Laboring Through a Challenging Year

During the last year I have talked to many members of the Printing Industries Association of Southern California about two converging themes: finances and human resources. For most of the last year, printers have been worried about balancing operating needs against one of their largest costs, labor. 

Layoffs and Rehires 

Unfortunately, the pandemic created the need for furloughs, layoffs or some combination of the two. Many printers used the pandemic to “retool” and optimize their operations, becoming experts at doing more with less. To keep the business open, employees were asked to take multi-tasking to a new level. To the degree that more efficient, productive, and effective processing was achieved, the post-pandemic period will bear fruit. 

Now, as we march into the economic recovery, printers are realizing that at some point soon, customer demand will result in the need for more employees. Printers must now find the balance between satisfying their customers and increasing their workforce. The cruelty of the situation is that almost all surviving printers are vying for limited resources at the same time. 

Of course, a big challenge here is which employees do they need to hire? I suggest that in seeking “new” employees, printers consider using this opportunity to recruit and hire talent that meets a desired behavior profile. While you cannot discriminate in the hiring process, an employer can be highly selective. 

The key is to have a clear understanding of the position’s technical and behavioral requirements AND to start the recruiting process early. Too often the need is so urgent that the first breathing soul through the door is seen as the best solution, only to find out later that there was not a match and the result is an expensive separation. 

I suggest that there are a few steps that should be considered during the hiring process:

• Review and edit the job description(s) and develop a behavior profile that works best in your environment. We apply the Predictive Index behavioral assessment as a tool in our process.
• Determine who is going to be responsible for the day-to-day training (assuming that training is going to be required). Give ample consideration to the “training” talents of this person, so that you are giving the new employee the best opportunity to succeed. Not everyone is suited to be a trainer.
• If possible, involve several people in the interview process. We include the supervisor, an employee at a similar level and a person completely outside the department in the interview process. Clearly this is an investment, but it is “pay me now or pay me later.”

COVID-19 Vaccination Policies

There is universal concern over how best to protect employees. There continues to be great concern over exposing staff to disease, the probability of an outbreak and an outbreak’s consequences on a company’s economic recovery. The focus now is on COVID-19 vaccinations. There are various lines of thought, but our recommendation is that printers “strongly recommend” – rather than mandate – vaccination as soon as possible, not only to protect the person vaccinated but to also protect co-workers.

Remote Work

Finally, an upcoming challenge on the horizon is the new norm called remote work. For most printers, production staff are generally required to be onsite to perform their jobs. However, what about those who have been working remotely for much of the last year? There are concerns about supervision, productivity, efficiency and, I would add, effectiveness. 

Policy makers should consider the significance of in-person communications and the need to build and promote relationships. The time spent with email, Slack, text messaging, etc. just to get an answer to a question is frustrating and inefficient. Many will argue that Zoom does the trick, but it cannot replace body language, including one’s eyes, which are critical to determining whether a question is understood or if more discussion is required. When it comes to customer relationships, building value and trust always seem to require meeting a prospect in person.

The business environment is changing rapidly. Balancing the needs of customers, operations and the workforce is the big challenge employers now face.