Author: Tom Goettl, VP, Konik PrimeStaff. Reprinted with permission from Precision Manufacturing Journal, November/December 2020
When Jameson Kyarsgaar, a CNC Programming Lead, was looking for a new opportunity, he pondered a few critical questions during his search to expand his tech skills and abilities: How does the potential company value and utilize innovation? What are their current automation tools, and their future technology plans? How does the company involve their employees to improve existing technologies and implement new ideas? Like most tech-savvy professionals, Kyarsgaar asks these fundamental questions to consider how he can make an impact at the company.
Precision manufacturing leaders, meanwhile, often struggle to attract and retain tech-savvy employees like Kyarsgaar, even during slower economic times, as they seek to utilize new tools to streamline operations. Once a strong team is assembled, how do leaders ensure their brightest tech-savvy employees stay for the long term? As the economy recovers, employees with advanced precision manufacturing skills continue to be highly sought after, and the challenges of attracting and retaining them continue.
Here are some key initiatives manufacturing companies can consider to attract and retain the best tech-savvy employees.
STRONG COMPANY CULTURE & TECH VISION
Landing a few talented technical employees will be a boost to your operations in the short-term, but keeping them engaged during the years ahead is essential for optimizing your organization for growth. Starting with the end in mind, companies must think about the overall employee experience. In addition to working in an innovative environment, what are the general company attributes that attract and retain employees? Besides new tools and automated equipment an employee uses, the overall company culture will keep them engaged long term. “Having a very values-based organization and strong community involvement and outreach is key to attracting and retaining employees,” said Shari Erdman, Vice President of Global Human Resources at Reel Precision Manufacturing. “Managers here are required to meet with employees one on- one frequently, either weekly or every other week. They must know their people and give them a push to help them grow their confidence and become all they are created to be. This will help make sure the employee is in the right seat.” In addition to culture, tech-savvy employees want to understand the long-term company vision and how technology plays a crucial role. When a company has a clear path about how people and technology will help this come to life, employees are more likely to be engaged in making this a reality. Having regular employee engagement tools like individual meetings, employee surveys, and staff meetings helps this endeavor. “Companies should always promote employee ideas and let them think outside the box to give ideas,” said Jason Pachel, Tool Room Supervisor at Aroplax Corporation. “Employees can read trade magazines and bring new ideas to management. We use the Entrepreneurial Operating Systems (EOS) for weekly meetings that have a big impact on this area. This system keeps employees involved, motivated, and lets them communicate often to get their take.” Identifying and communicating the company’s vision and how people, processes, and technology build the vision are critical to an organization’s growth is important.SHARE COMPANY STORIES
Attracting tech-savvy employees is much more than posting an open position, attending career fairs, and interviewing top candidates. An effective way to attract employees is through storytelling. This must be done in the most authentic way possible, and align with a company’s vision and values. Through word-of-mouth, written, and video formats, companies can communicate how technology plays a vital part in the company’s success. Using real examples of how a company helped a customer, how they’ve impacted their community, or how an employee learned new skills could be a very useful tool to attract talent, while at the same time, giving employees a chance to share their company pride. This can be as simple as promoting Google or Glassdoor reviews. A short, 30-second video showing the company’s operations, or an employee interview shared in job advertisements can be a low-cost approach. Prospective employees often review these first and read the company’s “About Us” web page before submitting their resumes. Communicating your company’s authentic story through these channels helps prospective employees visualize themselves and use their talents to help the organization grow.EMPOWER EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK
Starting with employee feedback is an effective way to tackle the problem of attracting and retaining tech-savvy talent. Soliciting feedback through employee surveys, culture committees, and employee meetings is a great place to start. Allow them to provide management with feedback on how to improve operations with technology and improve operational efficiencies. These channels can give a clear insight into how employees view their company and areas for improvement. The simple act of asking employees their thoughts improves engagement and starts them thinking about technology improvements. Listening carefully and acting upon this feedback is a big step in the right direction.
LEARNING NEW SKILLS
Landing a great team of technically advanced employees is excellent, but how do you keep them engaged long term? Gennifer Heuisler, Talent Acquisition Specialist at Reel Precision Manufacturing, uses a very effective model. “When we bring in a new engineer, we have them work in different areas including process engineering, product engineering, etc. so the individual knows what they like, and what they’re passionate about,” she explained, “Allow employees to job shadow and work with other employees to try out new roles of their interests. This helps the new employee find a refined path of what they want to pursue.” Reel also partners with the state of Minnesota’s Pipeline program and the state’s Certified Production Training program allowing employees to “earn while they learn.” Plus, setting aside a training budget for employees to learn critical skills and cross-train with other departments allows an organization to unlock hidden employee potential. Shane Hybben, General Manager at Chandler Industries, agrees. “To retain employees, keep every element from attracting them, and transfer that once they’re hired. Give them great training and let them be very involved. This includes programming, machining, and new product introduction processes. Allow them to handle the new process, run the program, and write it. Continued training of software, job shadowing, monthly seminars, and technology shows enables them to bring new ideas back to you.”
SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYEE AND COMPANY GROWTH
As an employee, Kyarsgaar enjoys working for leaders who are interested in assembling a collaborative, knowledge-curious team and embraces new employees who want to bring fresh ideas to a company. “The culture should enable a team to flip things upside down and look at a production floor and fabrication area for new ideas; think of new ways of doing things. Leadership should not be afraid to ask team members what they think,” he said. From a management perspective, Hybben believes having a flexible environment allows an employee to try new skills and learn on the job, including the opportunity to work from home one day a week, if possible. He also advises companies to be careful not to cap pay within a specific position. While this may be challenging with tight budget controls, as employee skills increase, companies should make sure they are paying a competitive wage. Hiring and retaining tech-savvy employees requires a holistic approach starting with senior leadership and integrating this with what’s really important to the tech professional. Taking this approach will allow sustainable growth for both the employee and the organization as a whole, while aligning with the company’s vision.