How to retain your technical workforce
Having a shortage of skilled talent quickly adds up and as the skills gap widens, retaining your current technical workforce is imperative. But how can you ensure your skilled talent will stick around? Consider one or more of these three opportunities to your current workforce.
Offer a higher salary and compensation package.
According to Deloitte’s 2021 Skills Gap in Manufacturing study, nearly 2.1 million manufacturing jobs will go unfilled due to a shortage of skilled talent over the next decade. This puts a lot of pressure on your recruiting department to not only find quality candidates for open technical positions, but to provide incentive for those candidates to accept an offer with your company. The same study indicates that executives are already offering improved salary and benefits packages to remain competitive, so allowing your recruiting team to offer higher salaries and stellar compensation packages to highly sought-after prospects could help your organization beat out the competition for talent.
Train current employees on new technologies and trends.
With only a small number of manufacturers creating targeted roles for older employees or those with training deficits, you can have the upper hand by recognizing the potential of the talent you already have and expanding on their skill sets to fill gaps in your manufacturing needs. By giving your workforce the opportunity to learn new skills through ongoing technical training and professional development programming, your team feel appreciated and irreplaceable while adding even more value to your bottom line. This will also give employees opportunities for advancement, taking some of that pressure off recruiting to fill higher-level positions.
Host informational sessions to combat industry stigmas.
Misconceptions about careers in manufacturing have a significant effect on the overall available talent pool for manufacturing jobs—let alone the pool of talented and qualified candidates. Luckily, your manufacturing organization is on the front lines of changing the negative perception of the industry. Give your current employees the chance to show off their skills and inspire the next generation of skilled workers by hosting informational sessions, tours or even a full-scale Manufacturing Day event.
The skilled labor shortage will continue to present challenges for all manufacturers for several years, so developing the workforce you already have while providing competitive compensation and addressing misconceptions will improve retention by promoting a culture of continuous learning and employee value.
If you are still struggling to retain skilled talent, our Technical Workforce Solution may be able to help. Learn more here or contact us today to find out how our workforce solutions can address your unique challenges and goals.
