Julie Dutchess01.25.12
Medical device contract manufacturers and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers often serve as extensions of their customers’ manufacturing operations.
Done correctly that provides original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) access to a global range of resources. However, OEM’s might ask, “Do subcontracted factory personnel really reflect a consistent level of training and shared values?”
The answer should always, of course, be yes. However, the journey to achieving that level of consistency in a mix of green field and acquired facilities in a wide range of labor markets is not easy.
This article examines a framework for deploying a training framework that ensures standardized skills and values among all facilities, yet is flexible enough to address location-specific training needs.
No matter where an employee is in the world, he or she should feel connected with the corporate vision and guiding principles. Part of that philosophy is that all employees should share in the company’s successes both financially and through personal growth and fulfillment. From a human resources (HR) perspective, that philosophy should foster an organizational structure that supports development of personal skills that maximize employees’ ability to respond to customers on their own terms. Employees should be taught to respond flexibly based on customer and geographic needs.
Making this model requires a multi-tiered approach, which includes:
• A global HR council which reviews programs, best practices and areas for improvement;
• A core leadership development curriculum tied to the corporate vision and guiding principles;
• Additional facility-specific training programs related to technical skills and processes; and
• A 360-degree survey processes designed to both measure employee progress and identify areas of focused training need.
At Kimball Electronics, for example, the HR council meets via teleconference and WebEx monthly, plus sponsors periodic internal HR conferences. The group defines a global training plan aligned with corporate objectives and identified needs. It also shares best practices. For example, in Poland, the employee survey responses indicated concerns about slowness in hiring required employees. Their HR department analyzed the issue and developed a manual for hiring managers. The manual was presented as a best practice at a recent HR conference meeting and was provided to all facilities for use to improve their practice. In another best practice example, the HR department in Tampa, Fla., initiated a Kaizen event that drove creation of a training boot camp for corporate vision and guiding principles leadership training. The Jasper, Ind., facility shared ways that they use technology to improve efficiency in assessing HR requirements and convenience in employee benefits signup.The Nanjing, China, group shared their capability matrix process which supports organizational skills and the Laem Chabang, Thailand team discussed their employee engagement strategies related to Lean and 5S which has helped their location win a Labor and Welfare award four years in a row. The Reynosa, Mexico, facility holds a great distinction of having the lowest employment turnover percentage and shared their technical training program led by the Black Belt team which supports excellent communication of best practices to all employees.
There is a company-wide leadership development model. It outlines organizational trust behaviors and leadership skills. All roll up to the corporate vision and guiding principles. Some organizational trust behaviors and leadership skills are listen first, clarify expectations and extend trust, strategic vision, goal setting, disciplined execution and risk-taking.
The curriculum fostering these behaviors and skills varies by level of management. Supervisors receive formal training in a range of leadership and interpersonal skills. Managers’ training is focused more on time management and effective project management. Leaders of leaders are focused more on strategic vision oriented courses and executives attend educational workshops at the company’s twice-a-year strategic planning meetings. All levels of leaders receive training in performance management, championing diversity, core values, core skills, current incentive programs, sustainability and structured panel interviewing. The end result is a shared framework of knowledge and values.
From a training development perspective, the company plans based on a five-quarter rolling review of leadership development requirements across the company. Regional vice presidents have specific areas of focus, based on regional needs. As an example, the goal for North America is to have every indirect employee achieve a basic understanding in Lean in 2012. They are also driving continuous improvement techniques down to every employee. The regional vice presidents share best practices twice a year and meet monthly via conference call to review operational metrics
Vision and Guiding Principles surveys are administered globally every two years to allow for time to implement corrective actions. The survey provides group leaders and production unit leaders with 360 degree feedback on softer management skills. This is done throughout the organization and it drives unique group action plans based on the feedback. The surveys are staggered among the individual plants and shared services group to allow for processing time.
The surveys help identify unique facility training needs. For example, in a recent survey in Poland, it became clear that interpersonal skills training would be valuable. Polish culture placed higher value on work ethic and accomplishing goals, and less on softer interpersonal relationship management skills. The survey allowed HR to measure how supervisors and managers were improving in terms of the way they managed. HR tracked rating trends the same way it tracks metrics for on-time delivery or quality, and this helped the staff to realize the importance of this area of management skills. There has been significant visible improvement over time.
Great employees exist in all labor markets and salary isn’t the only way to attract them. While compensation must be competitive with the market, employees are also motivated by the overall work environment. The Company’s focus on shared values and skills, combined with focused career development planning, helps ensure consistency and a commitment to excellence among all facilities. That has translated to below market turnover rates and improved productivity per employee. From an OEM standpoint, the message is clear: Our customer is our business; we are a partner in their value stream and brand identity. A well-aligned employee and customer satisfaction strategy is reinforced by values, skills and productivity in our locations.
Reference:
1. Mucha, S.E., “Investing in Employees is Still in Vogue,” Circuits Assembly, April 2010.
Julie Dutchess is Kimball Electronics Group’s Global Human Resources Director. She can be reached at Julie.Dutchess@kimball.com.
Done correctly that provides original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) access to a global range of resources. However, OEM’s might ask, “Do subcontracted factory personnel really reflect a consistent level of training and shared values?”
The answer should always, of course, be yes. However, the journey to achieving that level of consistency in a mix of green field and acquired facilities in a wide range of labor markets is not easy.
This article examines a framework for deploying a training framework that ensures standardized skills and values among all facilities, yet is flexible enough to address location-specific training needs.
No matter where an employee is in the world, he or she should feel connected with the corporate vision and guiding principles. Part of that philosophy is that all employees should share in the company’s successes both financially and through personal growth and fulfillment. From a human resources (HR) perspective, that philosophy should foster an organizational structure that supports development of personal skills that maximize employees’ ability to respond to customers on their own terms. Employees should be taught to respond flexibly based on customer and geographic needs.
Making this model requires a multi-tiered approach, which includes:
• A global HR council which reviews programs, best practices and areas for improvement;
• A core leadership development curriculum tied to the corporate vision and guiding principles;
• Additional facility-specific training programs related to technical skills and processes; and
• A 360-degree survey processes designed to both measure employee progress and identify areas of focused training need.
At Kimball Electronics, for example, the HR council meets via teleconference and WebEx monthly, plus sponsors periodic internal HR conferences. The group defines a global training plan aligned with corporate objectives and identified needs. It also shares best practices. For example, in Poland, the employee survey responses indicated concerns about slowness in hiring required employees. Their HR department analyzed the issue and developed a manual for hiring managers. The manual was presented as a best practice at a recent HR conference meeting and was provided to all facilities for use to improve their practice. In another best practice example, the HR department in Tampa, Fla., initiated a Kaizen event that drove creation of a training boot camp for corporate vision and guiding principles leadership training. The Jasper, Ind., facility shared ways that they use technology to improve efficiency in assessing HR requirements and convenience in employee benefits signup.The Nanjing, China, group shared their capability matrix process which supports organizational skills and the Laem Chabang, Thailand team discussed their employee engagement strategies related to Lean and 5S which has helped their location win a Labor and Welfare award four years in a row. The Reynosa, Mexico, facility holds a great distinction of having the lowest employment turnover percentage and shared their technical training program led by the Black Belt team which supports excellent communication of best practices to all employees.
There is a company-wide leadership development model. It outlines organizational trust behaviors and leadership skills. All roll up to the corporate vision and guiding principles. Some organizational trust behaviors and leadership skills are listen first, clarify expectations and extend trust, strategic vision, goal setting, disciplined execution and risk-taking.
The curriculum fostering these behaviors and skills varies by level of management. Supervisors receive formal training in a range of leadership and interpersonal skills. Managers’ training is focused more on time management and effective project management. Leaders of leaders are focused more on strategic vision oriented courses and executives attend educational workshops at the company’s twice-a-year strategic planning meetings. All levels of leaders receive training in performance management, championing diversity, core values, core skills, current incentive programs, sustainability and structured panel interviewing. The end result is a shared framework of knowledge and values.
From a training development perspective, the company plans based on a five-quarter rolling review of leadership development requirements across the company. Regional vice presidents have specific areas of focus, based on regional needs. As an example, the goal for North America is to have every indirect employee achieve a basic understanding in Lean in 2012. They are also driving continuous improvement techniques down to every employee. The regional vice presidents share best practices twice a year and meet monthly via conference call to review operational metrics
Vision and Guiding Principles surveys are administered globally every two years to allow for time to implement corrective actions. The survey provides group leaders and production unit leaders with 360 degree feedback on softer management skills. This is done throughout the organization and it drives unique group action plans based on the feedback. The surveys are staggered among the individual plants and shared services group to allow for processing time.
The surveys help identify unique facility training needs. For example, in a recent survey in Poland, it became clear that interpersonal skills training would be valuable. Polish culture placed higher value on work ethic and accomplishing goals, and less on softer interpersonal relationship management skills. The survey allowed HR to measure how supervisors and managers were improving in terms of the way they managed. HR tracked rating trends the same way it tracks metrics for on-time delivery or quality, and this helped the staff to realize the importance of this area of management skills. There has been significant visible improvement over time.
Great employees exist in all labor markets and salary isn’t the only way to attract them. While compensation must be competitive with the market, employees are also motivated by the overall work environment. The Company’s focus on shared values and skills, combined with focused career development planning, helps ensure consistency and a commitment to excellence among all facilities. That has translated to below market turnover rates and improved productivity per employee. From an OEM standpoint, the message is clear: Our customer is our business; we are a partner in their value stream and brand identity. A well-aligned employee and customer satisfaction strategy is reinforced by values, skills and productivity in our locations.
Reference:
1. Mucha, S.E., “Investing in Employees is Still in Vogue,” Circuits Assembly, April 2010.
Julie Dutchess is Kimball Electronics Group’s Global Human Resources Director. She can be reached at Julie.Dutchess@kimball.com.