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9 Challenges Facing HR in Manufacturing 141207041456 Conversion Gate01
9 Challenges Facing HR in Manufacturing 141207041456 Conversion Gate01
Manufacturing—
and what you can do
about it.
FACT:
In 2013, manufacturers contributed $2.08 trillion
to the economy; this was 12.5% of the GDP
FACT:
Last year, the average manufacturing worker in
the US earned $77,506.
FACT:
Currently, about one in six American jobs are
in manufacturing.
FACT:
HR in Manufacturing needs some
focused attention.
This year manufacturers are already enjoying strong sales and increased attention
from the investment community. The industry needs more staff than ever, and they
project themselves to grow faster than any other service sector.
With expected staff increases across the country of 2.4%, and a 4.6% revenue
surplus by the end of this year, HR departments of manufacturing plants should see
the applications pouring in.
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The problem is, applications are barely trickling in.
Even if you work in a corporate recruiting function with low resources or minimal
expectations for change, every recruiter still has a professional obligation to
maintain their awareness of the latest trends and predictions in their field.
Especially now as twenty something’s rise into the workforce, the manufacturing
sector is often viewed as old-fashioned and dated.
Before we jump head first into the solutions to these serious issues, let’s try and get
more specific with the problems themselves.
Table of Contents
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9 Challenges You Face in HR
in Manufacturing
This is what a business owner told me while he was considering selling his
industrial heat exchanger manufacturing and repair business.
What I’ve come to learn about his manufacturing business and others over the last
three years is while demand is growing, their workforces are shrinking at alarming
rates.
As in “about to retire.”
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2. An overlooked employment sector
Manufacturing is a seriously overlooked sector in our industry, yet it’s very lively.
Because of the aging workforce and the fact that companies haven’t made the leap
to investing in training (yet), talent is especially scarce and the smart money noses
around inside other companies for workers already trained and ready to start the
first day on the job.
One of the answers to increasing employment (and rising wages) in this country
is to put unemployed and underemployed college graduates to work in skilled
manufacturing positions; this idea hasn’t taken hold yet, but sooner or later it will as
Baby Boomers get sick and tired of having their boomerang children living in their
basements.
The map is fascinating because it breaks manufacturing by large and small city by
total number of manufacturing jobs; by the percentage share manufacturing holds
of all jobs in that city; by the share considered high tech and by the share considered
moderately high-tech.
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3. LOTS of jobs to fill
In many of the cities moderately tech and high tech manufacturing clearly hold
more than one-third (and in some more than one half) of all manufacturing jobs in
those cities but look at what is left for the low-tech sector!
That’s a lot of what my dear friend Steve Levy likes to call shekels being paid for
wages across a lot of different industries, and that’s a lot of jobs!
Hiring in the manufacturing sector has been rising steadily. Wanted Analytics noted
in July that the online job postings for jobs in manufacturing companies rose to
a four-year high in May. It dipped slightly the following month, when the firm’s
analysis of online listings found 259,000 jobs.
From November 2012 to November 2013 manufacturers added 76,000 new jobs,
not a big number, but more than the information sector and just 7,000 jobs fewer
than in the financial sector and a third that of the fast-growing temp sector.
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This month, the LINE prediction from the Society for Human Resource
Management says manufacturer hiring will accelerate compared to December of
last year, while the normally expanding services sector will decline in its hiring rate.
This dramatic increase in turnover will create many new “sudden openings” which
will put an added strain on already stressed recruiting systems. In order to help
reduce future turnover, the “potential for early turnover” will have to be included in
the assessment criteria for all finalists.
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6. Speed of hire will become more essential
to remain competitive in the HR space
Over the last few years — with high unemployment and little competition for talent
— in many cases recruiters could take their time and still land top candidates.
As the pace of change in business and the competition for talent increases, firms
will have no choice but to revisit “speed of hire” approaches and tools in order to
land candidates that are in high demand.
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8. Shortage of top recruiters
As recruiting ramps up, firms will begin to realize that there is a significant shortage
of talented and currently up-to-date recruiters.
After poaching from the rapidly shrinking executive search world, leaders will
begin bidding over top corporate recruiters. A lack of quality internal and external
recruiter training capability will make the recruiter shortage even worse.
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What You Can Do to Confront
These Challenges
“A company can have the right technology, the right infrastructure, the
right products and services – yet still fall short of expectations without
the right people.”
People are the heart and soul of an organization, and attracting, hiring, and
engaging the right people for an organization is vital to its growth and success.
We’re still in the midst of an ongoing economic recovery, and Millennials, who
are the largest generation in history, (95 million compared with 78 million Baby
Boomers) are currently filling one out of every three positions in the United States.
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Here are four specific things you can do to confront the challenges facing your
manufacturing industry.
In the same way that people expect exceptional user-experience from consumer-
level technology like their smartphones, employees now expect the same level of
ease-of use with recruiting solutions technology in the workplace.
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2. Personalization and “Socialize” Connections
Personalization, in the context of talent acquisition, is described as “the fusion of a
positive user experience with an emphasis on the individual.”
Using a more personal, behaviorally based interviewing approach can lead to better
information for the recruiter (they may for example find a candidates fits well for
another role) and a more engaged candidate.
It may also help candidates leave with a better impression of the organization
overall, and prevent what Ultimate Software calls the “candidate black hole”
(referring to the statistic that nearly 50 percent of job applicants never get any
response after submitting an application).
Note that 89 percent of all job seekers report using social media sites and almost 50
percent report using these sites every day.
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3. Recruiting Millennials and Global Recruiting
Successful organizations have embraced the advantages of creating a more global
workforce, leveling technology like video interviewing and telecommuting to find
the right candidate for the job, no matter where in the world the might be.
Ultimate Software cites data from a recent KPMG survey, which reports that 71
percent of HR executives feel that collaborating across international borders is more
prevalent today than just five years ago, and more than 50 percent are considering
or have added new international offices.
4. Recruit Millennials
Last but not least, successful talent acquisition programs have been specifically
addressing Millennial candidates applying for positions—a smart move when we
consider that they’re projected to make up 75 percent of the workforce by 2025!
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These Are Big opportunities for smart
organizations
Together these five trends point to new realities for organizations as they plan to
add new talent to their ranks.
It’s not just demographics that are changing. Social technologies are changing our
ability to engage and retain the right people – where and when we need them. And
that spells big opportunity for organizations who believe that people are at the heart
of the cultures and their successes.
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What the Experts Are Doing
to Get and Retain Talent
Below is a list of some of our favorite companies in the Fortune 500 club—and what
makes them so awesome.
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Their headquarters is designed to look like a college
campus — and includes a child care center.
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Oh, and one last thing!
I’d like to invite you to our upcoming Forum on HR in Manufacturing taking place
in Ft. Worth, TX on Nov. 4-5.
Save 10%
Just by downloading this whitepaper you’ve received a 10% discount for
yourself and all your HR friends—nice job!
Use this fancy discount code when you sign up: HRM14WP
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