Technology isn’t the only way to keep your best employees in your business, but it’s a great place to start. Let’s find out more.
One of the biggest challenges manufacturing companies face today is high staff churn. Whether it’s seasoned experts leaving to retire or younger staff members happy to move jobs at the drop of a hat, businesses struggle to keep any continuity with so much workforce turnover.
In this article, we’ll look at five tech-based ways you can slow the vicious cycle of employee turnover in your manufacturing organisation, including a look at augmented reality. Which ideas could you employ tomorrow to boost your staff retention numbers?
1 - Keep your staff engaged
In a recent survey, 60% of field service engineers said they didn’t feel their managers considered their feedback to improve the way they work.
When you engage with your employees rather than treat them as another commodity, they feel like valued members of the team. So, next time you’re looking to invest in technology, get your people involved. Invest in tools that make a difference to their day and they’ll reward you by staying longer.
2 - Boost their productivity
With new employees, it’s vital to get them contributing to the team as early as possible, rather than spending time learning the ropes. It makes their work lives more rewarding and keeps them in your business longer. What’s more, for the time they are there, they’re more productive, so you get an increased return on your investment in the hire.
Use technology to make your training processes faster, so new hires get producing at full capacity as quickly as possible. It’s a win-win.
3 - Take the pressure off
If you’re lucky enough to have seasoned experts in your business who have been with you for years, it’s tempting to get them to pass their knowledge on to younger team members. But are you sure that’s really what they want to do? If you overburden them, they might opt for early retirement rather than staying to help the next generation.
Why not look at technology to train new hires and let your experts do what they do best?
4 - Invest in the right tech, not any tech
What should you look for when investing in tech? A great place to start is with tools relevant to your existing manufacturing processes that can easily be incorporated without too much change.
Look at it this way: a cutting-edge piece of tech might delight your younger, digital-native team members, but what about your older employees who prefer to work with a pen and paper? You don’t want to drive them out by making their lives too complex.
5 - Explore augmented reality
Finally, don’t assume that augmented reality (AR) is too complex or futuristic for your manufacturing business. Many leading manufacturing companies are discovering the benefits AR can bring to their processes, not least in improving staff churn numbers.
One of the great things about AR is its versatility. Incorporating AR into your company can help:
- Create engaging work instructions that empower your people to learn as they work
- Make the best use of expert knowledge to reduce the pressure on your older experts
- Offer personalised help to drive efficiency
Let AR be your digital mentor to close the skills gap, boosting productivity and keeping your best people with you longer.
