How to Engage Your Employees This Year

Manufacturing companies are dealing with plenty of new challenges this year in 2024, and it’s only january. From skill gaps to a shortage of employees, the manufacturing industry is facing having to try and soften the blows as much as possible and a way to do that is to engage your employees as much as possible. When an industry feels like it’s crumbling, the best thing to do is to make a point of supporting your employees as best you can and show them that they don't have anything to worry about with you in charge. 

You want your turnover rates to remain low and with the correct level of employee engagement you can do just that. From understanding marketplace chaplaincy to understanding how your people will feel best supported, you can offer them more engagement and support than ever before. So, let’s dive in and see the best, most practical ways you can improve employee engagement this year.

• Ask about their goals. What do your employees strive for? Asking about their goals can help you to align your company goals accordingly, especially if your employees aren't the ones to experience the end product that they are a part of creating. Explain the bigger picture to your team and ensure that they know their contribution matters. What is their contribution and why do you need them? Talk about it and discuss their overall hopes for their careers. This will help you to gain a sense of who they are and a sense of their purpose. From here, you can then match those goals and show them that you care about where they come from in the bigger picture.
  
• Make your working environment safe. A lot of the reasons that people choose to change employers - especially in manufacturing - is that they don't feel safe to work where they are. You are in charge of the environment if you are the employer and that means that you are responsible for ensuring safety while making a point of offering a safe place to work mentally and emotionally. It’s not just about manufacturing environments being potentially dangerous, but you should ensure that people feel like they can come to work and be well while they’re there.
  
• Offer your team some flexibility. Flexible working is a must for most people looking to grow their careers these days. Whether  it’s hours or location, you need to ensure that your employees feel secure in their scheduling. Remote working is often not a possibility for manufacturing but that doesn't mean that you can’t offer flexible shift patterns and a compressed work week.  A 4 day work week has proven to be beneficial and with a 4 day week, the workers being paid for a full time week and 100% of the effort still being achieved, people will be happier and healthier where they are and won’t be looking to leave.
  
• Offer opportunities for growth. People don't just work for a business; they work to improve themselves. It’s absolutely okay if you train and grow someone to a point they’re poached for bigger and better opportunities because it means that you have supported that growth. The ideal outcome is that they won’t want to leave because you’re the type of employer willing to do that for them. But, if you provide the right career development opportunities you will find that your employees are far more receptive to the idea of longevity and will find happiness in it.
  
  
  
  
• Put effort into people feeling appreciated. Whether you do it with cash in hand bonuses or you do it with public praise, you need a concrete way to make people feel valued in their roles. The way you do this can differ but you want to make sure that people know that they’re not putting in all that effort for nothing. You will find your team happier and ready to work when they are feeling appreciated. Rewards and recognition programs are great but you have to go with what works for your employees and not what other industries are doing.
  
• Communicate. It’s so important as an employer that you communicate to engage with your employees. Plenty of manufacturing employees forget that they can come to their employer if they need something but if you come off as unapproachable, you’ll struggle to get your team to communicate. Encouraging open communication with regular departmental meetings and offering on the go solutions can really help. The more you talk and discuss, the better off everyone will be.
  
• Compensate. With fairness, you need to pay your employees the right salaries and benefits. You need to let them know that you are offering the best you can offer. Fair compensation not only helps with talent retention, but it promotes values and improves motivation and productivity. If you’re going to pay people below fair market rates, they’re going to give you below market work.
  
• Give your onboarding process the once over. What is your current process and how can it be improved? Looking closely at your current onboarding process will help you to decide whether it’s a good enough process to bring the right people on board. If people don't understand what their role is, they’re going to struggle to be a part of your business and you can avoid that. Providing the right tech tools for the job, the right identification and the right safety equipment can help. When you onboard people, you can offer compliance and safety training they need, while providing constructive feedback about the work they’re doing.
  
• Be approachable. As an employer, being approachable is a must. You need to look at how you can provide properly structured support and be someone they can talk to. If you’re unapproachable, you’re going to find people going elsewhere for that support - and you’ll lose out on excellent talent. With the right support, you can offer people the right environment that makes them feel settled and happy at their workplace.​