It’s been the same for time and memorial. An employee isn’t working out on the job, and they’re fired. But more companies today are changing their tune about automatically firing employees who aren’t living up to expectations. Add to that the changing workplace that makes certain skills obsolete, and you aren’t sure what to do with your staff when that happens. Prior to the knee jerk reaction of termination, there may be more benefits to retraining an employee. Here’s why.
Cost-Effective
If an employee isn’t living up to expectations, or the role they’ve occupied in your organization is shifting, you will save more money by offering retraining programs than by firing them. If you let them go, you may save money in the short-term, but you will eventually have to replace that contribution or hire for new skills altogether.
Automation
With many aspects of shipyard work shifting to automation, you may be wondering what to do with some of the people who previously handled the function. But automation doesn’t mean that there is no human touch. It just means that humans interact with their work differently. You can retrain your employees to handle those aspects of the job instead.
Reputation
Many people are concerned that automation will replace human workers in many manufacturing environments. While this isn’t likely, it does touch on a very real aspect of the future of work. As automation takes over, people get scared that they’ll become obsolete. Companies who fire workers as they add automation will only gain a negative reputation rather than finding new ways to use people-power on the job.
Managing Expectations
It’s also crucial that you’re able to manage expectations for your current team and let them know how the workforce is changing. If you prepare them for the future, and potential retraining, they’ll be better equipped to handle the evolution of shipbuilding. Managing their expectations, like managing your own, will build up a stronger workforce.
Do you want to find out ways you can keep and retrain employees in your shipyard? Contact Hutco to see how we can help today.
