Retaining employees is a real issue in manufacturing, and it is not because these workers detest the idea of remaining at any job longer than a year. This perception can influence your behavior, which results in that self-fulfilling prophecy coming true.
Do They Have a Reason to Stay?
The fact is that an employee who has a weak connection to the company is more likely to leave and move on to other things, even if those other things are not as good or better than what they are experiencing in your company.
What Studies Say About Turnover Rates
A HALO study in 2021 said that 73% of people would be open to receiving an offer and might even consider it carefully, even if they are not actively looking at changing jobs.
This is bad news for you because your employees will entertain an offer and may even accept it, with you finding out after the fact.
Addressing Significant Turnover Problems
One of our clients had a significant turnover problem. They were experiencing a 40% turnover, meaning they had to hire 40% of their workforce to remain even yearly.
We have seen worse cases, but for this example, we are going to focus on this 40% issue this client had been experiencing.
The problem with that level of turnover is that supervisors became frustrated and disenfranchised because they had to onboard and train new employees, knowing that 4 out of 10 (or 2 out of 5) would not stay in the organization long.
And so, you are continuously retraining and dealing with the productivity gaps that happen when you constantly have new people working for you in the department.
Developing Positive Employee Interactions
You can create an attractive workplace for employees so that they will either turn down opportunities from a new organization or choose to return after they have explored their options.
Here are a few recommendations your manufacturing leaders can apply to increase employee retention.
Number One: Identify the Interactions
There are several moments of truth in which a supervisor and an employee will interact throughout the day. It could be around the:
- Training
- Initial greetings
- Integration into the workgroup
- Giving feedback
- Learning progression discussions
- Assessing productivity over time
You can identify all those interactions between the supervisor and the employee.
Number Two: Magnify the Moments
There is a correlation between customer service and your employee experience because they are experiencing what it is like to work for your company.
If you magnify those interactions and moments, you will leave people feeling better about themselves and their decision to work in your organization.
Number Three: Leverage the Love
Once you have built significant interactions, you can use those to push up performance. And that is because people will not see it as offensive, or a concern purely based on the numbers.
It shows your team that you want the best from them, and they will choose to contribute to the success because of the relationship you have established out of respect.
When you “leverage the love”, it just means that you can push the boundaries on performance and get people to achieve more than they ever have.
Furthering Your Leadership Development
Retaining your employees is just one of the many essential skills your leaders require to succeed. When you are ready to develop more strengths, visiting our website can get you on the right path in your leadership journey.
Our Front Line Leadership program is available in traditional On-Site classroom workshops, Virtual Training studios, or On-Demand programs where people can learn at their own pace over a multi-month period.
What is important is they put those new leadership behaviors into action so that you can see them change and evolve and see the impact on your operating results.
It starts with a conversation. You can do that on our website at uniquedevelopment.com or connect with us on one of the many social media channels. We are active on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
No matter how you connect with us, we look forward to starting an initial project with you. Once you see those results, you will expand it into a multi-project relationship.
