I got a better understanding of what others do and what they go through in their positions. I also got an idea of what I would be facing should I be moved into a different position.”

It not only prepared him for a future career move, but it also provided some insight into what is expected of his coworkers. “I think that the biggest thing I got out of the classes is that you really should not complain about others not doing their job. Especially if you do not know what their position is. Taking these classes will give you that understanding.”

More deeply, though, it has helped him to embrace learning something new. “I used to be apprehensive about trying something new. These classes gave me an understanding that you do not have to be scared. ISA is very thorough with the classes and content. I truly get the feeling that they want you to succeed as much as you do and have the tools to make it possible. I will be using the knowledge I received from these classes to further my career.”

Through Dave, we see the multi-faceted benefits that come from this sort of broad-based learning: He has not only developed his own skills, but he also has a larger picture of the company’s goals and how his work supplements them. And his bosses now have an employee who is ready to grow into the next facet of his career.

In these days of worry about finding the next generation of workers, how comforting that the next person ready for promotion may already be sitting inside your building. And when new workers come in—drawn into a stable, growing, dynamic industry with skills that translate—how exciting that a program can help them understand the nuances of the sign, graphics and visual communications industry.

For years now, ISA has heard of the challenges that our member companies have in finding, training and keeping workers. It is because of this feedback that programs like the Sign Industry Professional designation were developed. It is exciting to see the benefits of those who have embraced the program and the tangible results that they are experiencing.

The Sign Industry Professional digital badge is just one aspect of ISA’s educational efforts. It is clear that, for our industry to continue growing, we must bring in new workers. But we must do more than that. We must help those new to the industry learn more and we must push those who have been with us a while to continue stretching and growing. You can learn more about the ways that ISA can help you do that at 

www.signs.org/online.