WHAT THE TECH?

Mitigating Risk, Investing in Our Future

BY GREG JONES

GREG JONES

SUN AUTOMATION GROUP VICE CHAIRMAN GREG.JONES@SUNAUTOMATION.COM One common challenge among employers is the continued loss of skilled labor. Th e eff ects of the

JOE MORELLI HUSTON PATTERSON PRINTERS CHAIRMAN JMORELLI@HUSTONPATTERSON.COM

TIM CONNELL A.G. STACKER INC. SECRETARY TCONNELL@AGSTACKER.COM

JOHN BURGESS PAMARCO DIRECTOR JOHN.BURGESS@PAMARCO.COM

PAT SZANY

AMERICAN CORRUGATED MACHINE CORP. IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN PSZANY@ACM-CORP.COM COVID-19 pandemic, an aging workforce, and limited interest from candidates have created a gap that will be challenging to cover. Industrial modernization and automation are helping to mitigate some of these issues, but it isn’t enough.

Th e need to recruit, train, and retain is ever more critical for success. Although we need to recruit, we are losing those who can train and onboard new staff . “If you are looking to hire experienced and dedicated employees of past generations, you will be hard-pressed to fi nd them—they simply aren’t around anymore,” shared one prominent CEO during a recent Fibre Box Association conference. As baby boomers near retirement, we stand to lose 25% of our workforce.

In addition, younger generations have diff erent demands and experiences. Most candidates look for benefi ts around fl exible work hours, work-from-home policies, and child care options, to name a few. Th e challenge is that these make onboarding and collaboration among staff even more diffi cult. With that said, I personally embraced the CEO’s comments and agree that while we need to be fl exible, we also need to consider how these demands aff ect productivity.

To align company needs with employee demands, many box plants are shifting strategies. Another CEO shared how their company simplifi ed its online application process to be more inclusive and userfriendly for prospective employees with language barriers or limited computer skills. Others are holding in-house job fairs to allow recruits to fully experience the roles and opportunities within the company before they commit.

Once new recruits are employed, a common retention strategy is to match them with a mentor. Typically, a senior manager will be assigned to check in regularly with a new hire to help manage employee satisfaction and provide consistent support and training. Another executive mentioned how they don’t set overtime hours for the fi rst 90 days so that they don’t scare new hires.

We are fortunate that associations such as AICC have invested in the cause and are providing tools we can all leverage. AICC has done a tremendous job providing online education and on-site seminars for career development. As of March, AICC members completed more than 10,600 online courses—reinforcing the hunger for knowledge and training. Th e pandemic did help to drive those numbers, as many people were searching for online resources and tailored education as a result. If your company has not already committed, I would certainly encourage you to consider becoming an AICC Education Investor or make a commitment to the Foundation for Packaging Education—or both! Sometimes the best gift we can give is the gift of learning. Th e Foundation for Packaging Education is instrumental in off ering premier educational programming, products, and services to help sustain the industry overall.

To better understand these off erings, please reach out to AICC Director of Education and Professional Development Taryn Pyle at tpyle@aiccbox.org. 

Greg Jones is executive vice president at SUN Automation Group and is vice chairman of AICC’s Associate board.