After World War II, training in the manufacturing industry heavily leaned on the Training Within Industry (TWI) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) methodologies, which focus on hands-on learning and physical asset management. Training often consisted of what you could learn from veterans on the shop floor and a rarely opened, dusty binder filled with standards sitting on the manufacturing line. A lot has changed since then. The rise of computers, mobile applications, and the cloud changed everything. Now manufacturing faces a crisis of training methods that are increasingly outdated butting against employees’ expectations for digitalization, gamification and in-the-moment access.

In 10 manufacturing facilities, you’ll find just as many approaches to knowledge management, learning systems and data sharing. As companies work to update their training practices, methods can range from fully digital to papers posted on a bulletin board. The issue often boils down to a lack of time to digitalize those dusty binders or build engaging courses. When the ultimate goal is cases out of the door, investments in training technology can take a back seat. Add into the mix another dilemma — an incredible shortage of talent and a rush to capture knowledge before that talent retires or finds another job.

The manufacturing environment is a case study in VUCA:

• The volatility of generational work preferences and staffing challenges.
• The uncertainty of being able to fill vacancies with skilled technicians as manufacturing moves toward automation and robotics, requiring a different skill set.
• The complexity of changing technology and a diverse workforce from front-line technicians to factory leaders, all with varying access to tools and technology.
• The ambiguity of how to enable learning when the direction from the learning evangelists applies more often to a corporate environment.

Faced with the approach of a 1.9 million employee shortage by 2033, learning leaders are balancing on a precarious see-saw. At one end, they are frantically working to capture knowledge from tenured employees, and on the other end, they are tasked with constant new employee onboarding and training. The balancing act is not working. Fortunately, learning leaders can work to balance that see-saw and prepare to train the new manufacturing workforce with a few simple solutions.

Employees Want a Digital Solution

Anyone who owns a smartphone knows there is no reason to wait for information. The availability and evolution of knowledge does not stop when an employee walks on the factory floor. Employees expect fast and consistent information. Learning is not happening in a classroom, because no one has time for employees to leave the floor to learn, and operational leaders cannot surrender employees to full-day workshops. Even an hour off the floor can have profound consequences for production and the bottom line.

Manufacturing requires solutions that are sensitive to the environment and provide learning to fit the workplace. Digital microlearning or one-pagers deployed through tablets on the floor can offer a fantastic way for learning in the moment, where work occurs, with minimal negative impact to production. If performance support is not available at the moment of need, no one is looking for it. Much like water and electricity, employees will take the path of least resistance — either do the best they can with what they have or not do it at all. No one is looking for an expert, searching a system or flipping through the old dusty binder to figure out how to perform a task.

How to Pivot: Make Learning Accessible at the Moment of Need

Adopt the mindset of video creators and influencers. Invest in tablets and put them where workers need them most, which is on the floor at the line. Encourage employees to create videos of tasks and troubleshooting events then build a searchable digital library. No fancy tools needed, just a tablet to record and a library to save. Lean into simple digital documents. Digital does not need to be fancy or complex. Use simple tools and encourage employees to do what they already do — live a digital life. Soon the team will have a library of resources at their fingertips, exactly where they want it.

Employees Want to Move

The 2024 Manufacturing Workforce Trends Survey by the Manufacturers Alliance found that turnover for manufacturing employees was at 26.3%. Over a quarter of the workforce is leaving. Whether internal or external, staffing changes leave a painful hole in the workforce and a challenge for training. The high turn of manufacturing means constantly training new employees and managing cross-training plans. The challenge compounds when you consider that the time to gain competency for complex equipment can take upwards of a year and the knowledge-sharing systems are non-existent or immature.

Intensifying the complexity of training and turn, a recent LinkedIn survey found that 85% of employees are thinking of moving to a new role. A perceived lack of opportunities for employees can lead to low engagement, becoming a danger to consistent operations.

Combat the pain of high turnover through a culture of constant knowledge capture and systematic approaches that build training into the work. When implementing a new standard, sustainable training packages must be part of the strategy. Learning representation during every loss analysis event is crucial for training and knowledge capture to become an organic, integrated part of the process. With this culture of continuous improvement, no opportunity passes without the creation of learning. Over time, a system of training emerges that is fully sustainable.

How to Pivot: Focus on Career Pathing and Development for All

When it comes to disengagement and flight risks, review the culture of upskilling and opportunities for employees who may not really desire a brand-new role, but an elevation of their current role. The subject matter experts every site relies on, the ones who really run the business, are a population begging for development and opportunities. Help this group of experts contribute in meaningful ways by using their influence to inspire peers, document best practices and build the learning culture. Keep developing those experts through higher level training opportunities and prestigious programs that utilize their talent while also providing a real-life skill building moment and internal movement.

Employees Want to Learn What Matters

Learning leaders sometimes find themselves delving deep into a topic because they love learning and expect that everyone else does too. This bias causes learning authors to include too much extraneous information leading to increased cognitive load, potentially triggering disengagement for the learner and a negative impression of training. Further, a course with all the bells and whistles might not accurately reflect the true working environment. Instead, focus on what learners need to know, when they need to know it and how they tap into learning that accurately reflects their work.

Look for solutions to meet learners where they are with information they need, when they need it to keep employees engaged. Make it easy to see the applicability of knowledge and transfer the information into skills. Learning and performance support should meet the needs of a fast paced and ever-changing environment by being agile and rooted in reality. Support the essentials: learn the task, do the task, perfect the task and excel at the task. Focus on skilling an employee for competence at the job, and learning will shift to an approach that matches the pace of modern manufacturing.

How to Pivot: Give People Ownership of Their Learning Path

Implement a strategy that supports employees and places them in charge of learning. Create learning plans with specific job-related activities, real-time feedback, deadlines with goals, options for deeper learning as needed and customized paths that avoid the dreaded “click to continue” or forced navigation. Eliminate the fluff, provide appropriate guidance and trust that learners will take the right steps. Give learners goals and tap into their internal motivation for adding value. Then reap the benefits of an engaged workforce.

In the VUCA world of manufacturing, new flashy learning technology is not the most effective approach. Support the workforce through modern solutions, not complexity. Mirror the technology used in real life, be ready for staffing changes with agile learning and ensure employees have access to performance support that helps them contribute in meaningful ways. The easiest way to engage and inspire is to meet learners where they are. Because in a world that is moving toward digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, remember that people are still at the center of it all.