INSIGHT FROM …
Julia Johnson, Director, Organizational Performance, Wipfli
“We have more work than our team can handle.”
“We could grow 30% next year, easy, if only we had the people.”
It’s an ongoing problem in manufacturing. Companies want and need to grow but are running into labor obstacles. Worse yet, some have even shut down production lines.
The disconnect
It’s no surprise that employers are feeling the effects of the labor shortage. There are simply fewer working-age people to attract. But those of us in the human resources trenches know that’s only part of the story.
For many manufacturers, it’s not only a lack of people but also a disconnect between open jobs and the candidates who are applying. The skills and qualifications of workers aren’t meeting your demand, and there’s an increase in your labor costs to fill the vacancies. Candidates have higher expectations for wages, benefits and flexibility.
Your frustration is compounded when you do find someone with the qualifications you need, but the candidate fails to accept the job. Estimates suggest candidates are rejecting roughly half of all job offers.
What happens when you are successful in getting that valuable new hire in the door? The reality may be that your operations managers are so short-staffed they’re piling on the hours with back-to-back shifts and mandatory overtime. Another common practice is to grant vacation requests based on seniority, so your newer employees can’t get summer or holiday time off, which can make them feel frustrated and devalued.
People either get burned out fast or they see the writing on the wall and quit rather than put themselves through untold months (or years) of unfavorable working conditions. Cue the shortage-overwork-shortage cycle again.
Look with an employee lens
Start looking at the workplace through employees’ eyes to improve the quality of their employment experience. Start with the hiring and onboarding process. Roughly 60% of job seekers quit in the middle of filling out online job applications because of the length or complexity. Apply at your own company to experience the process. If it takes more than five minutes, fix it.
Streamlining and enhancing the hiring process is the easy part. The bigger challenge is to create a satisfying and appealing work environment where employees feel connected and valued.
Rigid scheduling, last-minute overtime and too many working weekends all contribute to employee dissatisfaction. Requiring an employee to stay for an extra shift when their replacement doesn’t show up, keeping people on call without compensation, mandating vacation requests a full year in advance — these things don’t just hurt morale; they cause significant, real-life problems for employee family life and employee health.
Is time off scheduled fairly? Do your scheduling practices account for at-home commitments? People want a measure of flexibility and control in their work, and that often matters more than the paycheck. But, the paycheck does still matter, and pay and benefits must be competitive.
This isn’t easy stuff. Revamping scheduling practices and shifting culture will be a significant challenge for operation managers and supervisors. It may mean radical changes in how you forecast work, schedule projects or even in how you set customer expectations. But those manufacturers that adjust will see profitable benefits in productivity and (yes, it’s still possible) employee loyalty.
Level up your frontline leaders
You know the old refrain — people don’t quit jobs, they quit managers. It’s not that simple, but there is some truth behind the message. Too often, companies promote high performers into supervisory roles but then fail to provide sufficient coaching or support. High performers don’t always equate to effective leaders.
There’s a skill to supervising people, providing constructive feedback and recognizing good work. Plus, supervisors may need to be convinced that the old ways of working (e.g., making the new hires “pay their dues”) isn’t the right way forward anymore. When family responsibilities conflict with work demands, today’s workers want empathy and flexibility, not a hard-lined disciplinarian who says, “I figured it out and so should you.”
Your frontline leaders need mentoring. That doesn’t mean one-and-done workshops. Think ongoing training, group coaching sessions and culture leaders who are on demand to help them work through employee issues as they come up. Giving your frontline leaders this kind of support can pay dividends in employee retention.
Attract more candidates
It’s time to think like marketers. Build your employer brand, share employee testimonials, show off your employee culture on social media and get more creative with your job ads. Be thoughtful about the language you use in your ads and job descriptions. Aim to get candidates interested in the role and your story so they’re more likely to apply.
Consider alternative staffing strategies as well. Compressed work hours or part-time jobs may appeal to more candidates. What about midday shifts for parents who need to get their kids on and off a bus? Or retiree programs that could lure experienced talent back for short-term assignments?
Examine your current practices. Accept a broader range of entry-level skills and train people into the roles you need. Rethink policies and practices that reduce your candidate pools. And consider updated tools and methods for scheduling and using talent. The right shifts can make your workplace more attractive to employees — ultimately making your company easier to lead.
Julia Johnson has more than 25 years of diversified human resources and organizational development experience, working closely with executive and senior management teams. She is a nationally sought-after speaker who in October delivered an address on this topic of creative recruitment and retention strategies at the Manufacturing First Expo & Conference in Green Bay.
