Engaging frontline employees in manufacturing

Authored by Adrienne Petersen, Danielle Hawkins, Nate Paynter, and Rachael Magpantay.

The current state of frontline employee engagement

The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is facing many challenges when it comes to attracting, engaging, rewarding, and retaining frontline employees.

In the Deloitte and Manufacturing Institute 2022 Manufacturing Perception Study (referred to as “The Study” throughout this article), 83% of manufacturers cited attracting and retaining a quality workforce as their top challenge. This isn’t just a people issue or inconvenience—45% of manufacturers surveyed had to turn down business opportunities because they lacked workers. 71% surveyed said the lack of talent negatively impacted their timelines for product deliveries, 70% said it negatively impacted their production process timelines, and 56% said it disrupted the delivery of key manufacturing inputs.¹

The future of manufacturing is poised for monumental growth. Some will thrive in the new environment and some will not—now is the time to think about and embrace talent attraction and retention as a strategic imperative.

Recruiting

There’s a shortage of workers entering the manufacturing field, in part due to a negative perception of the industry. Roles are often perceived as physically taxing, unsafe, lacking advancement opportunities, and now—replaceable by robots. In addition, efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), specifically around the role of women and racially underrepresented groups, have come up short. Women represent 47% of the overall workforce, but only 30% of the manufacturing workforce. These discrepancies negatively impact and further limit the size of the talent pool available for hiring organizations.

Organizations then lose candidates to competitors when using slow, outdated hiring processes (for example, paper applications, multi-month interviews), and applicants are left impatient, frustrated, and disengaged.² The hiring process has also been slowed by using a job-based approach, as opposed to a skills-based one. In today’s dynamic environment, worker responsibilities and the skills required are also rapidly changing, making a job-based hiring approach obsolete.

Deloitte’s perspective on recruiting

What to ask: Are our recruiting processes effective at attracting talent in today’s rapidly changing environment?

What to do:

To make roles more attractive to potential employees within the existing talent pool, manufacturers should:

1. Streamline the hiring process: Leverage automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to limit manual tasks for a faster recruiting experience.
2. Demonstrate how roles are evolving: Build a job canvas to illustrate how the core elements of a job may evolve in the future, especially with the growing use of AI, to help candidates better understand their growth potential. The canvas should have four main sections: future work, future skills, skills benchmark, and future day in the life.³
3. Showcase improved safety measures: Use job descriptions to highlight safety improvements and the ways robotics and AI enhance the role of manufacturing workers, rather than put them at risk.

To broaden the current talent pool, manufacturers should:

1. Focus on DEI efforts: Foster an inclusive culture that encourages gender-diverse teams at all levels and spotlights role models for women and underrepresented minorities. In The Study, 63% of surveyed manufacturers linked business benefits of DEI to an enhanced ability to attract, retain, and develop talent.⁴
2. Adopt a skills-based talent strategy: Prioritize technical and behavioral skills over education and work experience. Adopting a skills-based recruiting strategy allows skills to be developed fluidly to keep pace as the work evolves.⁵

Retention

With turnover remaining high in the manufacturing industry and employee retention a challenge, workers are demanding more flexibility and control over their schedules like they’ve seen in other industries. In The Study, 58% of respondents reported feeling that manufacturing jobs have limited career prospects, but 80% might be interested in roles with enhanced training and clear career paths.⁶

Deloitte’s perspective on retention

What to ask: How can we create an environment where workers can grow and thrive in their careers?

What to do:

1. Empower employees through flexibility and improved scheduling: Enhanced technology can help modify and improve shift schedules for individual workers.⁷ Scheduling tools can give employees the ability to bid for preferred shifts, request days off, and swap shifts. Use data and predictive analytics to help forecast anticipated supply and demand for labor.
2. Clarify, formalize, and expand career paths—and prioritize learning reimbursements:⁸ Invest in upskilling programs and designing career development pathways. Create or enhance partnerships with local schools to help current employees gain new specialized and niche skills.⁹

Rewards

On top of a competitive base pay, it’s crucial organizations find ways to help employees feel appreciated. According to one survey of US workers, 46% had left a job because they felt unappreciated, and 65% said they would work harder if they felt like their contributions were noticed by management.¹⁰ The manufacturing industry lags other industries when it comes to recognition; only one in 10 manufacturing employees say recognition is an important part of their organization's culture.¹¹

Deloitte’s perspective on rewards

What to ask: How do we make employees feel recognized and appreciated for their hard work?

What to do:

1. Recognize employees for going above and beyond: This can include informal one-on-one recognition, team-based feedback, and broad organizational communications. According to Gallup, when recognition is done well, employees are five times as likely to be connected to company culture and four times as likely to be engaged, leading to greater productivity.¹²
2. Implement multi-faceted cash compensation programs: Consider signing bonuses, employee referral bonuses, special occasion bonuses, and spot awards. Team incentives for meeting weekly or monthly targets can provide powerful positive reinforcement.
3. Pay employees faster: Allow employees to collect their pay at any point during the month.¹³ Make the payment process as easy, convenient, and flexible as possible. A great example is Amazon’s Anytime Pay program that allows employees to access up to 70% of their eligible earned pay whenever they choose and without fees.¹⁴
4. Pay employees for the work they do: Consider paying for certain work and tasks at different rates and paying premium for work that demands advanced and certified skills.

Moving forward

As we go forward, the tried-and-true business practices will need to evolve to meet the needs of today and tomorrow. Organizations need to rethink and reimagine their hiring processes and employee experience to attract, retain, and reward talent. Ready to tackle your frontline manufacturing worker challenges? Get in touch; let’s start the conversation.

Authors:

• Adrienne Petersen
• Danielle Hawkins
• Nate Paynter
• Rachael Magpantay

Contributors:

• Anthony Harbour
• Annie Bailey
• Jonathan Petteway
• Rachel Heydlauff

Endnotes:

¹ Paul Wellener et al., “Competing for talent: Recasting perceptions of manufacturing,” Deloitte Insights, March 30, 2022.
² Charlie Buchanan, Cathy Gutierrez, and Jocelyn Mayfield, “The competition for frontline automotive workers,” Deloitte, May 25, 2023.
³ Caterpillar, “Future skills for supply chain/procurement,” discussion document, November 2, 2022.
⁴ Paul Wellener, Victor Reyes, Chad Moutray, Beyond reskilling: Manufacturing’s future depends on diversity, equity, and inclusion, Deloitte, 2021.
⁵ Michael Griffiths, Sue Cantrell, and Julie Hiipakka, “Moving your organizational strategy from jobs to skills,” Deloitte Insights, July 15, 2022.
⁶ Deloitte, “Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute: Big gains in perceptions of US manufacturing as innovative, critical and high tech,” press release, March 30, 2022.
⁷ Deloitte, “Competing for talent: Recasting perceptions of manufacturing,” webcast featuring Paul Wellener and Victor Reyes, April 12, 2022.
⁸ Larry P. Vellequette, “Small-town auto plants face challenges once hard to imagine: Finding workers," Automotive News, July 24, 2022.
⁹ Deloitte, “Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute.”
¹⁰ Vanessa Kahn, “Survey says: Appreciation matters more than you think,” Bonusly, March 2, 2022.
¹¹ Emily Lorenz, “Is your industry delivering on employee recognition?,” Gallup, September 13, 202.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Lori Wisper and John M. Bremen, “Frontline hourly workers: Can’t get them. Can’t keep them. Why?,” WTW, October 12, 2022.
¹⁴ Amazon, “Amazon expands pay and benefits for frontline employees with new investment of nearly $1 billion.”