Manufacturing company leaders know that creating the right company culture is key to attracting and retaining the right employees and, in turn, driving business growth. There are limits to what businesses can offer employees in the way of pay, benefits, and extra perks to stand out from the competition. A company’s culture will make your business stand out from the pack. Studies have found that companies with happy employees are 2.1% above industry benchmarks.
So, how do you affect change or advance culture initiatives?
1. Develop a strong culture
It’s hard to promote your manufacturing company’s culture if you don’t know what your team is working toward. Research shows that the “cumulative skills gap – or the positions that likely won’t be filled due to a lack of skilled workers – will grow to 2 million between 2015 and 2025.” Define goals and internal values, communication practices, and co-worker relations. A manufacturing company’s culture requires input from everyone, honest feedback, open-mindedness, speaking up, and flexible schedules and expectations.
Great culture starts from the top. Take initiative and lead by example by first understanding and living out the policies, taking company culture seriously, and consistently participating.
Another way to build a solid culture is to start traditions with your team. Employees need the opportunity to relax and have fun every once in awhile. Just like your customers, employees are more likely the stay if they can relate to your company. Traditions give your employees the chance to feel connected and look forward to a fun event like birthdays, holiday parties, happy hours, or fundraisers. Taking time out of work to meet and grow relationships with your team can have a substantial impact on your culture and the growth of any industrial business.
2. Incorporate work-life balance and company culture
What does a work-life balance culture look like? In a recent study, 39% of respondents indicated that they did not have a good balance between their work and personal lives. 27% indicated they worked for a company that didn’t support work-life balance, while only 17% said they “worked for companies who really support employees having meaningful, fun, and fulfilling lives at work and elsewhere.”
To retain hard-working employees, you need to combat the stigma by taking time to look at traits that currently represent your culture and steps you can implement to enhance them. Flexible working arrangements are valuable and keep employees satisfied. A healthy company culture ensures that employees have adequate tools and resources to be productive. Encouraging and enabling cross-functional collaboration, having policies and procedures that distribute workloads evenly, and giving clear and organized direction that allow employees to prioritize their work will have them feeling secure and supportive in their environment.
Finding the right balance between excelling at work and making time for life’s activities is not only important to the growth of your manufacturing company, but also to your employees’ overall work mindset.
3. Engage and communicate
Transparent and open communication help manufacturing departments and employees work together and collaborate effectively to carry out day-to-day objectives. Having a shared vision and clear mission encourages everyone to pursue common goals for the prosperity of the business.
In organizations where good communication is encouraged – where upper-level executives freely communicate with lower-level employees and vice versa with respect and without judgement – manufacturing companies often implement an open-door communication policy with their team. Companies that are not transparent and do not transfer information well to everyone typically have a hard time achieving strong business results.
- U.S. companies overall improved employee engagement from 63% in 2014 to 64% in 2015.
- A company’s highest performing employees have three things in common: talent, engagement, and 10+ years of service.
- 88% of U.S. employees reported overall satisfaction with their current job in 2015, the highest level of satisfaction over the last 10 years.
- 75% of employees receiving at least monthly recognition (even if informal) say they are happy with their jobs.
4. Offer opportunities for advancement
Invest in training and development to ensure that employees have the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to advance. Often times in manufacturing settings, employees feel their employer lacks the know-how to support advancement of the skill set they already have. You don’t want employees to feel stuck working in circles where there’s no growth. Offer team outings and go to seminars, luncheons, conferences, etc.
Providing opportunities for growth will cause employees to feel more engaged and productive at work. Give them the benefit of utilizing their time at work to invest, learn, and grow. It will increase their sense of value, respect, and success.
If you want quality employees walking through the doors and staying there, know the areas that need improvement in your manufacturing business. Solid potential employees will be interested in a work environment that will enable them to grow, offer greater satisfaction, and give them experiences that will benefit them, their team, and their clients. Company culture is fast becoming one of the most important job benefit in the manufacturing industry.
If you need a marketing partner with experience establishing solid foundations to build unique and engaging cultures upon, then you need Revel. Contact us today.
