Navigating Blue-Collar Dynamics: How Can I Engage and Support My New Team?

Hi Cite HR Team, recently, I got a job with a manufacturing company, and I have experience only with white-collar employees. Could anyone suggest or help me with how to deal with blue-collar employees? How can I arrange employee engagement activities for them and how to resolve their disputes or issues?

Thanks & Regards, Bhawna

Understanding HR for All Employees

HR is HR; it is applicable to everyone. Blue-collar workers have all the same issues as white-collar workers: pay, leave, conditions, etc.

How to Address Blue-Collar Employee Concerns

As for how to deal with them, try respect and listening to what they have to say to start with, and everything will be fine.

Actually, John, I will disagree with you. The problems of dealing with workers in India are very different from dealing with office employees. Their demands, expectations, problems, and attitudes are mostly very different from those in office jobs.

However, I wonder why employers hire completely clueless people to be in HR when they know nothing about the job.

Dear Banerjee,

I think that in the backdrop of her past experience and her present place of work as an HR manager, Ms. Bhavana's doubt is quite natural and genuine.

Challenges in Industrial Relations in Manufacturing Industries

In any labor-intensive manufacturing industry, the problems relating to industrial relations (IR) are distinctly different in scale and substance due to many reasons such as the repetitive and continuous nature of work, employment accident proneness, defiant attitude of workmen to change, their socio-economic background, lack of promotional avenues, personal habits which can affect efficiency in the long run, unionization based on political ideologies, lack of internal grievance mechanism in the organization, and the like.

Role of HR Professionals in Manufacturing Industries

Therefore, the job of an HR professional in any manufacturing industry is always more demanding. They should be very adept in industrial and social psychology to solve occasional conflicts that can result in work stoppages, as well as address behavioral issues affecting shop floor discipline, in addition to their regular statutory compliance duties. This requires a high degree of rapport with functional heads, top-level managers of different departments like finance, R&D, and outside stakeholders such as labor-supply contractors, trade union leaders, and government agencies like Factories Inspectorate, EPFO, ESIC, etc. The HR manager should take a proactive approach in workers' education programs and always be very tactful in addressing labor problems to the attention of higher-ups in a positive manner, being persuasive in arriving at amicable solutions. They should always keep themselves abreast of amendments to all labor laws applicable to the industry.

In short, the HR manager of a labor-intensive industry has to effectively play a role in balancing the interests of both management and labor; failing which, the job would become thankless.

Your query is very valid, and you need to make some adjustments in dealing with blue-collar workmen.

Having seen the industry for over four decades, I wish to say things have changed a lot for the better in recent times. Strikes have come down, employee engagement has gone up, and the literacy levels of workmen have improved, to name a few.

Dealing with Blue-Collar Employees

Blue-collar employees have an abrupt way of saying things. Sometimes their habits outside the factory may not be desirable and may need counseling. Most of them are good at heart. Patient listening and a diplomatic approach would be a good bet.

I am sure you will do well in your new assignment. Wish you all the best.

Regards, V. Raghunathan Chennai

I am limiting myself to the employee engagement aspect raised in your query. It needs to be clearly understood that employee engagement is not a series of gimmicks like picnics, outings, office parties, or other social enjoyment. Particularly, since it involves blue-collar workers, it is significantly important.

The importance of teamwork

One of the important aspects in such work situations is teamwork. Here, the output of everybody is an input to somebody else, so there is a continuous need to integrate the performance of employees towards organizational objectives. Therefore, there has to be continuous updating on the organizational goals and targets and spreading the idea of how each one is contributing to it.

Quality in manufacturing

For instance, quality has to be ingrained in all operations in manufacturing activities. The 6 Sigma standard doesn't afford any slackness, so you need to create and spread the message of quality. Reward and encourage employees, invigorate suggestion schemes, quality circles, lean manufacturing, etc.

Differences between blue-collar and white-collar workers

Most white-collar jobs are an end in themselves, not significantly impacting the work of the majority of others. Blue-collar workers are different from white-collar workers since they are more organized, work together for most of the day, and relate well to each other emotionally. The basic HR skills used in white-collar setups are relevant, but the focus needs to change.