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Workforce challenges: Can’t we all just get along?

That may be a big part of the skilled-labor crisis

Everyone talks about the trouble finding skilled labor. More often now, though, I don’t hear about the need for technical aptitude or training, though both are still important. Instead, I hear about how managers have trouble finding “good” people.

So what is a “good” person for a fab shop, exactly? At the very least, a good worker shows up at the plant and cares about doing a good job, right?

Well, maybe it’s not that simple.

During a software event in Nashville organized by Epicor earlier this year, former General Electric CEO Jack Welch spoke about this topic, and he split workers into four types: those who excel at their jobs and get along with others (promote these people); those who struggle but get along (help these people); those who struggle and don’t get along (let these people go); and, finally, those who excel and don’t get along with others.

Dealing with the first three is relatively straightforward. But what about the last type, the excellent performers who basically are just a pain to work with? They show up for work, and they care about doing a good job, but they don’t make life easy for others.

Not surprisingly, Welch suggested that those people really don’t have a place in a successful organization. They may bring short-term benefit to the table, but they’ll also cause long-term pain.

Two stories in this issue—one about Chicago Metal Rolled Products (CMRP) and another about Lithonia, Ga.-based Southern Metalcraft Inc. (SMI)—show how critical getting along can be, and they also show it’s not as straightforward as it seems. The phrase “working well with others” doesn’t really apply. No one works well with everybody. It’s about finding a good match. The managers at CMRP and SMI certainly have done just that.

How did these companies find these people? For sure, luck has something to do with it, but it doesn’t always happen entirely by chance.

More than 25 years ago, an inspector at a tank fabricator knew the owner at SMI. He also knew Tim Kennedy, the tank fabricator’s lead press brake operator. When the tank fabricator was going out of business, the inspector suggested Kennedy reach out to SMI.

Kennedy certainly was qualified to run a press brake, but there was something more. The inspector thought Kennedy and SMI’s owner would get along. He was right. After more than a quarter-century at SMI, Kennedy will be retiring next year. What will he miss? “Well, the people, of course,” he said. “They’re really like family.”

You can teach skills. But if employees never get along, all the technical experience in the world may not make a difference.

When manufacturers talk about the challenges of finding good people, they may really be opining about the lack of community in manufacturing. With good community, you have a better chance of finding engaged people who get along well and enjoy each other’s company. Put those people together for more than 40 hours a week, year after year, and you get a family. They don’t get along all the time, but they certainly have a connection—one that prevents them from leaving for a few cents more an hour.

So what exactly is a good community? I don’t think anyone really knows, but one thing’s for sure: Developing one can’t happen in isolation.

Tom Neppl knows this very well. As president of Springs Fabrication, an industrial fabricator in Colorado Springs, Colo., Neppl doesn’t spend all his time visiting customers (which are across the U.S.) or at the office. He’s out and about, meeting people and promoting the manufacturing business. In 2012 he became chair of the Colorado Regional Business Alliance, the first time a manufacturer has held that position. And last year he helped launch the Southern Colorado Manufacturing Expo (www.socomexpo.com), an event geared toward students and the community at large.

“We pulled it off and it was successful,” Neppl said. “Our measure was, if the schools felt it was worthwhile, it was a success, and we did get a positive response. All these kids really haven’t been exposed to a career in manufacturing, because of the reduction of vocational training in the schools. They don’t know how high-tech manufacturing is.”

Neppl went a step further. He’s also a longtime board member of Pikes Peak Community College, and in 2014 he got to talking with school administrators about new ways to approach the skilled-labor shortage. This was at the height of the oil boom, and the school just couldn’t churn out enough welders. It simply didn’t have the room.

But Springs Fabrication did have the room. Starting in August of this year, the company rented (for a nominal fee) a portion of its facility—including a group of welding booths and a classroom—to the school. Students are still taught by teachers from the community college, but they drive to Springs Fabrication to take their classes.

“We give tours to students too,” Neppl said. “That’s the whole idea of it. It’s one thing to learn how to weld; it’s another thing to learn how it’s applied in the real world.”

The best thing about this isn’t the welding knowledge being taught, though that’s of course important. Instead, it’s the connection this program builds with the community at large.

Neppl isn’t alone in his efforts. Various programs exist that attempt to spread the manufacturing story, like manufacturing camps sponsored by the Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs® Foundation (www.nuts andboltsfoundation.org). Promoting STEM and vocational education is important. But we also need to build those human connections that create a healthy manufacturing community.

When knowledgeable people enjoy working with each other, great things can happen.

About the Author
The Fabricator

Tim Heston

Senior Editor

2135 Point Blvd

Elgin, IL 60123

815-381-1314

Tim Heston, The Fabricator's senior editor, has covered the metal fabrication industry since 1998, starting his career at the American Welding Society's Welding Journal. Since then he has covered the full range of metal fabrication processes, from stamping, bending, and cutting to grinding and polishing. He joined The Fabricator's staff in October 2007.