Struggling with High Employee Turnover in Manufacturing: How Can We Retain Our Workers?

Hi,

I am working as an HR in a manufacturing and packaging firm. We are facing problems regarding labor. They are leaving jobs very frequently. So, I just want to know how to retain them?

Thanks,
Mayuri

Dear Mayuri,

You should first identify the reasons why they are leaving the job. Try to address the problems/issues that are causing them to leave the job. If you need any professional advice, please feel free to contact us.

Conduct exit interviews very seriously so that you can identify the root cause. Try this.

I agree with the above-mentioned suggestions.

Further, you can start a suggestion scheme where employees can confidentially submit ways to improve the working environment, work efficiency, productivity, etc. This allows you to receive inputs without employees fearing bullying from seniors, peers, or anyone in the organization. However, in this case, you must ensure that confidentiality is maintained so that you receive honest feedback.

Hope this helps you.

It is very simple. We treat the workers casually as Casual Labour and they treat the employment casual.

Many, even today, think that workers will create problems and hence take them as casuals and keep them as casuals as long as you can. I am not referring to call centres and BPOs. We are here addressing a typical manufacturing company.

How many permanent workmen are there, how many casuals, how many temporaries, and how many contract workmen are engaged. Look at the ratio. Where is the attrition high?

If you have 50% of workmen as casuals and if you say that the attrition is high among casuals, then you need to look at varying the ratio. Probably you have to keep the casual ratio at 30%.

If the attrition is high amongst the permanent workmen, then the following need to be looked at:

1. Salary levels in that region
2. Supervisors' attitude
3. Qualification levels
4. Working conditions

If your factory is located in a rural or semi-urban area, then you will be competing with agricultural labour and invariably it is difficult to retain people in such areas. Salary levels in agri areas are invariably low compared to agricultural wages.

Give more information about your location and we can analyze further.

Sivasankaran

Hello dear,

You have asked the question of how you can retain the laborers who are continuously leaving your firm. The first thing you can do is start by taking feedback from all the laborers in your firm to understand why they are leaving or considering leaving. This could be done through a small internal survey.

Once you understand the reasons, if they are similar, it is your responsibility as an HR person to identify and address the specific barrier causing them to leave. This barrier could be related to job security, lack of support from seniors, improper workplace environment, or other concerns they may have.

Your goal should be to uncover the underlying issues because leaving the job is not the problem itself but rather a consequence of a problem or situation. Identify and address these problems or try to minimize their impact to ensure the laborers feel satisfied. This approach is likely to yield positive results.

Raj Joshi

Friends,

You can do things as follows:

1. Change the recruitment policy for such grade.
2. Change the recruitment criteria i.e. education, experience, etc.
3. Increase your training facilities.
4. Try to improve the relationship between shop floor and seniors.
5. Motivate the people through get-togethers, open forums.
6. Change the salary levels and benefits.
7. Implement the performance pay system.
8. Finally, skilled hands are important to achieve your organizational targets.

Hello all,

What I suggest is to first perform a survey. Don't give it a special orientation, and it will provide all necessary information about how the workers perceive their relationships with supervisors, their work environment, and their salaries. Then you'll know how to address the issues by defining strategies based on the feedback of the employees.

It's a critical issue when employees start leaving the company at this frequency. You have to lead the change, and to do it, you have to gather a maximum of real and accurate information. That will be the basis of the change.

Good luck.

Dear Mayuri,

First, we have to understand the nature of the organization. Later, we have to study which department and which category of people are quitting the job. Secondly, we have to find out the cause for the quitting. There will be many reasons, but find out which is the most valid and trustworthy reason.