Guest Blog,

Retaining Millennials in Your Manufacturing Business

By Josh Curcio, COO/Partner at protocol 80, Inc. on on October 29, 2018

You’ve done it. You’ve conquered the struggle of attracting millennials to your business, sifted through applications, and chosen your perfect shiny, new, prize millennial to add some fresh blood to your team. But there’s another struggle on the horizon, one you may not have thought of: Keeping the new millennial on your team for years to come. The good new is — you’re not alone in this struggle! Many manufacturers have tried, and failed, to keep millennials on their team. We’ve put together some ways where other manufacturers have seen success in retaining millennials, and we’re here to pass them on to you.

6 Millennial Retention Strategies for Manufacturers

Luckily, all of these strategies are free, or almost free, to implement into your business. The key to keeping millennials? It all boils down to changing mindsets and practices. Here’s how:

Have a Defined Career Path

This doesn’t mean handing out a document on their first day that outlines where they’ll be in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc. — but rather showing your new employee where the potential is for growth in the company. For example, have you just hired a new millennial to serve as a sales assistant to your sales team? Let them know that in their future they could be an account executive, or even a regional director of sales. Having something to strive for helps millennials picture themselves at your manufacturing company in the future — and ultimately inspires them to work even harder to achieve those goals.

2. Transparency

It’s no secret that millennials want transparency. They buy from brands that are open and honest about their practices and ideologies, and expect the same from their bosses and supervisors. If there is a shift happening in the company, millennials want to hear about it, in a meeting, from the executives — they no longer rely on water cooler gossip to get the news about the goings on of the company they work for. Here’s how a company can make strides to be more transparent:

Have quarterly or yearly status meetings that report on earnings, trends, and other important data that the company makes decisions on.
If something is changing in company policy, have a team meeting to explain (honestly) why the change is occurring.
Did your company lose a big client and it’s affecting hours/ wages? Tell the members of your team this — don’t leave them guessing.

This includes millennials ability to feel as though they can get and give feedback to their supervisors and bosses. Make sure your company has something in place that allows millennials to connect with executives. If a millennial employee can put a face, name, and personality to the CEO that they’re working for — their inclined to feel much more loyal, and work harder, for that company.

3. Quick Communication

When people think of millennials, they think of a group of people who are always on their smartphones texting, tweeting, and sourcing information at the push of a button. And it’s true — millennials are used to instant communication. This means that millennials have come to expect that in all aspects of life, including the workplace. If a millennial employee reaches out to a coworker with a question about something their working on, they expect answers in minutes — or even seconds — but certainly not hours or days. Not only does this help millennials feel more interconnected, it helps tasks get done quicker company wide. Think about it: if you have a question about a task, and are able to get that question answered immediately — you can continue working on that task. There is no worry of having to put it on the back burner, begin working on something else, and come back to it later — losing your train of thought and wasting needless time. Integrating instant communication is easier than you think with applications and software:

Try using Plex. This software for manufacturing streamlines efforts in communication and productivity, as it “automates the plant floor and informs the shop floor.” It helps employees get information quickly, and from anywhere — including at home or on their smartphones. Check out one manufacturer’s testimonial about Plex.
Download apps like Slack.This communication platform is free, and it works as an internal instant messenger that anyone — whether in the office or on the shop floor — can download to communicate instantaneously.
Use video conferencing software like Zoom to streamline communication with sales team members on the road. Ever needed to have an important sales meeting but half of your team is travelling? Get everyone all in one place, answering questions in live time, with this free software.

4. Integrate Technology

Aspects of technology mentioned above for communication are great — but they’re altogether useless if employees are unable to use them due to dated technology. Make sure that your computers and other aspects of your IT infrastructure are up-to-date, enabling employees to work quickly and efficiently. If your computers are more than 5 years old, it might be time for a technology makeover. If you’re one of the manufacturers out there who STILL doesn’t have WiFi, it’s time to invest. Millennials are not apt to stay at a job if they can’t even connect to their smartphone or laptop while at work.

5. Culture > Pay

Millennials are not all about money. While being fairly compensated for their work and efforts is important, of course, millennials tend to value company culture and workplace environment more than the pay. They crave good relationships with their supervisors and coworkers, and expect work to have fun elements woven into the professional fabric. But there’s a lot more to culture than just having fun (though that is a part of it!) Here are some good ways to foster a company culture that retains millennials:

Team happy hours and lunches to kick back. Once a month or once a quarter, plan something fun right at your business that allows employees to blow off some steam.
Schedule 1:1 meetings between employees and supervisors. Millennials like to feel heard, and valued. Give them a dedicated time and space to openly give, and get, feedback on their work and experience with the company.
Celebrate successes as a team. Did your manufacturing business recently score a big client? Take the sales team out to lunch to celebrate. It’s a myth that all millennials need participation trophies, but it is true that they like to feel appreciated when they do something good. Even just a simple “Great job on this!” when a job is completed improves company culture for a millennial.

6. Be Flexible

Flexible hours, sick days, vacation time, and the ability to work from home are all important for millennials. They want to be able to feel like if they need to stay home with a cold, it won’t impact their job standing. This DOES NOT mean that all millennials expect 4 weeks vacation and to work from noon to five, but it does mean that there is a little give and take, and customization, when crafting hours and schedules that work best for them. After all, millennials (and humans in general) want to work harder when they know it’s rewarded with flexibility and time off when needed.

Millennials Are People, Not Aliens

The number one best strategy for keeping millennials, is to just ask! This calls back to transparency — just ask a millennial what your company could do to make working there more enjoyable and easy on them. This helps avoid a situation where a talented millennial leaves your company over something that could have been easily fixed, like just incorporating WiFi. Hear more from Josh at FABTECH 2018 on Nov. 7 during Session F49: Manufacturing and the Millennial: How to Attract and Retain Emerging Leaders. Read more from protocol 80 here, including their various free resources on manufacturing marketing.

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