• Lack of learning and growth opportunities
• Inflexible work environment
• Not receiving enough recognition for their work

Owing to the ever-evolving IT industry, retaining top talent has become increasingly challenging. The competition for skilled IT professionals is fierce, and according to a recent report by Forbes, the technology industry has the highest turnover rate of any industry at 13.2%.

By investing in talent development and career advancement, and by creating a culture of growth, companies can build a strong and loyal team that drives long-term growth and success.

Here are 5 strategies to help manufacturing companies retain top IT talent:

1. Invest in Talent Development and Career Advancement

IT professionals are highly skilled and passionate about technology. They aspire to work for companies that offer continuous learning and growth opportunities.

Enrolling employees in professional development programs and offering training can be a great way to help your IT professionals adopt new skills and excel in their careers. Provide IT personnel with the tools to flourish so they are encouraged to stick around for the long haul.

2. Create A Culture of Growth

Creating a culture of growth that fosters innovation and encourages employees to take risks is important for success. A healthy culture keeps your employees committed to their work and growth.

Don’t (always) punish mistakes. Reward innovation and risk-taking, and make growth something you highlight in your meetings and communications.

3. Offer Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Manufacturing is a rewarding career with tremendous potential for growth opportunities. With the fierce local and national talent competition in the industry, more companies are increasing wages to attract talent.

93% of respondents of The Manufacturing Institute and Colonial Life study said they were struggling to find qualified applicants for various positions. 89.5% said that they have increased compensation—including wages, salaries, and benefits to attract talent.

4. Provide a Flexible Work Environment

Hybrid and remote work options are more prevalent in the IT industry. Naturally, the top IT talent would prefer working for a company that provides flexible working options.

Maintaining a work-life balance has gained more traction ever since the pandemic as more people are now focused on prioritizing their mental health and family commitments.

5. Foster a Positive Work Environment

A work culture that values teamwork, collaboration, and open communication is crucial to attracting top talent. For IT professionals to thrive, they need an environment that inspires them to do their best but also allows them to work on their projects independently.

Creating a culture that provides your employees the space to be themselves can not only help retain them but also help create innovative solutions.

Wrapping Up

Keeping and attracting skilled IT workers is crucial for staying ahead of your competition. Adopting a growth-focused culture and improving wages and benefits can help attract talent that brings innovation and success to your team.

NLG’s certified recruiting team is committed to delivering high-quality services to help businesses find top IT talent. Contact Next Level Group for filling your IT-related roles.

1. ‘Sorry, I haven’t researched your company.”

A hiring manager will ask why you want to join the company is one of the most common questions in an interview. This question is meant to assess how well prepared you are for the interview and whether you are interested in working with them or just filling a role. When you are interviewing for a manufacturing technology role, you can talk about their manufacturing department and related details.

2. “My biggest weakness is I’m a perfectionist.”

Refusing to share the areas you still need to grow in is dishonest and a disservice to yourself. Finding the right candidate for the position is in the best interest of the candidate and the company. You don’t want to end up at a job that doesn’t match your skill set and work tendencies. If you are better at managing people than crunching numbers, say that!

By being honest about the skills and practices you still need to improve, you show potential employers that you are self-aware and know where you need help.

3. “I prefer to work alone. Others just slow me down.”

Very few jobs are done in a silo. In fact, having a good team of talented people is vital to the success of any business. Moreover, it is critical to have a team that can finish tasks on time without compromising on the quality of work. Instead of focusing on your preference of individual work in your response, you could discuss how accountability is important to you and your preference to work with teams that value autonomy over being micromanaged.

After all, manufacturing work is a team effort, not a solo performance. Hiring managers will prefer new hires willing to build trust with others rather than those that insist on going at it alone.

4. “This company is way better than my last company”

Talking badly about others never reflects well on you, even if it is in the context of praising someone else. The reality is that every company knows it could be your previous company. When your review of your last job is completely negative and seems to put all the blame on your employer, it is a red flag and reflects a lack of ownership and compassion in your work. If something negative or lacking made you leave your last company, provide context in your explanation, and explain it from multiple perspectives.

The bottom line with interviewing is that it is in the interest of both employers and jobseekers to connect, matching skillsets and workplace preferences with the right opportunities. So don’t be shy about your flaws. Make it clear if you aren’t a social butterfly and prefer to work with a small team. Alternatively, if you have solid interpersonal skills yet lack technical acumen, communicate that to the hiring manager and highlight that you are eager and willing to learn. Using these tips, you can nail your next interview and find an excellent company for your unique strengths and skills.

But how to make it a priority for the workforce at large remains a difficult challenge for many employers today to approach. What constitutes a business-critical concept for the senior management team doesn’t always hold the same pull for individual employees or, sometimes, even the department they work within as a whole.

Knowing how to make health and safety a priority for staff in manufacturing will not only improve your overall bottom line – it will also show you’re a business with its heart in the right place.

Here are our top tips on how to how to make health and safety a priority for staff in manufacturing.

Connect health and safety with the goals of your employees

One way to motivate your workforce to prioritize the important aspects of work is to connect them to their own goals and objectives when it comes to their career. A business running an efficient operation with regards to health and safety is one which will be outpacing its competition. That means growth, which means the opportunity for progression and development for your staff.

By interweaving the ways that maintaining impeccable health and safety practices contribute to this, you can be sure they’ll take notice. Perhaps they could be kept in the loop with incident numbers, or the speed at which they’re responded to; maybe you could maintain that concise reporting is an attribute you look for in future leaders of the business.

However you go about it, make health and safety personal. Then watch as your employees make it their personal responsibility.

Make health and safety quantitative – then use it as an incentive

Health and safety is, without a doubt, all about your employees’ wellbeing at work. But, unfortunately, with a busy and committed team, you can find that oftentimes this isn’t enough to keep it at the forefront of their minds all the time. By making health and safety more about successful business outcomes, you make it relatable to their professional nature.

Break “health and safety” down into numbers. The number of incidents, to begin with. The average time it takes to respond to an incident. How many incidents are solved on site, how many require further medical attention, and so on and so forth. Once you have your data, you have a tangible target – so use that as a means to incentivize your staff to improve on it.

Whether you set company-wide rewards for reaching goals or individual targets for a more personal incentive, it could be the driving factor to make healthy and safety a priority for staff.

Use regular toolbox talks and meetings to keep it current

How to make health and safety a priority for staff in manufacturing? Talk about it, a lot.

When you reiterate its importance again and again, it’ll become more important to them. We’re not saying you should be having “meetings about meetings”; that’s not what this is about. But what we’re saying is, one key way to keep health and safety at the forefront is to… Well, practice what you preach. Keep it at the forefront!

The unique exposure and longstanding experience in the manufacturing industry is what makes NLG a recruiter of choice in this sector. To talk more about staffing services, or to simply chat employee engagement and talent trends, get in touch today.

Knowing how to retain top performers doesn’t come down to a few tricks or quick fixes. It’s a process which should start the day your new hire begins, and is ongoing throughout their journey to becoming a top performer.

Take a personal interest

Top performers don’t necessarily want to be seen as that and that only – they’re human too. Taking a personal interest will help drive towards their longevity within your business. Ask about their personal life (to a polite and non-intrusive degree), and do what you can within the bounds of their role and responsibility to flex their job to suit this. That could mean offering flexible shifts, giving them more access to resource thus relieving some pressure, or helping them work towards personal goals. The further you engage, the more likely they’re going to stick around.

Allow them to contribute beyond their day-to-day duties

There’s a reason they’ve become a top performer – they’re doing things well. And that means, in all likelihood, they have some ideas and information to share. By asking your top performers to contribute feedback, ideas and thoughts toward future improvement and/or change, you’re giving them the recognition they deserve alongside a path to shaping their own future and legacy within the company.

Keep their role challenging and progressive

It’s sometimes easy to fall into the “they’re really good at this task – let’s keep them doing it,” trap. But, if your top performers are doing the same thing day in, day out, they may become complacent and ultimately bored. Keep their roles fresh and challenging, offering opportunities to learn each and every day.

Invest in their professional growth

Speaking of learning, one key in how to retain top performers is to invest in their professional development. Whether it’s a vocational qualification, more traditional schooling or an online course, it’ll go a long way to letting them know you appreciate their education and career here.

Customize their benefits package

One-size-fits-all is a thing of the past. Your competition might be able to offer these individuals a similar salary and the same great career prospects, so make sure your organization – who knows them well already, giving you an edge to work with – is going above and beyond to curate a benefits package which suits them and their lifestyle.

Talk about the future

By reiterating that you see a future with them in it (and one that they have the opportunity to shape with their own hands), you’ll stave off those wandering eyes. Talk about the future regularly; ask where they see themselves, what they’d like to achieve. Be transparent with top performers about business goals, large and small, all the while reassuring them that they feature front and centre. Talking about the future and their place in it will naturally see it become more of a reality.

How to retain top performers

Retaining top performers is one thing – finding then hiring them, an entirely different ball game. Engaging with a manufacturing staffing and recruiting specialist like NLG, one with experience at all levels of the manufacturing sector and its many offshoots and intricacies, is going to bring you that much closer to sourcing your next generation of top performers.

To learn more about what we do, visit our website or drop President and CEO Andrew Lavoie a direct message on LinkedIn.

In 2020, Canada as a whole saw a sharp rise in unemployment – from 5.7% in 2020 to 9.5% last year. That’s higher than it’s been since 2009, when unemployment sat at 8.3%¹. The number of jobs rose in some sectors, while being completely wiped out in others.

Put simply, this year has been one for the books, as they say.

But with that being said, we’re feeling hopeful. Quietly optimistic, moreover confident in the economy. Several other countries have seen their economy making a subtle but sharp recovery from the pandemic, if not at least beating the numbers predicted by experts. And our first-hand experience of jobs in eastern Canada only adds to our optimism.

We’ve watched as many companies overcame the initial panic, to find a new way of working. We’ve seen companies agile enough to adapt quickly and effectively to entirely unprecedented challenges. We’ve marvelled as workplaces changed to be almost unrecognizable – literally and figuratively – in the wake of the virus.

And in terms of our up-close-and-personal experience with the people involved, there simply aren’t enough amazing things we have to say. The way in which workforces have had to come together, moreover how they’ve done so with such humility and grace, has been nothing short of incredible. The way companies no longer seem just like companies, but communities within their given industry, has been a thing to behold. And the way that humans have responded to every single ongoing, ever-changing hurdle the pandemic has thrown at their lives, both professional and person, is something we should all aim to remember for decades to come.

And that’s why we’re hopeful about the future of jobs in eastern Canada. Because no matter the challenges that life could hurl at them, it’s the amazing people who fuel our economy with their unceasing work ethics, inherent pride and never-say-die attitudes who will be there to drive things forward. When it comes down to it, we’re all in it together.

Things have been difficult, challenging, unforeseen. Many people and businesses have had their lives turned upside down by the pandemic, while others have come out the other side either unscathed, or in some cases even stronger than ever. So those scary numbers from the beginning of this article? Let’s aim to take them with a pinch of salt and a promise of optimism.

After all, it’s not all bad news. In March of this year, employment rose 1.6% nationwide – the second consecutive month of growth. The Canadian dollar is standing strong against historically more fierce currencies than our own, seeing an almost four-year high on the stock market. And while things change every day (sometimes it seems even by the hour), we have faith that we’ll bounce back from this stronger than ever.

Consulting with so many inside eastern Canada’s manufacturing markets has given us a unique insight over the past year and a half. We too have had to adapt to the needs of our clients, the evolving moves of the employment market and talent pool. And we’ve done so every step of the way, adding our value and expertise at a time when clients needs us most.

If you’d like to learn more about what partnering with NLG looks like, let’s talk.

¹Statista.com

But today’s spotlight is about one of these paths only. Today, we’re talking about why manufacturing talent should consider a career in quality control.

So, what is quality control?

Quality control (QC) is an integral part of any manufacturing operation. Whether pharmaceutical, automotive, food and beverage, or any other product which springs to mind, there’s a team of QC specialists working hard to uphold both their stakeholder and customers’ expectations.

When you work within quality control, it’s your job to ensure (whether by overseeing or physically testing) that the products your customers eventually receive are free of defects and of the right standard. QC is a crucial part of any business so, when it comes to searching out a fulfilling, meaningful career path, you’re on the right track.

What sort of jobs are there for quality control in manufacturing?

Working in quality control can take many different paths, all involving their own set of tasks and responsibilities. You could become a QC generalist, or a specialist in one area. You could find yourself working on the line inspecting the products with your own eyes and hands, or you might veer down the path of leadership, reporting, and the related administration. In today’s world, many manufacturing businesses are undergoing some form of digital transformation; this means implementing software or technologies to improve their QC processes. Could it be your job to oversee and/or manage this process? To develop the technology to take things to the next level?

Put simply, the job titles and opportunities are endless, with a challenge ready to fit the skills you have – and to likely have you raring to learn some new ones, too.

What does a career path look like within quality control in manufacturing?

Here in Canada, the road is near infinite. Our manufacturing industry is one so diverse, so progressive, and also very proud. We hang our hat on the quality of our products – so the service you’re doing in QC for an employer is an important one.

As such, there are various ways to continue your learning and development. This could look like formal education in a workplace setting, or simply proving again and again your aptitude for and commitment to quality; a QC inspector’s goals are, naturally, aligned with that of the business they’re working with. So, prove yourself and your employer will take note.

What skills are needed in quality control jobs?

The beauty of a career in quality control lies in its relevance to everyone at large – the skills you need, you’ll be taught. More important perhaps are the personal attributes required.

Attention to detail is key to a successful run in quality control – pretty self-explanatory. But perhaps less obvious is the ability to spot patterns and, as such, deviations. You’ll likely live life more on the analytical side of things, naturally searching out solutions to any problems you find, and you’re always looking for ways to improve efficiency.

Why you should consider a career in quality control in manufacturing

While the manufacturing industry is rich with opportunities in general, quality control is something which every business not only needs, but depends on. You’ll find yourself entrenched in various aspects of the business, from customer perception and brand recognition to operations and perhaps even HR.

If an ongoing, ever-changing, fast paced career is what you’re looking for, quality control in manufacturing could just be for you. Get in touch.

No mean feat.

The manufacturing industry’s experience of the pandemic as a whole is a unique one, to say the least. At a time where so many of the world’s functions, industries and businesses were ground to a halt, the manufacturing industry (and all of those related to its smooth running) is finally being recognized as the essential force that it always has been.

And we’re proud to be working with many of these very businesses; businesses who faced the pandemic head on and, almost without breaking a sweat, have managed to do what they needed to in order to not only survive, but to thrive.

So what’s the secret? When we ask our clients, “What do you believe has been your key to getting through the past year?”, their answer is pretty much the same every time:

Trust.

Trust in your supply chain

Any thriving manufacturing business will tell you that they’d be nothing without a solid supply chain. A supply chain that can be depended on, relationships which have been built on mutual values in the way business is done. A supply chain who you can trust to hold up their end of the bargain, always.

Manufacturing business leaders have been strengthening their supply chains since this whole thing began, when gaping holes were exposed around the world. Priorities have changed. But the importance of this aspect of your business has not – and, thankfully for many of our clients, their now-even-more reliable supply chain is a huge bonus to have come out of Covid-19.

Trust in your vision

The practical aspects of running a manufacturing business are all well and good – but it’s your vision which will keep you focused throughout times of hardship.

The vision may have changed for many manufacturers during the pandemic, if even for the short term (for instance, those who began producing new or different products to meet customer demand; those who parked their own vision for the time being to take a more community-led view for the interim and began producing PPE, hand sanitizer etc). Regardless, whatever the vision might be, having the whole team aligned and trusting in the end goal has ensured that some businesses have achieved things nothing short of amazing.

Trust in your people

Finally, the answer we recruiters are always hoping to hear.

Our clients – and manufacturing businesses in Canada across the board – have any number of brilliant individuals working for them, all of whom have contributed to company success throughout these often troubled times. But, further to just having the talent on board, successful manufacturing businesses have used this time to nurture and support their employees. They’ve played to their people’s strengths, and they’ve trusted them to stick around throughout hard, hectic, or simply uncertain times, with their eyes firmly on the light at the end of the tunnel.

Above all else, it’s the people behind the production line who have been driving manufacturing businesses forward. For us in the staffing and recruiting industry, it’s been incredible watching our clients trust their workforce with the tools, support and resources to do their job to its absolute best – and we continue to watch as they ready themselves to take on the world.

So, there you have it, the not-so-secret secret to so many manufacturer’s success since this all began back in 2020: trust. Trust is what fuels company culture, brings your team together and creates the ability to thrive under adversity. In the manufacturing industry and, frankly, many others.

Do you agree?

It doesn’t just mean having the right person waiting in the wings to take over if another employee is promoted, transferred or otherwise vacates their position; it’s also about the processes you have in place to handle the events that will follow with minimal disruption.

Here are our steps to successful succession planning in manufacturing, for businesses large and small:

Identify your most disruptive areas

You need to understand which areas of your business are most vital to its running, then the individuals within those whom much of the responsibility rests upon. What would happen if they moved on, by one way or another, and how well set are you to recover quickly?

This is one which you shouldn’t be afraid to get the team involved on; after all, they’re the ones on the ground, and have a better understanding of what each person undertakes. Through them, you’ll learn where the potential pitfalls lay, and can make a contingency plan for if they were to come to light.

Understand your employees’ goals

This step begins the moment you meet them as far back as interview stage! It’s important to know who wants to go where and achieve what, in order to create a succession plan which works for everyone. Moreover, this can really help motivate your staff and show them that progression is a real, tangible thing – which can do wonders for improving the rate of staff turnover.

Through performance reviews, 1:1s and general, open-forum conversations, make sure you’re being proactive in getting an understanding of where your employees want to be in 1, 5, 10 years’ time; build this into your succession plan. Aligning your needs and their goals simply makes sense.

Cross-train the skills most crucial to your business

What you want to avoid, particularly in a manufacturing setting, is one person knowing it all – and holding the keys to productivity in the palm of their hands as a result. If your team’s skills and education is all in one basket, so to speak, it could leave you without one day – worse yet, without notice – so make sure to cross-train your staff.

Have certain employees undergo shadowing or mentoring on equipment, responsibilities and duties which appeal to them and work with their own goals. Workforces who are always learning are naturally more engaged. This means that you’re setting yourself up should somebody leave, but increasing staff engagement, morale and happiness at the same time.

Finally, it comes down to process

We all put emphasis on our hiring processes, that is, getting staff on board swiftly and smoothly. But what about internal movements?

When key staff members move up or move on, you need to be able to respond quickly. Set a turnkey process for direct promotions, horizontal movements, backfilling and offboarding. Make sure that you can react as you need to; all the steps above mean nothing without the right process in place to facilitate them.

Whichever of the business-critical roles you need to fill, we have an extensive network to pull from to find what you need. And some solid expertise on making sure you’re well set for now and future. Get in touch to learn more about NLG’s staffing and recruiting services, specifically for the manufacturing sector here in North America.

But sustainable manufacturing is the future – of that there’s no question. The Canadian government in particular has been pushing for manufacturers across the country to implement more clean technologies, to work toward less wasteful processes and to ultimately reduce the mark we leave on the world, including both physical waste (as in surplus or leftover product) and environmentally (meaning the overall carbon footprint).

It’s the year 2021, and sustainable manufacturing is on the agenda. But it’s a term banded around often, and frequently with multiple or varying meanings. So what does sustainable manufacturing encompass and look like in terms of operations?

Clean, green technologies

Similarly to most industries today, technology has helped the manufacturing sector progress from once clunky machines to shiny, streamlined equipment built for the purpose of high output, low cost. Now, as sustainability becomes a key factor, much of this technology has become green. That is, it allows manufacturers to maintain their levels of productivity whilst having less of an impact on the world around them, and reducing overall waste.

Less wasting, more reusing

Speaking of reducing waste, it’s not just about removing it altogether – less waste also means reusing what’s able to be reused, whether to generate energy, repurpose into secondary products or otherwise. Sustainable manufacturing means identifying where over-expenditure is happening, where it can be cut down, and getting creative around what could be done to turn waste into something useful.

Resourceful practices, to save on resources!

And, to follow on from above, sustainable manufacturing means getting the most out of every resource the business uses while causing the least impact – people included. Particularly as we navigate the post-Covid world, manufacturers will begin looking at methods of cutting down the carbon footprint their own people leave behind, let alone the plant itself. This could mean remote administration teams to cut down on travel, or reducing the number of printed products used in the office for instance.

Ultimately, sustainable manufacturing is a matter of improving energy and environmental efficiency across the board. Doing so not only improves your carbon footprint, but could save money and decrease ongoing running costs too… Some would call that a win-win.

But that’s not where the benefits end.

Social and environmental responsibility is a huge topic of conversation in many sectors, and ours is no exception. People are talking about this and, when it comes to finding a new place to work, they want to see that you are too. Wholeheartedly embracing sustainability across your operations will help your business attract the industry’s top talent – the real forward thinkers, the progressive individuals who’ll value an eco-conscious business and consider you to be an employer of choice.

The official definition of sustainable is, “able to be maintained at a certain rate or level.” But sustainability in manufacturing doesn’t just mean staying where you are – it’s about building towards a bigger, better future. It’s about sustainable growth, and that’s certainly the way many of our clients are choosing to look at it.

We’re working with some incredible businesses across Canada, from pharma and automotive to agriculture and more. All of whom understand that the future looks greener than ever – and want to bring aboard the workforce who can help cement their futures within that.

To talk about how we’re building high-performance teams within the manufacturing industry, including payrolling and other auxiliary services relating to staffing, get in touch today.

It’s no secret that the pandemic exposed some pretty vast holes in many supply chains, along with bringing to the forefront some strong vulnerabilities with regards to logistics, shipping costs, tariffs and more; offshore politics can play a part, even. As a result, many are wondering if having their facilities and operations on home turf would make a difference. Could that be the future for your business, too?

There are three key factors which need to be taken into account before taking the plunge into reshoring:

Costs – output and ongoing

Many businesses are understandably tempted by international waters and the subsequent cost savings they offer. The prospect of a more profitable business is a great one but, as recent events have showed, continuity may prove to be more important for long-term, sustainable growth.

Reshoring in manufacturing will require a large investment from the outset, then potentially an uplift in costs ongoing. You’ll need facilities, machinery, and the people which run it. You’ll need to consider the costs involved with transitioning smoothly from one supplier to a new one (in fact, just finding suppliers who make sense with regard to your new location could prove time-consuming and costly). And, after these initial costs, there are the long-term expenditures to think about. Does business continuity in the event of something unprecedented (i.e. a pandemic) outweigh the money saved by having facilities off-shore running for cheaper? Even if the initial outlay is viable, it’s worth nothing without a sustainable plan to continue growth and make back that initial investment.

People – workforce and community

When reshoring in manufacturing, there are almost endless questions to think about with regards to your workforce. Are the staff we need in this area, let alone available? Will we need more or fewer people to cover our new facilities? What do these people need to be competent in? What experience would benefit us the most right now? What is our value proposition as a local employer? Where will we fit into the local community?

Before you return to Canada, there’s much research to be done; the challenges, whilst not insurmountable, are numerous and far-reaching. You’ll need to have a deep understanding of what the difference in cost is going to be with regards to labour, along with any perceived skills shortages. You’ll need to build a strong hiring and talent development strategy (pro tip: we can help you with that!) and overall make sure you put the right people in key places from the off.

More than just costing out the exercise of building a workforce, consider the effects your being there could have on the local community. Will you create new jobs at the disposal of others? Do the benefits outweigh the negatives for the area? Again: research, research, research.

Culture – brand and ethos

It’s no secret that locally made goods are becoming highly regarded and sought after. When considering reshoring in manufacturing, think about the impact it could have on your brand, how your business is perceived by customers, the company culture you’re cultivating. You’ll find that manufacturing your products on home soil may play into this – and largely in a positive light. Sourcing materials locally and building this ‘local’ ethos into your brand can work wonders when it comes to exposure, talent attraction and, fundamentally, growth.

The government (at both federal and provincial level) have been talking numbers for grants and incentives available to manufacturers who want to re-shore. For some businesses it’s entirely unfeasible, for others makes senses to do in parts, and for many it’s become a no-brainer. If bringing operations home is the path your business is following in the wake of Covid-19, we’d love to talk about making your transition a smooth one when it comes to building a high-performance workforce who can take the reins – get in touch.

Any views or opinions expressed within this blog are personal and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of NLG. Any points made are for general information only, and none should be relied upon as a basis for making any business, legal or other decisions. Neither NLG nor the author can be held responsible for any reliance placed by you on any information or material within this article.