Technology exists in nearly every industry these days. With each advancement, companies get tools to make them better at what they do, adding efficiency to their processes and insights to their fingertips.
Often, when technology enters an industry, however, people’s jobs change. While this can be exciting, it can also be intimidating to learn new things.
Over the past couple of decades, revolutionary technologies have entered the construction, agriculture, mining and forestry space.
RDO Equipment Co. has embraced these changes, creating a segment of business dedicated to learning these tools, providing them to customers, and coaching them to add precision solutions to their operations.
If you’re interested in joining RDO’s technology team, we have opportunities in many regions of the U.S.
When you join the RDO technology team — whether in sales, service, parts, support or another department — you’ll receive training designed to help you succeed.
Below, we’ve broken down what you can expect technology training to look like at RDO.
What Kind of Technology Training Does RDO Offer?
Training and development is a big part of our culture. RDO has internal teams dedicated to the ongoing education of our people. This helps our team members grow in their careers and provide industry-leading solutions/services to customers.
Every team member involved in the technology segment of our business goes through a core curriculum of training followed by a more specific technology training path.
RDO Technology Training Core Curriculum
Today, three courses make up the core technology curriculum at RDO, these are:
- GPS 101
- Carlson Machine Control
- UAV 101 (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)
Every technology team member, from parts and service managers to customer service advisors, general managers and salespeople, must complete these three courses.
These courses are conducted through RDO’s internal learning portal, containing a curriculum created internally to give team members a better understanding of the technology solutions offered here.
After completing these three courses, RDO team members start on learning paths specific to their role.
Individual Job Learning Pathways
This is when things get a little bit more specific. RDO’s technology training teams have created a learning curriculum for every job type, including:
- Parts Specialists
- Parts General
- Parts Manager
- Service Manager
- Service General
- Service Technician
- Customer Service Advisor
- Sales Manager
- Sales Professional/Account Manager
- General Manager
Within each of these programs, there are 5-30 courses focused on teaching each individual everything they need to be successful. Some of these materials are provided by RDO. The majority, however, come directly from manufacturers like John Deere, Topcon and Wingtra.
The Sales learning path includes 24 courses covering everything from grade control sales fundamentals and measurements with a level to thermal segregation, compact solutions and Wingtra partner direct sales training.
There are assessments throughout each learning pathway.
Each course has a medal ranking (bronze, silver, and gold), which reflects how advanced or specific the materials are. For example, basic earthmoving Topcon machine control is covered early in the “bronze” phase, while more specialized products, such as the thermal mapper or UAVs, are in the “gold” tier.
How Often Will You Receive Training?
When you join RDO, your training will start immediately following onboarding. New team members, together with their manager and the guidance of our technology team, start working their way through the learning path developed for them. Depending on your pace, this can take six months to a year.
For parts specialists and service technicians, this training weighs into RDO’s quarterly Career Path Level discussions with their manager.
How Does RDO Ensure Everyone is Properly Trained?
Our technology teams do a couple of things to ensure that people receive certain training when they need it.
The first is through a Technology Readiness Assessment. This is a self-assessment each location’s management team takes to rate their understanding of key product/service information.
Keeping track of each individual's learning path also helps RDO prioritize where more focused training and systems need to be developed. Training Summary reports keep everyone aligned.
Together, this data helps us adapt our training program to our team’s needs.
Join RDO’s Technology Team!
Your training and development are crucial to your success. At RDO, we take these things seriously. Throughout the technology curriculum, you’ll receive the learning opportunities you need to become a successful member of our team and build a great career here.
Learn more about RDO’s technology career opportunities — including the openings in your area — here.
For more information on our company or what it’s like to work in a technology career at RDO, contact our careers team and we’ll connect you with the right person as soon as possible.
Jake Michels
Jake has been with RDO since 2015. In his role, Jake oversees a team of solutions center specialists from RDO’s Technology Solutions Center in Billings. Jake has a true passion for technology in construction. Helping RDO’s customers integrate technology into their businesses alongside his talented team is what Jake does every day. He also enjoys helping RDO team members increase their understanding of construction technology by developing and implementing internal training.
