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Apprenticeship Programs: Creating a Pathway to Success

September 22, 2021 By

Apprenticeship Programs: Creating a Pathway to Success

Bringing together businesses and the community to solve workforce needs creates an innovative pathway that can prepare students for jobs in local manufacturing industries. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted apprenticeships and work-based programs across the state causing numbers to drop and now the companies, school systems, and communities are working hard to rebuild the demand for the programs. Manufacturers looking for workforce solutions are beginning to widen their recruitment efforts to cultivate highly skilled and diverse teams. Expanding and revitalizing apprenticeships can help companies stay competitive globally while supporting communities locally if they create a curriculum together to fill the pipeline and invest in the future of manufacturing.

One such example is the Georgia Consortium for Advanced Technical Training (GaCATT), which is helping to close the skills gap by providing authentic German apprenticeships to prepare high school students for careers as industrial mechanics, tool and die technicians, and machinists. Overseen by the German-American Chamber of Commerce, GaCATT requires a strong collaboration between local school systems, technical colleges, and employers.

GaCATT currently offers three of the 300+ competencies available in Germany, Advanced Manufacturing Technician, Computer Numerical Control (CNC), and Mechatronics. These flexible programs can begin as early as the tenth grade or after students graduate high school. Students combine technical college classes, curriculum-driven projects, and customized training unique to their host company’s needs, to prepare them for a final exam and project where they prove their knowledge and skill against industry standards.

Successful apprentices will earn:

  • High School Diploma
  • German apprenticeship certification
  • US Department of Labor apprenticeship certification
  • Technical college credentials (certificates, diploma, or associate degree)
  • Over $25k in wages

Students will graduate from this no-cost program without any college debt. The 2016 and 2017 classes produced 5 fully certified German apprentices in Newnan, Griffin, and Covington, and more than 40 students have completed the dual-enrollment portion of their studies and entered the workforce. The program is currently expanding into the West Georgia Technical College, Lanier Tech, and North Georgia Technical College service regions. GaMEP’s Larry Alford, South Metro Atlanta region manager, serves on GaCATT’s Statewide Advisory Board.

Now more than ever it is important to invest in your current and future workforce so that people feel valued, appreciated, and understand that they can have a bright future in manufacturing. If your company is interested in bringing a similar program to your area or learning more about other work-based learning programs in the state, contact your Region Manager.

You can find additional information on Apprenticeship and Work-based Learning Programs for Manufacturers on our GaMEP YouTube Channel:

By: Raine Hyde, Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Workforce Development

Creating a Better Place to Work in a Post-Pandemic World

July 8, 2021 By

As the world begins to recover and return to a “new” normal, people are reassessing what is important and valuable to them. They now have different opportunities and more career choices to consider, with the U.S. Department of Labor reporting a record 9.3 million job openings as of the latest tally.* Additionally, according to a recent report by job site Monster.com, 95 percent of workers are now considering changing jobs, and 92 percent are even willing to switch industries to find the right position.*

So how do employers respond to this talent turnover tsunami, create a better place to work, and become (and remain) the employer of choice? They are having to carefully examine their workforce recruitment and retention strategies to be successful moving forward.

Here are four things you can do to create a plan for your manufacturing plant that will attract and retain employees:

  1. Find employable candidates: Engage in alternative workforce development pipelines, including Second Chance programs, Work Based Learning, and Apprenticeships. Leverage your relationships with local high schools, technical colleges, or universities for rising talent that you can mentor. Decide if you should incorporate co-ops or paid internships into your company, allowing you to groom talent for future long-term employment. Look to veterans leaving the military with applicable leadership and collaborative skills that will translate well at your company. The Georgia Tech Veterans Resource Center is a great place to access personnel seeking employment. Also, embrace flexibility. Companies that adopt a hybrid work model and hire a mix of permanent and contract talent can enjoy the benefits of improved staff morale, better performance, and access to a deeper and more diverse candidate pool.**
  2. Get these employees off to a good start: Developing a talent pipeline is not a short-term project. It takes vision and commitment. Meet with your team on how to best present your organization and the employment opportunities you are providing. Be transparent with potential candidates so they know exactly what the job entails. Then commit to a structured training plan for a certain period of time with new hires. Have consistent check-ins or debriefs within your process to make sure they are comfortable in their new roles. Are they confused, frustrated, happy? This can be as easy as creating a buddy system with routine, informal meetings to keep your finger on the pulse of what is happening.
  3. Keep them from leaving: Creating a culture of organizational excellence is a multi-step process that must be continually refined. Listen to employees needs and act on that feedback in a timely manner. You can provide career counseling, mentorship opportunities, and conduct employee surveys. Creating a community that is less a job and more a team trying to achieve the same goal together will help you proactively control potential turnover. The key is to engage with your employees on a regular basis because yesterday’s needs won’t necessarily be today’s. Read our blog post titled Own the Skills Gap: Workforce Readiness Starts with You for three examples of companies who have been successful in nurturing employees and building a company of choice.
  4. Create a long term plan for staffing: Nearly 1 in 3 professionals (31 percent) say they had a shift in perspective due to the pandemic and prefer to work for an organization that better aligns with their personal values.** Most successful companies have development plans for executives, managers, and engineers, but the companies with the highest employee engagement have personal development plans for every person in the organization. Examples include:
    • Placing your most valuable people in the most rewarding jobs. This makes them happy and uses them effectively.
    • Look to use technology and automation to add productivity enhancements to keep your business running, which can also create a new career path for someone to manage this technology.
    • Recognition makes people feel valued. Keep top performers engaged and fill the gaps to reduce workforce burnout by reallocating talent in creative and strategic ways.
    • Create “stay” interviews to engage with employees and provide insights on career goals and advancement.

By investing in your current workforce and creating a culture of organizational excellence, you can attract the new talent you are seeking and retain employees that are the best fit for your long-term company goals.

By: Raine Hyde, Marketing Strategist, Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

*MSN.com – https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/great-resignation-gains-steam-as-return-to-work-plans-take-effect/ar-AALApUG?li=BBnb7Kz
**Middle Georgia CEO – Robert Half Research Points To Strong Job Optimism Among U.S. Workers

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Workforce Development

Own the Skills Gap: Workforce Readiness Starts with You

March 19, 2021 By

Own the Skills Gap: Workforce Readiness Starts with You

Own the Skills Gap: Workforce Readiness Starts with You

Hiring and retaining talent is a continuous concern and investment for every manufacturer, large or small, rural or multinational. It is hard to find and keep people with the right skills. It’s also expensive. According to The Society for Human Resource Management, in 2016 it cost over $4,000 and took 40 days to complete each new hire. Those 40 days spent looking for the right person impact productivity—and then there’s the time it takes to train each new employee and get them up to speed.

Even as the unemployment rate has skyrocketed during the pandemic, manufacturers continue reporting difficulty filling open positions. It’s not a problem that will go away by itself. Coming out of the pandemic, U.S. manufacturing is expected to increase at 3.6% annually. Manufacturers are smart to be planning now to meet future business needs — finding and hiring the right people and upgrading training to retain top talent once they have been hired.

Recently, the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech, part of the MEP National Network, interviewed three of their manufacturing clients, all different-sized companies, about strategies they have found successful for hiring and retaining talent.

Workforce Solution: Hire for soft skills and the right fit

Mohawk Industries is a flooring manufacturer based in Calhoun, Georgia. Founded in 1878, the company employs 10,000 people in Georgia and 40,000 worldwide. Mohawk’s leadership values technical expertise, but they also look for soft skills, which are much harder to teach.

Leadership skills, discipline and motivation can signal great potential. This was Nathan Bennett’s skill set when he applied for a job at Mohawk with no manufacturing experience. A two-time NASKA World Martial Arts Champion, he demonstrated strong discipline and leadership skills. Although he didn’t get the job he applied for, a Mohawk hiring manager saw his potential and offered him a job in chemical compounding ­– something Bennett had never even heard of and had to look online to understand. The hiring manager told Bennett that Mohawk wanted him for his leadership skills and they could teach him the rest.

The company’s focus on finding the right fit for their team paid off. Bennett is now the safety manager of two plants, leading more than 650 people and looking for others who are adaptable, motivated, and willing to learn new skills in order to cultivate new leaders in the organization. As a leader, Bennett feels it’s all about making personal connections with employees to cultivate their inner confidence and nurture a culture of working toward a common goal. “I’m boots-on-the-ground every day and address each person as a professional,” he said. “We are one of the biggest companies in a small town in northwest Georgia, so it’s important to have our team’s loyalty.”

Bennett is one of many leaders at Mohawk who are investing in their employees. The company fosters leadership at all levels by attracting, motivating, educating, and—just as importantly—promoting employees from within. This keeps the team loyal to each other, to the processes they’ve created, and to the company.

Mohawk runs its own internal training program, putting each person through a one-week safety course every four years. The company is also invested in their employees’ well-being. Monitors located in employee gathering places at Mohawk promote monthly health and wellness topics such as stress management that are also discussed in pre-shift employee meetings, and list training opportunities and supervisory openings. The company also encourages employee advancement through a 100% tuition reimbursement program for degree programs, certifications, and other professional development related to the employee’s field.

Workforce Solution: Create talent through apprenticeship programs

Corrugated Replacements is a 140-person, family-owned manufacturer in Blairsville, Georgia, that makes replacement parts for corrugated machinery. President Jenny Chandler spent much of her childhood observing on the shop floor of her family’s business. She knew how to run the machines by age 7 and could program them by age 11. As a child, she also observed management styles and how workers responded to them, which helped shape her management approach—leading by example.

A few years ago, Chandler worried about the company’s aging workforce—the average employee age was 53—and the institutional knowledge that could be lost as they retired. The company knew they needed to get ahead of this problem and began researching recruitment strategies to attract younger employees. Corrugated Replacements determined that an apprenticeship program would create a pipeline of skilled, younger workers and improve collaboration throughout the company — resulting in knowledge transfer through a structured, systematic training approach.

Corrugated Replacements created a 36-month apprenticeship program with the local high school. The company pays student apprentices as full-time employees and assesses them throughout the program—looking for leadership traits, initiative, assertiveness, punctuality and maturity. This program’s success led the company to create a shorter, 28-month, apprenticeship program for existing and new employees. Apprentices start in the company’s shipping department and work in each area of the plant, meeting skills requirements in each department before moving onto the next.

Chandler said, “I’ve had 25 apprenticeship program graduates and each person is still with us. When they join the team, I’m looking at how they interact with people and take initiative. That way we can groom them for supervisory and leadership positions.” A special benefit of Corrugated Replacements’ high school apprenticeship program is a fully paid college education — wherever participants want to study and whatever degree they want to pursue — as long as it’s applicable to the business. Students enrolled in nearby colleges schedule work hours into their week, and those studying farther away work during breaks. In return, the company requires a three-year commitment after graduation. In addition to the apprenticeship program participants, Corrugated Replacements pays for any employee’s higher education, as long as the degree is relevant to the business.

Workforce Solution: Invest in your employees to keep them happy

Once you find skilled employees, how do you keep them? Many manufacturers are looking for creative solutions that give their company a competitive edge in recruiting and retaining employees.

A 75-person manufacturer in central Georgia combined flexibility, performance incentives and training to help retain employees.

According to the 2018 Mercer Talent Trends Study, 51% of manufacturing employees want more flexible work options, but only 9% of manufacturers in the study report offering flexibility. While many manufacturing jobs can’t be done from home, this company found a solution that provides its employees the flexibility they desire. The location runs four 10-hour shifts per week, allowing employees to pick up shifts on the fifth day each week for overtime if available or to make up for time taken off earlier in the week for personal activities—a win for employees and for the company.

The company credits their ability to retain employees not only to their flexibility, but to their transparent, competitive pay, and their investment in employees. They offer competitive pay with team-based performance incentives. Their pay structure is transparent and employees are told exactly how they can progress in the company. Sets of requirements are tracked and tied to salary as employee’s progress through steps in their pay levels. On top of base pay, all employees receive monthly bonuses, based on the facility’s previous month’s performance—an incentive offered for more than 30 years. The team-based incentive promotes teamwork and continuous improvement, and empowers team members to impact their environment and their income.

This company uses standard work instructions at every piece of equipment and within assembly so every person who is trained on a process gains knowledge from those who have done the job in the past. They encourage their employees to cross-train in numerous jobs in order to improve team flexibility and increase individual skills. The company uses visual tools and videos for safety training and assigns a trainer in each group. The company also offers 90% tuition reimbursement for continuing education and allows employees to choose undergraduate or graduate degrees, technical college degrees, or online training as options to progress. Additionally, the company plans staffing levels to support cross-training and encourages continuous improvement in safety and quality programs as well as process improvements.

They keep their employees happy, and their employees stay and grow within the company. The average tenure of employees at this location is over 15 years. This enables the company to primarily promote from within—over 90% of the current leadership team has been promoted from within. To accomplish this, the team scouts potential leadership talent within their employees and encourages team members to get their degrees so they are ready for management positions when they open.

Find a solution that works for you

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to workforce challenges, there are many ways to proactively tackle the problem. Finding the right mix of strategies for your company and employees is key. Your efforts can result in lower turnover, higher employee morale, and a culture where employees are invested in the long-term success of your company.

This story was originally published in IndustryWeek – view it here.

By: Katie Takacs, Industry Services Marketing Manager, Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Leadership, News, Workforce Development

Two different trainings for Manufacturing Leadership. Choose your best path.

March 10, 2020 By

Image of 3 graduates from the Manufacturing Leadership Certificate Program.

In manufacturing plants, change is a given. Embracing it is not an option but a matter of professional progression. Whether you’re looking to boost your credentials to keep moving up in your company, or gaining skills that are immediately applicable in helping your organization prepare for the future, we have several different leadership training opportunities at Georgia Tech specifically for you.

Our Manufacturing Leadership Certificate addresses the necessary skills gap for leaders implementing or managing continuous improvement cultures in their plants.

This certificate focuses on specific areas that will improve your problem-solving skills and increase your communication abilities, allowing you to become a better manager. The result is immediately implementable, hands-on principles that you will be able to apply to real-world challenges.

The Manufacturing Leadership Certificate consists of five required and two elective courses of your choice. Study at your own pace through a trio of in-person classes combined with online courses. The certificate is taught by GaMEP team members, with years of practical experience working in manufacturing companies. Learn about the certificate and how you can lead, evolve, and sustain operational success both now and in the future.

Hear what some of our Manufacturing Leadership Certificate graduates have to say:

Quote from Chantrey Reese about the impact of the Certifcate.

Quote from Shun Griffin about the impact of the Certifcate.

Quote from Tony Driskell about the impact of the Certifcate.

If you are looking to dive deeper, Georgia Tech offers a Master’s Degree program specifically created for engineers in manufacturing. This intensive, two-year Professional Masters in Manufacturing Leadership (Online) degree, “brings together a unique combination of coursework and projects to provide working engineers with the skill set to quickly rise through the leadership ranks in advanced manufacturing,” stated Krista Walton, Academic Director. “This program provides the perfect fusion of engineering faculty-led experiences with the diverse skill sets of professional engineers to create a unique business-focused engineering degree.”

It is designed for experienced technical professionals who want to build their operations and personnel management skills and expertise while working full time.

The two-year program is taught in a hybrid format that blends face-to-face instruction and online learning, and consists of eight core courses and two additional courses in one of three areas of concentration, giving you the flexibility to focus on discrete manufacturing, forest bioproducts, or chemical manufacturing.

Application deadline is May 1. Join the next Information Session on April 2 to learn more.

Whichever path you choose, you are setting yourself up for success. Focusing on deepening current skills and acquiring new ones, is the key to meeting changing business demands and thrive in the modern workforce. Start transforming your career today.

By Raine Hyde, with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Leadership, Workforce Development

The Generational Effect: How to Bridge the Gap for Maximum Production and Minimal Conflict

January 29, 2020 By

Two men in a plant working

When most people think of diversity, they tend to think of things such as race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and culture. However, another aspect of diversity that almost every organization has, but many overlook, is generational diversity. According to the Boston College Center on Aging & Work, most organizations are still in the very early stages of formulating an organizational response to the demographic changes within their workforce. The Center’s National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development (a study of 578 organizations) found that 25.8% of the employers stated that their organizations had not analyzed the age demographics of their workforces at all and only 12.0% felt that their organizations had pursued this type of analysis to a great extent.

Although many organizations have not analyzed this data, many are starting to take notice. The literature shows that these generational differences in work values influence the requirements for all aspects of management: from recruitment, to training and development; to career development, to working arrangements and leadership styles.

These differences also have the potential to cause serious conflict within the workplace. Nearly 60% of HR professionals in larger organizations witness generational clashes in the workplace. While this number drops to roughly 32% in smaller and medium sized firms, these conflicts still seem to be a significant problem.

Having multiple generations in the workplace is nothing new. However, several key differences in today’s workplace exacerbate the challenge. First of all, in the past, generations were usually separated from each by organizational hierarchy. Older workers tended to be in upper management while middle-aged employees tended to be in middle management. The younger workers were everywhere else and their interactions were limited to their peers and immediate supervisor. However, as organizations strive to become more meritocratic with promotions, older staff can suddenly discover that their years of service no longer guarantee advancement. As the workplace becomes more technically oriented, the fact that youngers workers are more likely to be more comfortable with technology, has allowed them to overtake older candidates in jobs where understanding of such things helps.

This growing trend of older workers reporting to younger managers raises the question of how to keep the older workers motivated. When working under a younger supervisor, older subordinates are constantly reminded that they have failed to keep pace. Another source of conflict is the middle-aged workers who find themselves sandwiched between an older workforce that is refusing to or delaying retirement and a younger workforce that are treated far better than they ever were.

Managing the Generational Effect
Organizations can do several things to help manage the generational effect.

Leadership and Management Style
Studies have shown that the biggest differences in the world views of the generations are differing attitudes toward leadership and authority. These attitudes manifested themselves in accepting, questioning, or even rebelling, against traditional view-points and orders handed down from above. This finding stresses the importance of creating more flexible leadership and management approaches in order to address issues related to inclusiveness and alignment of varying worker values. A key to bridging the generation gap is the ability of leaders to create a supportive work environment for an increasingly diverse population of workers.

As a general rule, management styles preferences vary between generations. One example is Baby Boomers and Gen Xers desire for a greater level of autonomy in their roles; they do not like to be micromanaged. On the other hand, Millennials tend to desire more constructive feedback and praise than earlier generations. More than any other generation, Millennials expect their leaders to be accessible in person, through email and text messages, and ideally through social media channels.

Veterans and Baby Boomers prefer a hierarchical structure. Gen Xers prefer to work alone, and Millennials desire achievement by pulling together as a team. Baby Boomers demand consensus and Gen Xers need to be led by competence. Understanding how members on a diverse team may prefer to be led and have experience being supervised and the current management style chosen to accomplish organizational, team and individual goals needs to be communicated.

Coaching, Mentoring, and Training
The ability of an organizations management to coach to generational differences and promote generational similarities as strengths is another key to preventing generational impacts. Providing forums that are facilitated by management trained to coach employees to have provocative conversations that bring to light common points of interest, needs and goals between generations, and solutions for overcoming the differences as a team can be one of the first steps to understand how an organization is fairing today. Another benefit of such forums is that the assumptions, myths, and stereotypes need to be discussed.

The most effective mentoring programs are designed upon the unique makeup of teams, departments and other characteristics in the organization. Mentoring to strengthen generational impacts is helpful to create one-to-one relationships to increase the level of understanding and provide learning and growth for both the mentor and mentee. An example of an effective mentoring relationship would be between a Baby Boomer and a Millennial where the Baby Boomer acknowledges the Millennials need for personalizing work. Through conversation the Baby Boomer could determine key aspects of the Millennials role that was important to them and associate the significance of their role to the organization. This interaction helps make the Millennials role meaningful and inspires performance. Millennials need for a supportive work environment can be fostered by other generations and therefore increase job satisfaction. Another example of a benefit of cross-generational mentoring relationships is for new employees to understand the values and behaviors of the organization and individuals. A new employee being supported by a “veteran” member of the organization can increase employee retention when conflict and other stressful work situations arise. Other benefits include an informal way for younger workers to seek the experience older workers can provide while the older workers can appreciate the fresh perspective the younger workers bring.

Decision makers need to ensure training and education of leadership and supervisory roles, and in some cases the entire workforce, about the implications of generational diversity.
In addition to training and sharing information about generational differences, training programs can be created that support the unique skills offered by generations. A stereotypical example would be where Millennials provide training, a “lunch and learn”, or information session to other workers to increase their understanding of technology or how Facebook is supporting the company’s marketing efforts, or how an update to software will increase productivity.

The need for this type of training is becoming more important. Currently, Baby Boomers are retiring in larger numbers. The window for skills transfer is becoming smaller. Ensuring that training program allow for different learning styles will be crucial to effective skills transfer in the time allowed. Understanding the learning style differences between generations is required. For example, Boomers tend to favor more traditional methods such as classroom and textbook learning, while Gen Xers and Millennials may prefer more interactive learning methods. The learning style of Millennials has been described as more resembling Nintendo than logic. Losing is the fastest way to mastering a game because losing represents learning. This trial-and-error approach to solving problems can contrast with previous generations’ more logical approach.

Communication
Understanding and acting on communication style preferences between generations is another area that can have significant impact due to the fact that individuals in an organization are constantly communicating. Even when employees are not speaking or emailing they can be communicating other messages, such as “I do not need anything right now”, “I feel everything is fine”. Baby Boomers traditionally prefer face to face communicating or by phone. In contrast, a long-winded meeting or speech by a Baby Boomer can be frustrating for Millennials who have short attention spans and little tolerance for delays. Baby Boomers prefer formal and documented feedback such as those offered by many performance appraisal systems. Gen Xers prefer timely and direct feedback similar to Millennials who also prefer an open connection to their manager. In a cross-generational team or department, effective communication will include multiple channels of communication, such as texts, emails, podcasts, staff meetings and round-table discussions. Offering multiple channels ensures generations are not alienated and increases the likelihood that messages are not just received, but also receives the desired response. It is often wise to ensure the professionalism of communication is appropriate to the professionalism of the organization and delivered in such a manner to fit the communication style that the organization supports. Doing so links the communication style with the culture of the organization and is therefore generally more accepted and valued by employees. The best approach is the unique approach. Communicating with individuals in the organization in the way that best meets their unique style is key. Noticing that a team member calls you or stops by your office is an indicator to their communication preferences. Using their preferred communication style increases communication effectiveness. It can also be used as a tool to shape or modify behavior and lead an employee to become comfortable with your preferred communicate style or the one that best fits the needs of the organization.

Work Environment
Flexible work arrangements. Flexible work arrangements are becoming more popular within organizations. The Society for Human Resource Management found that 57% of organizations offer flexible work arrangements to their employees. These arrangements may include full- or part-time telecommuting, flexible scheduling or compressed workweeks. That number is up from 53% in 2012.

Flexible work arrangements should be designed to accommodate the personal needs of employees. Baby Boomers may be looking to pare back on hours as they near retirement and may be willing to take a cut in pay to do so. Many Boomers may also prefer a flexible schedule to care for a sick or elderly parent. Gen Xers may need time off to attend a child’s school or sporting even or to work on outside projects that have special meaning to them. Millennials may want a schedule that allows them to pursue an advanced degree or work outside of the office.

Career Advancement. In companies where there may not be many options to advance, you can attract and retain Millennials with a career web instead of a career ladder. The career web will provide them with more opportunities to be challenged, learn, and grow.
Job Redesign. In manufacturing environments especially, the performance requirements of the job that are impacted by age such as strength and endurance can be offset with job redesign and productivity tools that minimize the strain on older workers.

Conclusion
As the demographics of the workforce change with respect to age, understanding generational diversity within the organization has increased in importance. Across the generations, people demonstrate varying attitudes, values and working styles. Although four different generations in the workforce can present leadership challenges, the diversity can also add richness and strength. If employees are valued and organizations and leaders effectively manage their age-diverse workforce, companies will enjoy a competitive edge.

 

By Ben Cheeks, with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Leadership, Workforce Development

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