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To establish talent and skills for smart manufacturing, start at the beginning—of the employee relationship, that is. 

 

TAKEAWAYS:
● The right approach to workplace culture might be the missing piece in attracting talent for the future of manufacturing.
● Could rethinking your hiring strategy unlock your workforce’s true potential?
● What if creating growth opportunities for all employees – regardless of education level – was the key to preparing for a tech-driven future?  

 

 

The workforce remains a top-of-mind concern for manufacturers grappling with a trifecta of labor shortages, an aging employee population, and modern skill deficits as factories become more automated. Companies need clarity around what the digital future looks like in order to determine the right mix of skills and talent to efficiently drive success. This is not a new challenge—we have been discussing it in this forum for years. But workforce change is complex, and many manufacturers are still struggling to build momentum.

West Monroe recently conducted a survey of manufacturing executives, covering a broad range of topics, including workforce challenges. While most respondents feel their company is very or moderately prepared to adapt to future workforce needs, 89% believe that attracting skilled talent will have a major impact on their ability to do so.

To continue advancing toward a digital future, manufacturers must find a way to move the meter with respect to the workforce. One way to do so is to focus on the front end of the employee relationship.

1. Be intentional about organizational culture

You cannot start bringing in the right people without first defining what “right” means. That is where culture comes in.

Manufacturing has traditionally been highly output-focused, with less attention paid to workplace culture. Culture is a significant factor in retaining workers, but it is increasingly important in attracting them in the first place—particularly given the new type of talent required for smart manufacturing.

Culture is a set of aspirational behaviors, values and beliefs that drive how work is done in an optimal way. The ideal behaviors should stem from both the culture you want to have and a clear employee value proposition, grounded in labor analysis, which spells out the emotional (alignment to mission, vision, and purpose), contractual rewards (promised compensation and benefits), and experiential (interconnectedness of company culture and employee career journey) reasons why people choose to work for your organization.

Source: West Monroe

In a smart manufacturing environment, desired behaviors will include things like effective collaboration and communication, use of data to make decisions that improve performance, and a bias toward continuous performance improvement. But these are just the basics. This is a chance to be bold and differentiate your workplace—but you will need to back it up. For example, if you want your culture to be known as “energizing,” you will need money, activities, and the flexibility to fulfill this vision.

Adapting corporate culture for a changing business strategy is complex. West Monroe has identified nine critical drivers for enabling culture to influence business outcomes. These fall in three categories: strategy, operations and talent. All require intentional design and investment. Yet, this is critical up-front work, because it influences role design and then who you hire for the role.

2. Hire for culture rather than just current capacity

While there may be urgency to fill empty seats or add people to increase current capacity, the evolution of digital manufacturing increasingly depends on hiring the right people—workers who can demonstrate the competencies, skills and behaviors that will elevate performance. These include attributes such as analytical and critical thinking, detail orientation, problem solving and adaptability to rapid change.

One particular area of attention in hiring should be leadership potential. While executive leadership sets the cultural tone, front-line managers are the day-to-day face of it. Simply put, good leaders engage, develop and retain talent. Bad leaders lose talent. In a 2024 LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Survey, 7 in 10 respondents said they would leave a job because of a bad manager. One study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) quantified the impact. One in five respondents said they had left a job in the past five years due to workplace culture—and more than half (58%) claimed their manager was the reason for leaving. That turnover costs American corporations $44.6 billion annually.

To continue advancing toward a digital future, manufacturers must find a way to move the meter with respect to the workforce.

 

Many manufacturers interview primarily for the ability to perform a particular task, such as running a machine. This will not get you any closer to the future. Keep in mind that it is easy, relatively speaking, to teach technical aspects of work but harder to teach behavior. Therefore, manufacturers need to flip the process: Interviewing for desired cultural attributes and training for the rest. Here are some ways to assess behavioral attributes:

• Behavioral interviewing should probe how a candidate has handled past situations—for example: Tell me about a time you recognized a problem on the line and helped solve it in a way that improved performance. Share an example of how you went above and beyond, and the impact that had.
• A mock group setting can show how candidates handle a hypothetical situation. For example, if the role calls for strong teamwork, ask the candidate pool to agree on a list of 10 survival items they want to have on a deserted island. This offers a chance to assess how individuals work within a team, how they interact, and their communication styles.
• A facility tour as part of the interview also shows how a candidate interacts with others, and the extent to which a candidate asks questions can indicate the degree of curiosity or motivation. If a safety culture is important, try leaving something askew or in the way, and see how the candidate reacts. Did she say something or just step over it? After the tour, ask the candidate for ideas about improving the process or what stood out.

Of course, it is challenging to change gears when the most immediate concern is having enough people to do the work today. Consider alternative workforce strategies such as temps or contractors to meet short-term needs, while establishing a plan and timeline for filling key roles with the right people. This is also an area where you can start small—with a few critical roles that require attributes such as critical thinking, data analysis or teamwork—and expand as time goes on.

3. Make the opportunities attractive to all

There is a mixed pool of people coming into today’s manufacturing workforce—some with college education, and some without. Manufacturers need to make sure both groups see opportunity to evolve and be part of the smart factory of the future.

To attract college-educated workers with desirable skillsets, manufacturers must redefine roles and offer attractive career paths. This is a win-win for employers and employees. If done well, it will increase the value derived from current roles—and justify higher salaries.

For the latter group, manufacturers should market roles not just as a job with benefits but an opportunity to grow and gain marketable experience comparable to earning a “degree.” Positioning the role as a “degree” plan opens minds to learning new skills and technologies and exploring how things work—the foundation of a continuous improvement mindset and the evolution of the worker.

Culture is a significant factor in retaining workers, but it is increasingly important in attracting them in the first place—particularly given the new type of talent required for smart manufacturing.

 

This approach can also help address fears that automation will eventually eliminate jobs. It is important to be open about the impact of technology on jobs. Technology will replace some jobs—that is necessary to remain competitive as a business—but also create new roles that do not exist today. These changes will not happen overnight. There is time and opportunity for people who are willing to learn and evolve with the smart factory.

Incentivizing learning can accelerate this mindset. For example, incorporating learning and skills into a variable pay program—“If you develop this skill or mastery, you get a 50-cent increase at the next pay raise”—can be a strong motivator.

4. Foster—but do not force—a multigenerational culture

For the first time, there are as many as six generations in a workforce. Blending generations creates challenges for any organization. For manufacturing, being able to do so effectively is critical for retaining the institutional knowledge of retiring workers.

Manufacturers have a real opportunity to leverage younger talent joining the workforce to help more experienced workers develop technology and data literacy, while having seasoned workers share their institutional knowledge. This will take targeted effort, however. Mentorship needs to happen in a way that does not feel forced upon the participants. Trust is a key to any effective relationship, and that does not develop overnight.

It is important to continuously assess who is strong and who is struggling when it comes to Manufacturing 4.0 and encourage conversations in a way that builds trust. Look for new avenues that foster organic rather than assigned relationships—for example:

• Expert networks can help people find others with certain skills, techniques or processes and approach them on their own terms. A new employee who wants to understand the finishing process better can find and ask questions of a 30-year veteran who is an expert in finishing. Their dialogue ultimately could surface insight that is useful to both parties.
• Cohort networks that cross generations and/or processes and functions can create a sense of community where members share interactions and learn about the evolving business together and from each other. This type of program is common in universities and MBA programs.

These strategies create a safe haven for employees with questions, as well as a way for newer employees to build credibility.

An investment in smart manufacturing success

There is a common denominator to the work described above—a culture of behaviors that can advance smart manufacturing and the business value it promises. Thus, the four areas of focus described above cannot be discrete activities. They must be addressed in concert. They are also very tactical efforts—not necessarily quick wins or new “programs” that you can stand up, but rather process changes that must endure. As such, they will require consistent focus and effort, and expertise in organizational change management. But these are investments in hiring the right people and bringing them effectively into the organization that will pay dividends going forward—in the form of lower turnover, higher job satisfaction and productivity, and faster realization of new value from smart manufacturing.  M

 

About the authors:

 

Leah Jacobs is Senior Manager at West Monroe

 

 

 

Glenn Pfenninger is Director at West Monroe

 

 

 

Kris Slozak is Director at West Monroe