Manufacturing companies can experience various challenges when dealing with their human resources departments. Here are some of the most common ones.
Workforce Shortage Challenges
The manufacturing industry is experiencing recruiting inefficiencies at present. Coupled with a significant rise in global competition, many manufacturing companies are finding it challenging to attract the talent they need.
That means manufacturing firms have to ensure their HR departments are actively coming up with strategies to get the best workers on board.
Successfully recruiting new talent with the right skills is crucial to effectively address the current workforce shortages in manufacturing.
The decline in workers in the manufacturing industry is increasing, too, so the situation could get worse in the coming years. Therefore, manufacturing companies need to ensure their HR departments take action straight away to find innovative and reliable ways of attracting new employees.
Alternatively, manufacturing firms could turn to a professional employer organization that has the necessary skills and experience to find the best talent on their behalf and deal with other HR tasks.
If you are considering that option, consult this list of PEO companies to see the services they offer and to find out whether using a PEO would be cost-effective and more efficient.
Workforce Retention Challenges
Not only is finding new workers becoming an increasing problem in the manufacturing industry. Retaining employees is also becoming a significant issue, and it is contributing toward the worker shortfall.
Retaining workers is critical for manufacturing companies to be successful, but the industry is plagued with high turnover rates. Therefore, manufacturing businesses need to ensure their HR departments are coming up with innovative ways of ensuring employees stay on board in the long run.
Manufacturing company managers should work closely with their HR departments to come up with attractive offers, such as employee incentives, flexible hours, benefits, and bonuses, to make sure the best talent is attracted to and stays with the company.
Industry and Company Knowledge Challenges
HR departments are generally excellent at dealing with all those human resources tasks like recruitment and handling payroll. But HR professionals do not necessarily have experience in the manufacturing industry. In fact, it is rare for HR professionals to have expert knowledge of different sectors.
But when HR members of staff do not have knowledge of the industry and the company they work for, they cannot truly represent the workforce and thoroughly understand the skills that new and existing workers require.
Therefore, manufacturing companies need to spend time training their HR professionals in manufacturing industry basics. It is important that each HR member of staff understands what the company does, how it does it, and what each department and employee’s role is.
HR professionals working in the manufacturing industry also need to:
- Thoroughly understand compliance and safety requirements.
- Thoroughly understand the workflows of each department and each employee’s responsibilities.
- Facilitate effective communication between departments, managers, and employees when issues arise.
- Balance company culture with business needs.
Training Challenges
When HR departments have a thorough knowledge of the company’s workflows and a good understanding of the basics of the industry, they will be better positioned to provide employees with the training they need to keep them up to speed with the latest manufacturing industry developments and prepare them for upcoming challenges.
Training and development only become a problem when the HR professionals at a manufacturing company have not been trained appropriately themselves.
The Takeaway
If you own or manage a manufacturing company, you should now have a clear idea of how to handle HR challenges.
Ultimately, by ensuring you work closely with HR departments, train HR members of staff accordingly, and aid them in coming up with effective solutions for employee recruitment and retention, your manufacturing company can continue to run smoothly and prosper.
