24 Manufacturing Outlook / June 2020

MANUFACTURING TIDBITS

As most manufacturing companies are adjusting to unforeseen working conditions during COVID-19, keeping workers, shift managers, operations managers, and QA/QC managers engaged with teams has proven challenging. With fewer workers permitted onsite at any given time, increased stress levels resulting from project delays, product delays, and supplier constraints are impacting all manufacturers. These changing routines and regulations, accompanying the pandemic, are redefining work and employee frustrations. Manufacturers must invest in the appropriate resources and tools to help teams cope, remain engaged, and maintain productivity. With nearly 40 million unemployed, many manufacturers feel workers are fortunate to have a job, yet the stress defies and mitigates that assumption.

MANUFACTURERS RETHINK EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT DUE TO COVID-19

Employee engagement drives plant floor safety.Whether essential manufacturers, who have operated during the pandemic or those companies returning to work as states open, the manufacturing plant floors, distribution centers, and warehouses are some of the most dangerous locations for employees. Gallup research reports that work floor accidents in manufacturing improve 62% when employees are fully engaged. The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported other safety benefits resulting from high levels of employee engagement:

“Disengaged employees are five times more likely to have an accident than fully engaged employees…a whopping seven times more likely to have a lost-time accident.”

by TR CUTLER

25Manufacturing Outlook / June 2020

MANUFACTURING TIDBITS

Engaged employees reduce absenteeismAccording to the Journal of Occupational Psychology, job satisfaction plays a big role in how employees feel about getting to work every day, even when they feel ill or disinclined. The cost of absenteeism is rarely calculated; it measures the degree to which a manufacturing worker (with a positive attitude) is less likely to gossip.

Just as engagement is contagious, so is disengagement, especially when managers get disengaged. Recent COVID-19 plant data revealed that manufacturing employees reporting to a disgruntled manager are four times more likely to be disengaged themselves. When an employee is kept in the dark about a manufacturing organization (current state, future state, and the big picture), they become more isolated, less enthusiastic about work, and the employer. Never has this been more felt than today when all companies are working to manage employee fear, anxiety, and the unknown.

Adjusting to the “New Normal”Lost production time, missed delivery dates to customers, over-time to offset absenteeismcannot be overlooked. Absenteeism is a message to management: healthy communication is lacking. Automation is often touted as the primary driver of productivity improvement. In fact, effective communication drives employee engagement which is a better benchmark for productivity.

Although employee engagement is always important, now as employees face return to work anxiety, it is an especially critical time to take a closer look. To provide the flexibility and guidance employees need, human resource policies should be adjusted appropriately to foster environments where employees feel heard, considered, and have a sense of community. There are several key strategies manufacturers can implement to improve employee engagement.

Accountability: It may feel like professional milestones have been forgotten but setting performance expectations and providing employees flexibility when meeting will keep them motivated.

Work/life integration and social meetings: In the absence of lunches and social context usually found in the workplace, many manufacturing organizations have created regular online events with teams which have nothing to do with day-to-day work, such as virtual happy hours.

Schedule check-ins: There are no longer spontaneous interactions, so managers must deliberately create check-in schedules for even minor reasons.

Manufacturers must create a hybrid communication strategy: It is not enough to simply communicate more. There must be a multifaceted communication strategy, including messaging apps, video conferencing, and texting.

It is not hyperbolic to suggest that employee engagement, in this pandemic era, is truly a matter of life and death.

Author Profile:Thomas R. Cutler is the President and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, TR Cutler, Inc., celebrating its 21st year. Cutler is the founder of the

Manufacturing Media Consortium including more than 8000 journalists, editors, and economists writing about trends in manufacturing, industry, material handling, and process improvement. Cutler authors more than 1000 feature articles annually regarding the manufacturing sector. More than 4200 industry leaders follow Cutler on Twitter daily at @ThomasRCutler. Contact Cutler at trcutler@trcutlerinc.com.