What possibilities do companies in the die, model and mold manufacturing industry have to continue positioning themselves attractively as employers despite the skilled labor shortage? This white paper addresses this question as well as specific strategies for employers to motivate and ensure loyalty in their current team and to attract new employees.
The topic of the "skilled labor shortage" has without question become omnipresent: More than a million jobs are open in the industry. Nearly all regional chambers of industry and commerce are reporting a disastrously low demand for trainee positions. The die, model and mold manufacturing industry is especially hard-hit by this shortage. Put another way: hardly any young people are still interested in training to be industrial mechanics.
The work/life balance has long been "mandatory"…
One of the greatest challenges of the industry is retaining and promoting suitably trained employees in a company. The so-called "soft" factors have gained significant importance in this connection. Where the hard facts were previously key – salary, title, vacation days – employees are increasingly placing value on good and especially on individually tailored conditions. The common term of "work/life balance" includes requirements such as the option of working in a home office or employees' requests for company offers regarding fitness, sports, health etc. The agenda has also long been topped by the demand for practiced flat hierarchies, greater personal decision space for individuals etc. Ambitions such as this, which give the employee greater freedom and flexibility in structuring their activities can also be summarized under "new work."
At first glance, this is a long and, for medium-sized companies, apparently impossible list of demands. Looking again, it becomes evident that this actually poses a significant opportunity for small and medium-sized die and mold manufacturing companies. Because the ultimate desire of the employees is that their employers interact with them on an equal footing. Human cooperation with shared values is also possible in small companies. These also usually offer short decision paths, small teams and less hierarchy. Examples of contemporary measures to ensure staff loyalty include introduction of the four-day work week or flex time oriented to the company's demands times. Ultimately, measures such as this often only require flexible thinking and a greater logistical effort on the part of the employer. In other words, virtues that have always been strongly represented in our customer-oriented industry.
And don't forget: The employer finally also benefits from employees who receive additional time for continuing education or who are encouraged to come with their own ideas for company processes.
Life/work balance is the "cure”….
The situation in the recruitment market appears to be somewhat different: Here, the major market players have always drawn more and "better" applicants than small companies. However, the situation is not hopeless. For one thing, the flexibility of the medium-sized companies described above enables them to offer part-time positions just as well as a major player. They can also be quite attractive for the often-invoked "generation Z." The generation born since approx. 1995 and called "generation Z" again sees professional life in a completely different light, viewing it as only one of many puzzle pieces in their personal development. They no longer demand a work/life balance but rather a life/work balance, where the focus is on personal well-being. Working where they feel good, are taken seriously and can apply their talents – not only are all these desires important for this generation, they are of central importance. The advantage will go to those employers who embrace this fundamental change and who understand that it is they who must apply to the next generation of employees and not the other way around. Experience shows that companies who seriously consider the question of what they can offer a potential applicant in terms of such new challenges can usually come up with quite a long list.
A self-critical stocktaking, open discussions with employees about their desires and unawareness of successful new work examples are the first important steps for a company to position itself as an interesting employer.
Image from senivpetro on Freepik
The added value of our industry
It is also wise strategically to consider two other phenomena with regard to the current labor market:
First, the upshot of the decades-long upgrading of secondary school and university diplomas in public debate is that the topic of education is often no longer accounted for in career planning. However, the fact is that not all secondary school students finish with a diploma, and not all want to or can study at university. Furthermore, they are also simply lacking a transparent overview of the offers that correspond to their respective abilities and desires.
Based on this, it is recommended that employees seek contact at the earliest possible stage. Regional vocational training fairs and events are a good opportunity for making one's own company known, and new trainees can learn about the work environment in internships. Creative approaches that can also be implemented with a modest marketing budget include the following: Competitions, conceptual projects, lively and humorous social media appearances etc. Also not to be overlooked are the large number of dual training possibilities now available.
Finally, it is important to appear not only as a individual provider, but also to strengthen the industry appearance, such as together with the chambers of industry and commerce and trade associations.
Second, young employees are looking for inspiration, a sense of meaning, a job that is not only as flexible as possible but that also fits their expectations 100%.
Here, the trade can score with an unbeatable added value: it stands for tangible performance; you are making something with your own hands that you can justifiably be proud of. This even if or in fact because digitalization has of course taken hold in our industry as well.
From this perspective, our industry has already long held much of what employees are looking for. And finally, both employees as well as the companies themselves can only profit from an open, flexible and positive work culture.
Jens Lüdtke, Head of Tebis Consulting
Recommendations for action in matters new work – our checklist:
Do the employees feel completely at home in our corporate culture, or what can we improve?
Do we give employees their own voice and freedom in their area of activity?
Do we promote new ideas and involvement?
A change of perspective:
How are we seen as an employer from the outside, do we offer competitive conditions?
Keyword lifelong learning:
to what extent do we support our employees in furthering their own careers? (internal further training offers, continuing education in parallel with work)
work/life balance vs. life/work balance:
What corporate benefits does our company offer and do employees take advantage of these, what other contemporary offers could we also introduce? (For example: Flexible work hours, health offer, company pension plan, meal subsidies etc.)
How much space do we provide for employees' private interests and wishes, for example, are there working hours accounts for sabbaticals, family time, caregiver time etc.?
Network and visibility:
What interfaces to industry associations do we use?
Where and how can people learn about us as an employer (e.g. vocational training fairs)
To what extent are we involved in generation Z events (school student internships, girls'/boys' days, competitions, company's own social media presence etc.).
What else can we do?
At Tebis Consulting, we support companies in establishing organizational structures, motivating employees and making sustainable changes in work culture. We therefore also offer seminars on these topics in addition to implementation projects in companies. We are specialists with an industry focus and all of our offers are also available on a company-specific basis. In our work, we regard ourselves as sparring partners on an equal footing. Challenge us and contact me at any time with your questions, also personally at +49 173 3694599 or by email (jens.luedtke@tebis.com).
