Tag Archives: Mentorship

The manufacturing industry has seen rapid growth in recent years. Employment reached 13 million as of January, and the number of manufacturing establishments in the US saw an 11% boost between 2019 and 2023, reaching 393,000. Based on a recent report from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, manufacturers may be in need of 3.8 million new workers by 2033 at this pace.

Unfortunately, an estimated 1.9 million of these roles could go unfilled considering the current labor shortage.

Today, researchers have found a 75% jump in demand for simulation and simulation software skills to enable technology-enabled production or testing roles in the manufacturing industry. The report states that these technical roles are likely to grow the fastest between 2022 and 2032 as manufacturing companies aim to leverage the adoption of newer connected devices, equipment, and systems. By upskilling employees, manufacturing companies can better motivate and retain employees to expect more consistent and productive operations.

Fortunately, innovations in digital technologies can help make upskilling more accessible to companies and employees alike. Below, we’ll take a closer look at some of the different resources you can use to promote upskilling among manufacturing employees:

Digital training tools

Adopting digital training innovations is one of the best ways to help employees train and upskill. Today, some manufacturing companies use virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) to facilitate virtual training for employees. This is a great way to train new and existing employees while saving on resources and without needing specialized locations to accommodate training.

For example, a University of Cincinnati doctoral student Shaleish Padalkar developed virtual and augmented reality technologies to create a three-dimensional virtual world where employees can be trained for semiconductor or microchip manufacturing. The VR simulator was designed from scratch using Siemens NX 3D modeling software and the Unreal Engine, a popular software for video games like Fortnite. UC has used a combination of both simulation and in-person instruction in an 8,000-square-foot “clean room” to train students in the basics of microchip manufacturing as part of a partnership with 15 colleges and universities called the Ohio Southwest Alliance on Semiconductors and Integrated Scalable Manufacturing.

Manufacturing audiobooks

Aside from proactive employee training, companies can also provide access to resources like audiobooks. Audiobooks have become a popular means of consuming reading materials. Audiobooks allow passive and on-the-go learning for employee training, making them a great resource to combine with other learning or training materials. Audiobooks are also great for multitasking, letting employees access training materials even when they aren’t in the workplace.

Thanks to the growing popularity of audiobooks, they have become increasingly accessible. Leading digital platform Everand has technology and engineering audiobooks that feature hundreds of titles from expert and qualified professionals in the industry. This includes Rob Reich’s “System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot” and other books on different subjects like the future of innovation in fields like construction. These listens can be an insightful and holistic approach to manufacturing, providing a broader and often in-depth view into shifts in the manufacturing industry. If you’ve found that certain audiobooks resonate with employees, it can help to provide access to the book or eBook versions of these for more detailed reading and learning when dealing with new concepts.

Mentorship and apprenticeship programs

Another crucial resource for promoting upskilling in manufacturing is to initiate mentorship and apprenticeship programs. In our “6 Tactics to Attracting Gen Z to the Manufacturing Workforce” post, we highlighted the importance of outlining a career path of growth, development, mentorship, and training to help attract younger and newer talent in the industry. This outline lets employees see how they can grow and develop within the company.

Establishing mentorships and apprenticeships throughout the workplace allows employees to get much-needed guidance and insights from experts and professionals in the company. This lets employees develop practical skills through hands-on training, allowing them to hone their technical abilities and learn how and where to apply them for a successful career in manufacturing. Mentors are also a great resource for support and encouragement, and a good mentor-mentee relationship can create a more open learning environment where employees can thrive as they continue to improve their skills while fostering a solid work ethic.

Personalized training programs

When considering upskilling opportunities and initiatives for employees, it’s important not to settle for one-size-fits-all solutions. This is where artificial intelligence comes in. AI-based training programs offer a more cost-effective, scalable, and customizable approach to upskilling. According to a report from the eLearning Industry, companies embracing AI-powered learning reduced overall training costs by up to 35% while simultaneously improving learning outcomes, something they were able to achieve because the emerging technology’s ability to personalize lessons helped enhance employee engagement by up to 60%.

Today, AI-powered training programs are often used alongside connected worker technologies to help transform workplaces in supply chains and manufacturing organizations. These tools are used to analyze large amounts of employee and operational data to create personalized learning experiences from hiring and onboarding to continuous training as well as worker engagement and retention. It’s important to realize that each employee is different and will adapt to situations and new concepts differently. So, instead of relying on one-size-fits-all training programs, relying on AI to tailor instructions based on different individual needs, learning styles, and job roles can help provide employees with the training, upskilling, and motivation to succeed they need to excel in the field.

Ultimately, it’s important that companies adopt the latest technologies and combine them with existing systems to meet the shifting needs of manufacturing employees. Whether using virtual reality and artificial intelligence or through the help of mentorships and audiobooks, there is an abundance of resources available for companies and employees to instill a culture of constant growth and development. As explained in our introduction, the manufacturing industry will continue to grow in future years.

As more companies aim to minimize the skills and labor gap, employers and employees alike need to invest in continuous upskilling. Constantly upskilling in manufacturing ensures that employees are well-equipped to learn and use new technologies set to disrupt the industry.

*This article is written by Rose James. Rose is a freelance writer with a decade of experience writing about new developments in business and finance, as well as on new technologies like AI and automation.

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Institutional knowledge. It’s a hot topic these days, especially with increasing numbers of baby boomers entering retirement age. Added to that, some people are taking early retirement as a result of pandemic-caused layoffs. It means you may be losing people who have acquired hard-won knowledge from years on the job.

The textbook definition of “institutional knowledge” is a little hard to get your mind around. It’s generally defined as “what an organization knows.” We’d like to expand on that a bit. The people who work in your company day to day carry your institutional knowledge, learned by years and even decades on the job.

It’s the experiences, processes, deep understanding and “this comes naturally” abilities of your people to get the job done in an intuitive way. The hard-won, trial-and-error-gleaned instincts that your senior people have absorbed from years on your front lines. That’s your company’s institutional knowledge. But what happens when those people leave? It’s common to have retirees walk out the door and take all that they’ve learned on the job with them. Younger people who are in line to replace them simply don’t have the years on the job to pick up where their elder colleagues left off.

But, in this age of digital transformation, there’s another facet when it comes to the loss of institutional knowledge. That very knowledge is changing faster than people can keep up. It’s about advancements in technology. So, when employees leave a company to take a new job, they might just be the people who have mastered a new technology you’re using, whether it’s on the shop floor or in the office.

That’s why a knowledge-retention strategy is an important tool in ensuring the continuity of your workforce’s skills. It’s about engaging your younger workers, encouraging them to upskill and immerse in training, and ensuring you have a succession plan in place before your valuable long-term workers are getting their gold watches at retirement parties.

Here are a few suggestions for doing just that.

Mentorship

Many manufacturing and mining companies already have solid mentorship programs in place. If you don’t, it may be time to consider it. It’s simply the pairing of younger workers with older, more experienced pros who can give these young people solid, on-the-job training in how the job gets done. Ideally, you should put those types of mentorships in place years before your older workers retire. It can be a touchy subject to broach, however. Done incorrectly, it can backfire into your veterans thinking you’re anxious to show them the door. That can erode morale very quickly and create resentment between mentor and mentee. Be careful to frame the conversation about mentorship in the context of how valuable your older workers are and how much the company wants and needs to retain their knowledge when — somewhere down the line — they decide it’s time to retire.

Emphasize the “why,” not just the “how”

It’s all too easy to train a younger worker in how to use a wrench on the production line. Do this, then do that. But it’s important for younger workers, especially millennials, to understand the why, not just the how. They may be one cog on a production line, but they need to know how their efforts contribute to the end result. When people see the big picture and how they fit into it, it creates a sense of satisfaction in performing their daily tasks and a greater sense of engagement.

Capture knowledge through structured interviews

Sometimes, people don’t know how to tell you what they know. How do you explain an instinct or a feeling that has been learned over time through trial and error? Much like families sit down with their elders and videotape conversations about their life, companies are doing the same with retiring workers. The conversations revolve around lessons learned on the job. Hard-won experience. Mistakes that taught them the right way to do things. These sorts of recordings are like gold to any company who loses a seasoned pro to retirement.

Encourage younger workers to upskill with an eye toward the future

Training for the job they’re in now is, of course, essential. But upskilling with an eye toward the future ensures continuity and helps create a pipeline when it comes to promoting from within. Maybe that means employees on the shop floor taking online courses to upskill for a job in management or someplace else on your company’s corporate ladder. Or you can designate a group to become the go-to experts in new technology or processes you’re bringing into the mix.

Competitive advantages for on the job preservation

Bottom line, it’s a matter of preserving your employees’ lessons learned and expanding your current employees’ knowledge of the job.

Two competitive advantages for preserving institutional knowledge on the job boil down to contracts and processes. Contracting excellency is core to supply chain expertise including contracts with vendors, customers, and lateral partners. Contract competency resides in supply chain practices and relationships between key accounts and company managers, however contracting knowledge retention resides in SRM, CRM, and ERP systems.

Processes competency is developed using tools such as Lean and Six Sigma and can be handed down through mentorship and training, but processing knowledge retention resides in Procedures Manuals, Management of Change procedures and documentation, and Management Operating Systems.

At USC Consulting Group, we help affect positive change on a company’s systems and people to help find more efficiency out of their current assets and improve overall production. Contact us today for more information.

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