In this post, Lacey Cox, Talent Acquisition Specialist, shares how ProcessBarron emphasizes cross-training and promoting from within to build a world-class team.
I started my career with ProcessBarron over 20 years ago as a switchboard operator. It was for a temporary position that was supposed to last 3 weeks. But others saw my potential and offered me a permanent position with the company. Even though I had little experience in this industry, the knowledge, support, and backing I received from others on my team helped me to succeed. This remained true in every position I’ve held at ProcessBarron, and now, as our Talent Acquisition Specialist, I get to do the same for others.
Finding the Right People
Our team is the reason we’ve grown and thrived over the years. It takes everyone to make this company what it is, so we put a lot of effort into developing and retaining talented team members.
The first step in building a strong and dependable workforce lies in finding the right people. We are always looking for people with job-relevant skills, but we look at a lot more than just the resume.
I always ask hiring managers, “What are you looking for that’s not on this piece of paper?” Finding employees who are driven, willing to learn, and eager to be part of the team is often cited as just as important as or even more important than technical skills or the years of experience they have.
We also don’t want everyone on a team to have the same strengths and personalities. Diversity challenges us to grow and think outside the box.
Developing the Right People
Great teams have great communication. In manufacturing, this starts by making employees responsible for each others’ safety. Each employee makes decisions that impact everyone’s ability to go home safely at the end of each day. When they understand this, they look out for each other, which leads to better decision-making and helps them get to know each other and work better together. It’s one of the most significant ways we see communication improve.
This kind of teamwork and communication breaks down barriers. We have a lot of generational gaps within our team. We have employees who’ve been with us for decades and others who’ve only been out of school for a year or two. But they both end up teaching each other. Some of the older guys who’ve successfully followed manual processes for years are learning how newer technologies can make their job easier without sacrificing quality. And the younger guys are learning many technical skills that aren’t taught in the classroom.
Developing the right people also means helping our employees find the right career path. We offer in-house cross-training, where interested employees can shadow different departments. We also provide tuition reimbursement for employees who want to return to school for a position they aspire to within the company. When positions become available, we look first at our existing employees. If someone already working for ProcessBarron is interested in the job, that’s how we want to fill the role.
Retaining the Right People
Many industries face employee retention challenges. We offer several retention bonuses over the course of a new hire’s first year, but one unique thing we recently began implementing is post-hire interviews.
In manufacturing, it’s common for employees to have a 30-day review where the employer evaluates their performance during their 1st month to confirm they are a good fit. I implemented an additional step where we ask questions like these to allow the employee to review how the company is doing:
- How do you feel like communication has been within your team?
- Are you getting all the tools you need?
- Have you gotten answers to any questions you may have?
- Where do you see yourself in the next 30 to 60 days?
This provides a safe space for the employee to give feedback on how they feel about the role, and it provides feedback about how we are doing as a company.
Benefits are another essential factor in employee retention. Some of our benefits include the following:
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- 401K
- FSA
- Long- and short-term disability
- Life insurance
- FREE of charge doctor’s office visits (only a few miles from our main office)
- Prescription coverage plans
- Pet insurance (beginning 2023)
Learn more about our career opportunities at ProcessBarron.
Our Company Is Our People
“People” is one of our core values at ProcessBarron, and I believe all other values follow this one. Our team drives our integrity, excellence, and safety-focused mindsets. These values wouldn’t exist without our people.
If you’re interested in a career in manufacturing, we would love to have you join our team! You can find all our current open positions here or email me at lcox@processbarron.com for any questions about our hiring process.