MANUFACTURING TIDBITS
MANUFACTURERS RETHINK EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT DUE TO COVID-19 by TR CUTLER
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.
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Manufacturing Outlook / June 2020
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.”
