Rewarding a Culture of Continuous Learning

\It’s time manufacturing companies rethink how they create a learning culture to develop, manage, and support their workers in the digital age. By Adam Aguzzi

As the manufacturing sector strives to manage the continued disruption caused by the global pandemic, a key challenge persists – embracing Manufacturing 4.0 as an enterprise-wide standard. While there are many headwinds to the M4.0 goal, the lack of skilled employees to support enterprise-wide digital transformation is one of, if not the biggest factor, standing in the way.

In the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s latest Factories of the Future¹ survey, for example, the lack of skilled employees was highlighted as a major roadblock to implementing a true M4.0 strategy for almost half of the respondents (47%), the second highest concern.

Manufacturing 4.0 is already transforming factories in many companies, but some manufacturing leaders haven’t put the same level of thought into developing a strategy for transforming their workforce. They’re striving for Manufacturing 4.0 while mired in 2.0 workforce practices. They know M4.0 technologies require different skills. They understand that filling job vacancies due to retiring baby boomers is an issue that’s accelerating in the wake of COVID-19, and that the younger generation of talent has different needs and expectations of workplaces. As an industry, we’re far from a time when robots will run the show, and we still need the right people with the right skills to realize the full potential and value from M4.0. Old approaches to talent won’t work. It’s time to re-think how manufacturing companies develop, manage, and support their workers for the digital age.

Fixing the Employee Brand Problem 

Manufacturing continues to struggle to attract younger talent due to misconceptions about the industry. For example, only 45% of respondents to the 2018 L2L Manufacturing Index survey² believe manufacturing is a good career for young people. To change this, companies need to show that they’re going to manage their workforce differently. In a recent CNBC interview, Nick Pinchuk, chairman and CEO of Snap-on₃, puts it bluntly: “If you’re the head of a company and you say that people are your most important asset, on occasion you have to act like it.”

Succession planning should also be a key component of this strategy. A strong succession plan will support both leadership development and critical non-manager roles to ensure the organization is equipped to handle unplanned absences, fluctuations in demand, and employees leaving or changing roles.

Build, Nurture, and Reward 

Many manufacturers are well down the path of digital initiatives, but they won’t realize the true value of Manufacturing 4.0 with a 2.0 workforce. It’s essential to optimize the people side of the business to match that level of efficiency and sophistication.

Strategically aware manufacturers are pulling data from across the organization and integrating it. Using data holistically gives companies more insight into the bigger picture of workforce performance. But that’s only possible when technology systems are connected, and employee data can be collated from multiple sources.

Many organizations are still operating with disparate systems for people management and HR processes. In fact, 34% of organizations in one study⁵ said not having HR systems integrated with other organizational systems was a top barrier to making optimal use of predictive analytics. Using data holistically can help organizations place the right number of workers with the right skills in the right place at the right times for maximum productivity.

This maximization of skills and efficiency will allow manufacturing to offer the competitive wages it is known for. Maintaining the investment in the workforce does require that compensation matches the experience and skill that the employees have accumulated. Neglecting this could result in the hard-fought investment in human capital to be lost, as the detailed company knowledge could leave as the employee leaves. Employees need to see a connection between their compensation and skills to be truly valued.

A Culture with Purpose 

Whether it’s on the production floor or in the back office, the sense that employees are working toward something bigger, a common goal, is essential for them to stay motivated and engaged. Embedding this sense of purpose and growth into work takes more than just lip service, and manufacturers will need to examine every touchpoint of the employee experience to uncover gaps, opportunities, and challenges. Doing this right, and right now, can create big wins in employee retention, reskilling, and productivity. When your team is engaged and immersed in a culture of continuous learning and purpose, and you’re set up to track, measure, and make decisions based on real-time performance, you’re on your way to creating a truly future-ready workforce.   M

Footnotes

1 Manufacturing Leadership Council, 2021 Factories of the Future Survey: https://manufacturingleadershipcouncil.com/2021/02/01/fast-forward-for-future-factories/
2 2018 L2L Manufacturing Index survey: https://www.l2l.com/leading2lean-manufacturing-index
3 CNBC interview with Nick Pinchuk, chairman & CEO, Snap-on: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/17/americans-dont-tell-the-truth-when-they-talk-about-manufacturing-jobs.html
4 https://www.ceridian.com/resources/consumerizing-the-employee-experience
5 http://images.knowhow.ceridian.com/Web/CeridianCorporation/%7B3306e9a7-c257-4f57-a66e-3a14f12eb6fa%7D_RR-NA-EN-HCM-BHG-Modern-Analytics-Technology.pdf?_ga=2.261196942.2069295756.1554299501-2121244366.1550241979