More and more technologies will be deployed in plants, and human-machine interactions will multiply. New jobs will emerge and the skills employers look for will shift. Manufacturers embracing the 4.0 shift must prepare for these changes. Here are six winning practices to navigate the workforce impact of Industry 4.0.
1. Train and develop talent
Effective skills development programs will be needed to train talent from within the organization. New tasks will be assigned to employees and training must be offered to ensure the transition. Job shadowing with more experienced staff, using augmented reality, or leveraging e-learning are worthwhile approaches.
2. Offer HR flexibility in the Industry 4.0 era
When hiring data scientists, R&D specialists, or software engineers, manufacturers compete head-on with tech companies. These companies are known for offering very attractive work environments. Traditional HR practices apply less here. It's important to innovate and offer more flexible schedules, closer to typical office hours. Why not consider having machine operators work across multiple companies to enable full-time work?
3. Delegate decision-making
In the same vein, hierarchies and decision-making processes need to be rethought. If we develop our employees to handle more complex tasks, we must also give them greater autonomy in decisions. For example, developers shouldn't have to wait for machine operator approvals to reconfigure equipment. Or a production coordinator shouldn't have to wait for a manager's sign-off after just receiving a real-time alert. Companies have every interest in flattening hierarchical structures.
4. Make employees responsible for innovation
Properly trained and autonomous employees should be responsible for innovation and the outcomes that follow. Rather than handling a small portion of a process, employees should understand the entire process and take ownership of the results. Managers, for their part, need to enable this ownership.
5. Recruit on capability
Traditional recruiting based on experience and credentials is less suited to Industry 4.0 demands. Manufacturers need versatile employees with the ability to learn fast and work on multiple projects simultaneously. Interviews focused on cultural fit and soft skills should take priority.
6. Plan HR needs strategically for Industry 4.0
It becomes critical to map out all workforce baseline information: planned retirements, upcoming parental leaves, subcontractors, temporary contracts, and so on. Having a clear picture of your workforce enables proper forecasting of training and recruiting needs — and better preparation for change.
Tackling the changes of Industry 4.0 takes time and effort, but it's worth it.
Source: "Man and Machine in Industry 4.0. How Will Technology Transform the Industrial Workforce Through 2025?", 2015, The Boston Consulting Group.
