Employees Want Flexibility. Here Are Five Ways Manufacturers Can Provide It.

Amazon offers flexible and remote work. Target is promoting an “on demand” schedule allowing teammates to work as infrequently as once every six months. Some companies, like Kickstarter, are rolling out a four-day work week. And then there’s the ever-growing gig economy, allowing workers the ultimate bendable schedule.

So how are manufacturing companies, with their workers traditionally tied to set shifts along the production line, going to compete?

Manufacturers, of course, aren’t able to offer remote work. But that doesn’t mean they can’t make changes to introduce greater flexibility. In fact, my colleague Matt Fieldman, executive director of MAGNET’s America Works program, says it’s a must if manufacturing wants to compete and win the war for talent.

“We have to poach Uber. We have to poach DoorDash and Instacart,” Fieldman says. “We have to poach these workers and say, hey, we can compete on flexibility—and oh yeah, we’ll pay you more, you don’t have to drive your own car, and you’ll have actual colleagues.”

Workforce flexibility can take many shapes. It also tends to be specific to each plant—companies will naturally gravitate toward certain approaches while spurning others. Here are a few ways to introduce employee flexibility today and put your company on the right path.

1. Introduce New Shift Permutations

Here’s what one manufacturer is doing: rather than confine folks to five, eight-hour shifts, they’ve opened up new options. In addition to a traditional schedule, workers can do three, 12-hour days per week or go part-time and knock off 10, four-hour shifts every two weeks (something many manufacturers could easily do).

Here’s what another well-known firm is sticking to: requiring that new hires spend their first eight weeks on a floating schedule, with variability based on company needs, including when their supervisors are available.

Guess which one has talent issues?

It is, of course, the latter.

In a highly competitive environment, Fieldman recommends listening to what your employees have to say and adjusting accordingly.

“Without a doubt, the best practice is to not lead with the shifts, but to lead with the conversation,” he says. “What challenges do you face outside of work? What opportunities do you have? How can we make your job here work for you?”

2. Open Up Shift Times

In a related way, manufacturers can cater to their employees by allowing multiple scheduling options to begin and conclude their workday. Part of your workforce may find value in beginning their day at 6 a.m. and concluding at 2 p.m. Others may need to begin at 10 a.m. and work until 6 p.m.

Factory lines being what they are, it can be more difficult to create this sort of variation. After all, production is often contingent on the presence of each member along the line. But making an effort here allows parents or caretakers to find the schedule that balances work and at-home needs. That can make your company available to entirely new demographics you were previously missing.

3. Create More Flexible Factory Lines

During the pandemic, a major sugar manufacturer noticed there was very little need for individually packaged sugars. Meanwhile, purchases of grocery store sizes were soaring. Because their lines were flexible, they were able to shift production to meet the demand.

This is just one example of how creating a flexible factory floor can positively impact your production. Other factories have begun cross training their workers so they can easily move around to fill the specific needs of the day.

To open up even more employee freedom, manufacturers can re-work their factory lines so that workers can come and go as they please. With advances in scheduling software, workers are notified when other team members have completed tasks and the ball, so to speak, is in their court. Even better? Some companies are experimenting with paying employees based on production, rather than the hours they log.

“You may need to have someone on that $2 million machine at all times—some production capacities might not be as flexible,” Fieldman says. “But could your packaging people be more flexible? Could your back office be more flexible? The point is: only institute rigidity where it’s absolutely necessary.”

4. Create Co-ops

Depending on what the talent around your manufacturing plant looks like, co-ops can offer a back door to reliable workers. In a co-op, two or even three people combine to create one full-time role.

We’ve seen these arrangements work particularly well in college towns, where one student fills the morning shift—before heading off to classes in the afternoon—while another hits the books in the morning and heads to work after lunch.

5. Leverage Gig Talent Supply Companies

We’re certainly in the early stages of maturity for this manufacturing sub-industry, but if done right, it may well be a massive opportunity. Companies like Veryable are building talent pools that can slide in for a shift here and there as needed.

It’s too early to tell whether this Uberization of manufacturing talent will catch on as the wave of the future. But it’s fun to think about the options it could present. Most manufacturers I know would sign on the dotted line for a service that brought them a replacement worker for the day within, say, an hour of an issue arising with a full-time staff member. Even if that service comes at a premium. For one, it would allow you to be more understanding of employee illnesses and life issues that are bound to pop up.

Another twist: although most manufacturers will want to pull in third parties for fill-in workers, larger ones could consider assembling their own as-needed pool, similar to Target’s above-mentioned “on demand” approach. Obviously bringing in someone cold is tricky in many manufacturing roles that require training, but specific people could be trained to be “in the pool” for fill-in work.

Creating The Right Flexible Approach For Your Business

There’s no one-size-fits-all method to create better flexibility. The right answer for you revolves around your employees’ wants and needs, as well as the realities of the market in which your plant resides.

“Every manufacturer needs to look at how flexible it can be within the constraints of the business,” Fieldman says. “And if there’s any unused flexibility, it’s time to exploit it.”

One sure way to fall behind in this competitive labor market is to ignore how society’s views on work have shifted. It’s not enough to offer a reliable place of work and a solid paycheck; today’s workers want their jobs to fit their lives, not the other way around. Start with conversations around what your workers want, and you may soon be amazed at the way flexible work acts as a magnet for new talent.