How Can We Boost Motivation for Young Workers in a Remote Factory Setting?

I am being given the responsibility of Retention Management in a Manufacturing Company Factory Workforce. The setup is a typical township with limited access to city life, and the workforce is young and dynamic. They are losing interest in the kind of setup, and their families are requesting them to change their jobs since life at a plant deprives the spouses of any occupational activity.

How to Enhance Employee Motivation

How can I bring change in employee motivation, and what are the things I can do to make it a happy and happening place?

Regards,
Deepshikha

There are many ways to keep people occupied and entertained.

Transportation Arrangements
Arrange for transport to the nearest city at various times of the day.

Educational Opportunities
Arrange for vocational and computer courses.

Community Engagement
Have a place for community gatherings, movies, and get-togethers.

Sports and Gaming Activities
Organize sporting competitions and other gaming activities that might interest women.

Childcare Facilities
Arrange for a crèche inside the township so that younger children can be safely kept occupied while women can engage in studies, craft activities, etc.

Many more ideas to keep spouses engaged can be considered.

Quality of Work Life in Manufacturing Townships

Friend, you are really puzzled. First of all, do you think there are a lot of factories in the heart of the city? Most modern factories are situated in SEZs or remote areas. I have had a very enriching experience that I would like to share with you. The most important thing for an employee is the 'Quality of Work Life.' If an employee is not happy with their workplace, it will reflect on their performance, and things will deteriorate, leading to inevitable disaster. An employee spends 50% of their time in the organization and the rest with their family. The families live in a 500 sq. ft. space provided by the company, complete with a TV set. Even rural people have facilities like playgrounds, crop fields, ponds, and lakes, which are not available in company quarters. Moreover, families feel isolated from their loved ones, which is very painful for them. Employees are not interested in living alone without their families due to various reasons.

Steps to Improve Employee and Family Satisfaction

Now, how can we solve these problems? Firstly, make a list of all families—wives, relatives, children, parents—based on their locations, culture, and habits. Prepare a questionnaire and discuss with all stationed employees to note down their likes, dislikes, and responsibilities towards their families and parents. Then, shortlist the demands. What you will find, I would like to forecast:

1. Arrange a vehicle at least twice a week to buy necessities from the nearest market/town.
2. Facilitate the admission of children to the nearest schools.
3. Create a playground/park for family gatherings in the afternoon/evening.
4. Construct a temple/mosque/gurudwara within the colony.
5. Provide a pool car facility for families to go to town on their weekly off day.

These are the basic needs. In addition, if some humane touches are added like:

- Construct a community hall and arrange religious ceremonies once a week.
- Organize special days like Mother's Day, Children's Day, Teachers' Day, etc., with small competitions among families.
- Keep a record of every employee and their family members' birthdates, marriage anniversaries, and send a small gift to their quarters in the morning.
- Hold annual sports events for all family members.
- Organize a community feast once or twice a year in the presence of all senior officers and their families.
- Celebrate the company's anniversary/good performance.
- Appreciate the families of employees for their achievements in education, arts, games, etc.
- Arrange cultural programs involving family members only.

Employees want their families to be happy and not to be distracted by complaints after a strenuous workday. I hope I have been able to provide some solutions. Lastly, keep in touch with the colony, listen, and act with small gestures, and I believe no displeasure will occur.

Thanks

There are different ways through which you can retain employees. One of the best ways to retain employees is to conduct an Exit Interview/Exit Survey. While conducting an Exit interview, you may come to know why employees are leaving and identify where you can improve to retain employees.

Here I've attached "3R retention policy.pdf," which may be helpful to all.

Makaniya Bashir
MBA-HR

Many thanks for your thoughts! I could not view the attachment; perhaps you may wish to send it to [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]. I appreciate your help! I myself have been doing Exit Analysis of my present organization and have seen trends with the pain points, but I am not sure if I can have access to the same in the organization that I am joining. However, I have an idea of the pain points and would like to discuss with veterans and bring some fresh perspective to the retention measures.

Thanks again for your valuable time.

Regards

Appreciate your help, and thanks for taking the time for the same. Pardon my inability to express myself—help me decipher how in my question you felt I think there are lots of factories in the heart of the city? The particular setup is also a typical factory township (like the Tata Nagar and Bata Nagars of the world; I did not mean them to be cities) which does have a couple of playgrounds, nurseries, ponds, gardens, etc.

The basic needs, as you mentioned, are already catered to, with the organization being 100 years and older.

Suggestions for Improvement

1. Arrange one vehicle at least twice a week to buy necessities from the nearest mandi/town—ideally, most such SEZs have mandis and Mom Pop Stores around them.

2. Facilitate the admission of children to the nearest schools—ours have schools built into the SEZ with award-winning education facilities.

3. Make a playground/park for the afternoon/evening assembly of the family members. The park is there, but how to make people assemble?

- Arrange special days like Mother's Day, Children's Day, Teachers' Day, etc., with small functions and competitions—we do such things already.
- Annual sports for all family members—of course, being done for years.
- Arrange cultural programs with the participation of family members only—being done, very common.
- Celebration of the company's anniversary/good performance—being done, very common.
- Once or twice a year, a community feast in the presence of all senior officers and their families—very common.

These have been happening but not as much as retention measures.

Additional Ideas

5. Arrange a pool car facility for going to town with the families on the day of the weekly off—a very good idea.

- Construct a community hall and arrange a religious ceremony once a week—a good idea, but I want to make the place more encouraging for the youth to stay back, who are typically husband and wife, staying away from their parents.
- Record every employee and their families' birth dates, marriage anniversary dates, and send a small gift to their quarters in the very morning—a very good idea.
- Appreciation to the families of employees for their special achievements in education/arts/games, etc.—this is new and good.
- Keep in touch with the colony, listen, and act with small tokens—a good thought. Any ways I can execute this, having a language barrier with them?

In addition to the above, I was thinking—cogito ergo sum:

i. A pub where I can put up a big screen TV—we play blockbusters (like DDLJ, Sholay, Dil Chahta Hai, Titanic, Bourne Series) till 9 PM and karaoke (with chartbusters—Indi Pop, Ghazals, and slow as the night progresses) till 1 AM in the morning.

ii. A café with a cyber cube to surf, a guitar, some fresh brew coffee, and cupcakes.

iii. A center of art along with your idea of a community hall (which is there, but I don’t know what all happens in there) but with a twist with photographers, painters, tattoo artists, music, and writers brought in for workshops, classes, music sessions, and classes. But I am apprehensive about the rate of turn-ins. We cannot make attendance compulsory!

I want to bring some life into the township and want people to love being in that place and work with all the positive energies and, of course, not think of leaving it and going away in search of quality of life! I am particularly worried about the women who accompany their husbands to stay in a remote area... their career aspirations and the grandeur of city life get compromised. What all can we do about it, keeping in mind the budgetary constraints?

Would love to hear your thoughts on the same. Thanks again for all the ideas.

Regards,
Deepshikha Bhowmick