There’s nothing more frustrating than seeing a large percentage of your workforce constantly changing and not being able to understand why. However, if your manufacturing business often finds itself struggling to hold on to good workers, then you may have to look at what you’re doing to cause this and make some drastic changes to alter this situation.
#1 Be specific in your hiring process
For instance, it could be that your hiring process isn’t concentrating on the right candidates, or that you’re unable to attract the right ones. Of course, it could be that you’re either using a recruitment agency that’s just sending you candidates without understanding your specifications, or that your own business recruitment drive is aimed at the wrong candidate pool.
If you’re in control of your recruitment drive, you’ll need to draw up your job advertisement and make sure it’s specific to the job role you’re offering. This will inevitably allow interested parties to understand the skills and qualifications that they’ll need to have to be successful, as well as a breakdown of the tasks they’ll be expected to perform.
You’ll need to post this advertisement in as many appropriate places and on as many notice boards as you can. You’ll find that by using a recruitment tool such as one offered by occy.com, you’ll not only get help with writing your vacancy post from experienced copywriters but they’ll attract and be seen by the right people.
#2 Provide training
If you’re struggling to keep your employees, it could be that they lack the knowledge that they need to perform the tasks you want from them. Offering them training has plenty of benefits, including confidence in their capabilities as well as their colleagues’. It will also make them more efficient and give them more job satisfaction.
However, if you couple this with the opportunity to learn more skills that are relevant to your manufacturing business, you may find that they decide to stay and progress their career with you rather than jumping ship to one of your competitors.
#3 Make your employees feel valued
If you provide this training and yet still see your workforce seeking employment elsewhere, you may need to improve their morale. This can be easily done, although it may take a bit of your time or at least some organisation.
Saying thanks at the end of a particularly hard week can mean a lot from the right person. Taking 5–10 minutes last thing on a Friday to connect with your shop floor staff, walking around, and thanking them for their effort and commitment to your business could have them feeling far more valued.
A few final thoughts
Inevitably there’ll always be people who drift from one employer to another, but if you feel that you have more than your fair share of them, you need to find out why. Implementing a few changes into your recruitment drive could mean that you attract the right people who may inevitably stay with your business.
However, if the issue runs deeper, then providing training and proving to your workforce that you value their time, effort, and commitment may be the next step.
