Demand has skyrocketed as COVID restrictions have lifted and consumers are spending more money again. This is great news for your business…unless, like many manufacturers, you are struggling to find and hold onto great employees who can get the job done (and done well).

The job market is saturated with open positions and not nearly enough job seekers to fill them. But that’s not the full extent of the problem: it’s retention too. Finding the right employees is difficult enough, but it takes work to keep them as well.

To keep your best people happy in their jobs, you need to do more than pay higher wages (though that’s not a bad place to start). Here are our best strategies for hiring and keeping top talent for your organization.

1.) Make Onboarding and Ongoing Training a Priority

A solid process for onboarding and training new employees is a crucial part of not only teaching them how to do their jobs, but also helping them feel like they are a part of the team. When employees feel connected to an organization, they are more likely to stick around and to be satisfied and productive in their work.

According to Glassdoor, companies that have a robust onboarding process not only improve new hire retention by 82%, but also increase productivity by more than 70%!

Onboarding isn’t only about getting the necessary paperwork done…it’s about acclimating your new hire to the company and the job. The onboarding process should help new staff get acquainted with the tasks and expectations of their job, as well as introduce them to their coworkers, supervisors, and your company culture (more on that in a bit).

Additionally, training shouldn’t stop after onboarding. Ongoing training helps keep your staff up-to-date on the newest techniques and skills so they can continually improve in their work.

As you provide training opportunities, make sure you have a way to pass on institutional knowledge from senior employees to new hires. Institutional knowledge includes the day-to-day details of doing the job that your long-time employees know intuitively — the things they have learned through trial and error over their years of experience.

One way to ensure those details are passed on is to pair up new hires with your most experienced team members for hands-on training.

2.) Work To Build a Strong Company Culture

A strong company culture helps you stand out from the crowd to attract talented employees who are passionate about what they do.

Company culture encompasses not only who you are, but how you do what you do, and it includes your company values and work ethic. It is heavily influenced by your company’s practices and people.

Know what your values are, and make sure they are clearly communicated — and lived out — throughout your organization. Talk with your current employees about what they love about working for you. This will give you a good idea of what kind of culture you are currently nurturing, as well as any blind spots you need to address.

Work to foster a company culture that empowers your employees and provides a positive, supporting environment. Equip employees to do their jobs well, and then trust them to achieve the goals you have set for them. In addition to constructive feedback, encourage managers and supervisors to provide positive encouragement on a regular basis.

Make sure your company culture can be seen in every aspect of your operations and that it is communicated on your website, throughout your social media presence, and in all of your job postings.

Poor hiring decisions waste time, energy, and money, and negatively affect your company culture. It’s vital to hire people who are not only qualified for the position, but who also fit your company culture.

3.) Be Clear About Your Expectations

Before you can find the right fit for your open position, you have to have a clear idea of what you’re looking for in an ideal candidate.

Know what you need for each position, and what you expect from a potential new employee. When you write your job descriptions and job postings, include the details of what is involved in the position and how the work is accomplished (required hours, skills, and so on), as well as the soft skills that suit your organizational culture (such as time management, teamwork, or creative problem solving).

Maintaining clarity about the skillset and characteristics you desire for each position (and communicating those details clearly) will make finding the right fit much easier.

In addition, maintaining and consistently communicating clear expectations of your staff will make their jobs more satisfying. A lack of communication around expectations only causes frustration. When employees know what is expected of them — and are given the tools to meet those expectations — they will remain much happier in their work.

4.) Make Sure Your Pay and Benefits Are Competitive

A surefire way to drive top talent away is to not pay them what they’re worth. Think about it: why would a driven, well-qualified candidate want to work with your company when your competitor will pay them more for the same job? The same goes for current employees — if you aren’t paying them what they’re worth, you can be sure they’ll find a company that will.

It’s expensive to hire and train new staff; keeping your pay and benefits competitive will reduce turnover and help you retain your best people. After all, your people are your biggest asset — make sure to treat them that way.

Consult local salary surveys as well as posted job openings from other companies in your industry to determine what constitutes a competitive salary for your positions.

Additionally, consider offering bonuses, stock or equity options, or similar programs that allow employees to share in your success. Not only will this give them a share of your company’s wealth, but it will also help them feel more connected to the big-picture results of their hard work.

5.) Provide Opportunities for Career Growth

It’s not enough to hire the best talent. You need to give them a reason to stay with your organization for the long term.

Your top talent won’t be happy staying in the same position for years when they could be pursuing better opportunities elsewhere. Keep them engaged by investing in ongoing training and offering career advancement opportunities within your company. This benefits you by having a well-trained team of employees, and it benefits them by giving them something to work toward, inspiring them to gain more knowledge and skills and to put down roots in your company.

Then, make sure to promote from within whenever possible to show your staff that advancement is achievable — there’s a future for them with your company.

In a nutshell, hiring and keeping top talent comes down to showing job candidates and employees alike that your company values them.

What needs to change in your organization to hire and retain the best talent? We’d love to hear your ideas for creating workplaces that attract and retain top manufacturing talent in today’s job market.

Macrotech Marketing Associates provides global OEM manufacturing solutions for the medical, electronics, computer, and telecommunications industries. To learn more about how Macrotech can help your organization, schedule a call with us today.