Digital Solutions for Manufacturing HR Challenges
HR teams deserve the best tools available to do their work well
Human resources teams in every industry are held to a high standard. Their job is not only to attract the best talent, but to retain them, reward them for their work, keep operations running smoothly without extravagant labor costs, and keep employees motivated about the work they do. HR teams see the entire lifecycle of each employee at their organization and are responsible for the growth and development of much of it. But few industries have as many variables to manage as the HR teams in manufacturing.
Thankfully new technologies solve many issues facing manufacturing HR teams, but technology alone isn’t the sole solution. In this article we look at many of the issues facing HR teams in manufacturing, and how it takes both technology and organizational effort to keep teams running smoothly.
Recruiting and Hiring the Best
The manufacturing industry has had to battle some difficult reputations over the last few decades. Thankfully, employee safety, technological advancements, and improved working conditions have eliminated all need for those stereotypes, but getting the word out to all potential applicants is still an uphill battle. One key way to do this is to make sure that your existing employees are highly engaged and sharing their positive work experiences with colleagues, friends, and family. At a time when hiring and acquisition costs continue to rise across all industries, leaning into employee referrals has never been more important.
Employee referrals, with or without an incentive program, continue to be one of the most effective means of hiring and retaining employees. Not only is the cost of hiring a referred employee lower than from a recruiting website, but it’s also been shown to result in faster, and above-average quality, hires.
“Referred candidates are 55% faster to hire, compared with employees sourced through career sites.”
Whether you’re reviewing applications from a recruiting site or a referral, the application itself should be as simple as possible for your applicants. While there was the belief that a lengthy or complex application process would help differentiate qualified candidates, several different researchers have debunked that theory. Instead, it’s more likely that your most promising candidates are giving up before they finish the application process. It’s estimated that a complicated application process can be costing you 60% of your applicant pool.
Investing in a trusted digital application form solution can help you streamline the process not just for your applicants, but also for your hiring managers. Find a digital forms solution that can handle all your form needs, from work order forms to job applications. The best platforms will allow you to create multiple digital forms depending on your position requirements, and provide options for easy distribution. Top-tier solutions can even automatically route completed forms to the right inboxes for faster application processing.
Keeping Employees Engaged
It’s no secret that keeping employees engaged at work is the best way to keep your employees long term. With the cost of hiring and training continuing to rise, the most cost effective solution is to keep your employees happy and invested in their work. Engaged employees not only tend to stick around longer, but they are also able to support company initiatives better than top-down messaging alone. For example, promoting a culture of safety throughout your manufacturing organization should be a priority, but without buy-in from key employees, the messaging may fall flat. Combine that with engaged employees having a 78% higher safety record, your messaging will go a lot further if you can keep your employees involved in the organization and their work.
“The manufacturing industry faces one of the lowest engagement rates of any industry at only 34%.”
Employee engagement, however, isn’t an easy target for human resources teams in manufacturing. The long hours and physically demanding work mean that you’ll need to go above and beyond to ensure your employees are happy, engaged, and proud of the work they do. While much of this challenge can be addressed with pay rates and benefits, which can be administered easily through different HR platforms, much of it depends on the communication strategies of your organization. Find ways to communicate with your employees, directly from the leadership team. This can be video or digital messaging in break rooms and cafeterias, an easy-to-access company Intranet for regular company updates and alerts, or even a company newsletter to convey detailed information to your teams.
One of the best means of fostering higher engagement levels is remembering that communication goes both ways. It’s important for your employees to understand the importance of their work and how they contribute to the company’s goals, but it’s just as important to empower your employees to voice their opinions and priorities. Regular and anonymous employee surveys allow workers to speak openly and create positive change within the organization.
“The United States has $450-550 billion in losses, caused by disengaged employees.”
Look for an employee survey platform that allows for anonymous feedback from a variety of devices, keeping in mind not all of your employees will have a computer at home. If you’ve already invested in a digital forms solution, start there. The best platforms offer not just digital forms work orders, but also employee surveys, and even digital timesheets to keep a single interface for your employees. Technology offers many new ways to keep employees engaged, but deciding which solutions to pursue will be up to your leadership and HR teams.
Automating Schedules & Shifts
Manufacturing facilities have a unique challenge in that they often run for 24 hours a day. This puts unique strains on scheduling and shift allocation, and affects the work/life balance of your employees. Implementing a digital system to support scheduling can not only streamline the process, but can also ensure an equitable split of shifts among employees. Many digital platforms now offer ways to automate schedule creation in a way that honors seniority, training, availability, and even mandatory rest periods for employees. This takes the burden off the managers and shift leaders, and can also make finding coverage for call-ins easier.
One key component of scheduling is making sure you provide as much predictability and consistency for your team as possible. In many industries, such as retail, hospitality, and manufacturing, predictability around schedules is hard to come by. With less stability in their schedules, employees cite higher dissatisfaction rates with their jobs. As many as 75% of people with shift work have voiced the want for more stability in their work schedules, and thanks to technology, is easier than ever to automate. Search for scheduling platforms created specifically for the manufacturing industry, and know that the best systems can easily integrate into your ERP platform for organization-wide visibility.
HR teams have plenty of work to accomplish in a day, and within manufacturing organizations, there are even more challenges to face. Technological advances are making it easier to gather employee data, see real-time feedback from workers, and track safety trends to ensure safe practices within the workplace. And while technology can be a great tool, keeping the “human” part of human resources top priority is something that requires constant attention, open communication, and a willingness to try new systems.
About GoFormz
GoFormz is a digital forms solution that helps bring your data into a single, actionable place. We believe that everyone should be able to fill out their forms online and deliver products and services that redefine how people and businesses collect and process information. Whether you need forms for construction, manufacturing, or even food processing, GoFormz is the only solution that moves your exact paper forms to a digital space. Let GoFormz capture, digitize, and send your data wherever you need it to streamline all your business processes.
