November - 20199MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSManufacturers may miss the opportunity to recruit talent if the talent is not aware that they even exist.Many areas throughout the nation have non-profit organizations that provide services to help match employers with employees or provide employers with services to help develop their incumbent workforce. Providing formal training and promoting within are a manufacturer's most excellent tools for talent retention and recruitment. A manufacturer, like any other company, should develop and grow its incumbent workforce. As the incumbent become out of the lower-tiered positions, they can backfill those position from the available workforce. Henry Ford allegedly said, "The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay." Companies should not be afraid to develop their employees faster than they can provide opportunities to grow into. When an employee outgrows their role, and an appropriate position is not available to move into, then the company should discuss the options available with the employee. One of those options might be to leave the company, and the company should help them find a new position elsewhere. If the company has been developing the entire workforce than there should be a person already identified to backfill the area. This, in turn, opens up a lower-tiered position, and so on. It is always easier to fill an entry-level position than it is a mid-level or senior-level, not to mention the effects associated with hiring the wrong person into an entry-level position is much less than a senior-level.Manufacturers often create a workforce shortage problem through their hiring practices. Manufacturers will place job postings with a list of "required" skills and experience when all they should be looking for is someone with the right attitude and aptitude. If a company has a robust training platform, then they only need to bring on board those people that are ready and willing to learn and work and have the ability to learn the skills required to perform the tasks required for the position. Some of my best employees had little to no experience in the field when they started the job.Although there are local, state, and national initiatives to improve the workforce shortage facing manufacturers in the U.S. it is necessary for manufacturing companies to take an active part in those legislative solutions as well as dealing with the problem head-on with some of the previous suggestions. Whatever action is taken, if a company waits until tomorrow, it will be too late.
< Page 8 | Page 10 >