Generating capabilities becomes a central goal of organizations and a source of competitive advantage, particularly during a labor shortage when companies struggle to acquire and retain workers. As many as 75 percent of companies are estimated to experience turnover rates of over 25 percent. Companies can address labor shortage challenges by hiring qualified international workers who are typically highly motivated and capable. As a result, training workers and working on their development becomes critical.
Companies face different challenges when acquiring and developing talent. Building a process to validate skills and capabilities, sourcing talent, assessing workers’ effectiveness, onboarding people, and retaining talent are among the main processes that companies need to have in place.
Training and development are key macro processes companies need to master to generate and retain talent and achieve operational objectives. Three key elements must be considered when building a first-class process for training and development strategy. First, through a structured development plan, invest in the required capabilities to create present and future skills critical to business sustainability. Second, workers need to have the support infrastructure they need to succeed: they need the tools and systems to execute the role correctly. For international workers, this is particularly important to onboarding processes, providing logistical, relocation, and financial support. Badger Bus and Stoughton Trailers are two good examples of companies that are considering these strategies to support international workers. And third is generating conviction. I will expand on this third element of a successful training and development agenda since it is often overlooked and critical.
Generating conviction
Employees need to understand the importance of their role and its impact on the company system, and organizations need to develop strategies to make it happen. Training workers on border company processes and developing cross-functional process reviews help workers understand the impact and importance of their role. This level of understanding also allows workers to grow and take on new challenges within the organization.
Stoughton Trailers is a great example of a company that addresses the importance of generating understanding and conviction with the workforce. Thinking beyond the technical training of the specific workers, the job generates improved quality across the production process.
Building change stories is a great strategy to generate conviction. Harvard Business Review has referred to “change stories” as the most powerful arsenal a leader has. A change story can be defined as a clear narrative explaining what a company needs to accomplish and the required actions. However, there are many ways to design and implement a change story. Often, a gap can be created between the management and operational teams. That “we” vs. “them” feeling we get from the operational teams generates conflict misalignment. Changing stories has become a powerful tool to bridge that gap.
Different organizational levels write change stories, which might have different forms. The CEO can communicate a change story to their exec team in a presentation during a meeting, in an email, or during a dinner. However, when teams get more significant change stories, they need to have different formats. A manager can communicate a change story more directly to the team, but the changes must be created and communicated across the organizations. So different tactics and formats can be thought of, such as special breaks designed by human resources (HR) in the cafeteria, team sessions to discuss the issues and opportunities of the companies, and many others that can be created. For example, a great way to bridge the gap is by performing daily hurdles at the front line, where teams learn about daily performance, discuss root causes of deviations towards the goals, and jointly develop solutions.
In essence, when companies think about training and development, they must go beyond traditional training programs and think of culture. To expect a specific behavior from the workforce, companies need to work on their beliefs and thoughts.
Workers value the chance to learn and grow. Giving proven employees the training and skill-building opportunities they need to advance internally can be a win-win. Working on change stories can be a great strategy to generate understanding and conviction. This is particularly true for international workers, where organizations can align business objectives to workers’ motivations.
