LEAN ON

Relying on trusted partners is critical

This spring, when the Microsoft team conducted an audit on the number of meetings that companies were having on its Teams platform, an interesting statistic jumped out. Not only had the number per week increased by 153% globally for the average user, but there was no indication the trend would reverse. The peak, it appeared, had become the new baseline. There were other numbers that popped, too. Along with the already high meeting loads, overlapping meetings (ones that were double-booked) increased by 46% per person. In addition, even as the overall meeting acceptance rate remained fairly steady— growing by only 3%—declines and tentative RSVPs soared to 84% and 216%, respectively.

In a time dragged by terms like “The Great Resignation” and “Quiet Quitting,” Microsoft’s Work Index Study: “Hybrid Work Is Just Work. Are We Doing It Wrong,” shows that parts of today’s workforce, on the whole, are working at hyper-speed amid what continues to be an overwhelming and hectic landscape.

With an interesting mix of both an inperson and hybrid workforce, companies are still learning to adapt to the changes around them—changes that are causing their fair share of challenges. Take, for example, this stat from the Microsoft study, which shows that 85% of leaders say the shift to hybrid work has made it challenging to have confidence that their employees are being productive. And while some are using technology to track activity rather than impact, employees lack context on how and why their progress is being tracked.

Mitch Craghead, Senior VP – Operations at Artisan Colour, says these kinds of dynamics are forcing the print industry to confront how it copes with today’s diversifying workforce. “This is a time where the opportunities for organizational changes are available to all of us. We can be creative in the work hours that we offer based on the individual needs of our employees. We can offer performance roadmaps for individuals and create work-flow champions to develop more engagement at the root-level.”

The Scottsdale, Arizona, award-winning digital commercial printer and color house is just one of the industry’s many companies working through the generational maze of new workers. It is time, Craghead admits, that as a collective, the industry must rethink how it makes itself more attractive to this new candidate pool.

How? Craghead recommends areas like cross-training existing staff for better load-balancing when staff miss work, exploring alternative resources for the labor pool such as universities with print shop programs and raising wages across the board. In addition, he believes that holding more one-onone meetings with leadership will help develop personal growth and worklife-balance plans for today’s new generation of workers.

“We have had staffing issues because we have a reduced pool of experienced/trained candidates,” Craghead says. “There also is a limited response to traditional job postings on platforms such as Indeed, Zip Recruiter, etc. Candidates today have higher expectations for wages than previous industry baselines.”

Work in the New Normal According to a recent survey by Slack, nearly 43% of U.S. office workers say they “feel burned out at work”—a figure that neared its peak level last year. The survey, “Executives Feel the Strain of Leading in the ‘New Normal,’” shows that, more than anything, the pandemic helped accelerate many of the existing workplace dynamics, including heightened connectivity, shifting workforce demographics, and growing demand for equity.

The bottom line is that in times of disruption, leaders can either lean in and learn new skills or fall back on the practices of the past. Frank Arostegui believes that print leaders who are able to embrace the continual shift in workplace expectations will help drive the industry’s future of work. “We are now in a very good spot regarding staffing; we did have our challenges in 2021 and early 2022,” says Arostegui, Executive VP Sales at American Litho Inc. “Most issues are around people just showing up, working their entire shift or doing what’s been asked of them. This created a domino effect in our production timelines when people don’t show up or get the productivity expected.”

In its efforts to lead in this area, American Litho Inc., a leader in data-driven direct marketing solutions and print industry innovation, took a different tack: It made things fun. “We developed a friendly competition between teams and awarded the best performances at the end of each shift with gift cards, and then again at the end of the week. As soon as we started to do this, we saw an immediate increase in folks showing up on time and days scheduled.”

There were other incentives, too. For example, along with giving raises to show its appreciation, American Litho instituted a referral bonus program. “The path forward involves creating a clear career path. That means promoting leaders and those with a desire to grow. It means listening to what our people have to say more.”

In what has been some of the most trying times the print industry—or any for that matter—has experienced in our lifetimes, the key sometimes comes down to the most basic of premises. In the case of American Litho, that meant (and means) implementing a blueprint that everyone can follow.

First and foremost, it involves having a plan. “Plan, plan and plan,” Arostegui says. “If you want to break that down, that means having a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C. It means having the ability to be flexible and to overcommunicate every step of the way. Like I mentioned before, you have to be able to listen. You have to be able to not only recognize what your employees do for you, but also make sure they know that they are going to be seen and heard. It really makes a difference.”

The other factor, and one that every printer and vendor in the industry must relate to, is building the kind of partnerships that can hold the line in times of need. “It is all about communication,” Arostegui says. “We need our partners to communicate their challenges daily, weekly, monthly.”