Commitment to training and development remains firm.
Canadian manufacturers will be looking to their HR departments to improve corporate performance in the year ahead — despite tough economic conditions.
In a survey of its members conducted earlier this year by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), organizational culture and a lack of qualified personnel were the third and fourth most cited constraints to performance improvement; resource limitations was most cited, cost constraints was second.
When asked what they planned to do to overcome those constraints, respondents most often said they would overhaul corporate culture and improve employee skill sets.
Also high on the list of strategies for improving performance are reengineering, restructuring, outsourcing and introducing quality programs.
And unlike so many of their high-tech counterparts that have unleashed waves of layoffs, members of the association said they were reluctant to let people go too soon during the downturn. Fewer than 10 per cent said they expect to cut employment in the next two years, nearly 30 per cent were still planning to add workers.
And even though budgets are tight they don’t want to cut training. A third even said they still plan to increase spending on training; just four per cent said they would be spending less.
The fact is Canadian manufacturers may have reached a watershed point, said Ian Howcroft, vice-president of the Ontario division of CME. HR never had much stature, but now companies recognize they need to have good HR and invest in people.
The study was conducted before the events of Sept. 11, Howcroft said, and there is a lot more uncertainty now so things could change, but the economy will rebound and when it does the basic challenges facing manufacturers will remain. Overcoming those challenges requires good HR, said Howcroft.
“With demographics being what it is, there is no pool of workers to draw on,” he said. “Sept. 11 did change things and people will have to look at particular situations.” But people also realize that things will pick up again and “when they do there will not be skilled workers.”
It has been that way at Palliser furniture for a while, said Ron Koslowsky, vice-president of HR. In the past, the Winnipeg-based manufacturer has run up inventories when sales waned, or asked employees to work shorter weeks, knowing that over the course of a year it would likely balance out as employees worked longer days when their market improved again.
And training has become more important for them just as it has for most manufacturers, Koslowsky said.
Some people assume it is only IT people that want training, but many of Palliser’s employees want to know what skills and training the company will offer that will move them along a career development path. They want to be taught how to be leaders, how to solve problems, how to communicate or how to lead a meeting, said Koslowsky.
And it is people in low-skill jobs that are asking for these opportunities.
They hear about the new economy where skills development is so important and they know they need to improve their skill sets. He said Palliser tries to meet those expectations even though it could theoretically mean employees could develop skill sets that exceed their job requirements.
“My view on that is the one thing worse than training somebody and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.”
As for the effects of Sept. 11, Koslowsky is skeptical the events would have that much of an effect on Canadian manufacturers and exporters. Undoubtedly many companies were directly affected, but things were already slowing down and employers were gearing up for a recession anyway.
Sept. 11 just pushed it over the brink and some employers that have announced layoffs since then may be using it as an excuse, he said.
The economists at CME are also reluctant to make predictions about what lies ahead, said Howcroft. Earlier in the year as things were slowing down, they had hoped for an improvement by the fourth quarter. Now they say there is a chance things could pick up late in the second quarter of 2002, though the third or fourth quarter of next year is probably more realistic, he said.
In a survey of its members conducted earlier this year by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), organizational culture and a lack of qualified personnel were the third and fourth most cited constraints to performance improvement; resource limitations was most cited, cost constraints was second.
When asked what they planned to do to overcome those constraints, respondents most often said they would overhaul corporate culture and improve employee skill sets.
Also high on the list of strategies for improving performance are reengineering, restructuring, outsourcing and introducing quality programs.
And unlike so many of their high-tech counterparts that have unleashed waves of layoffs, members of the association said they were reluctant to let people go too soon during the downturn. Fewer than 10 per cent said they expect to cut employment in the next two years, nearly 30 per cent were still planning to add workers.
And even though budgets are tight they don’t want to cut training. A third even said they still plan to increase spending on training; just four per cent said they would be spending less.
The fact is Canadian manufacturers may have reached a watershed point, said Ian Howcroft, vice-president of the Ontario division of CME. HR never had much stature, but now companies recognize they need to have good HR and invest in people.
The study was conducted before the events of Sept. 11, Howcroft said, and there is a lot more uncertainty now so things could change, but the economy will rebound and when it does the basic challenges facing manufacturers will remain. Overcoming those challenges requires good HR, said Howcroft.
“With demographics being what it is, there is no pool of workers to draw on,” he said. “Sept. 11 did change things and people will have to look at particular situations.” But people also realize that things will pick up again and “when they do there will not be skilled workers.”
It has been that way at Palliser furniture for a while, said Ron Koslowsky, vice-president of HR. In the past, the Winnipeg-based manufacturer has run up inventories when sales waned, or asked employees to work shorter weeks, knowing that over the course of a year it would likely balance out as employees worked longer days when their market improved again.
And training has become more important for them just as it has for most manufacturers, Koslowsky said.
Some people assume it is only IT people that want training, but many of Palliser’s employees want to know what skills and training the company will offer that will move them along a career development path. They want to be taught how to be leaders, how to solve problems, how to communicate or how to lead a meeting, said Koslowsky.
And it is people in low-skill jobs that are asking for these opportunities.
They hear about the new economy where skills development is so important and they know they need to improve their skill sets. He said Palliser tries to meet those expectations even though it could theoretically mean employees could develop skill sets that exceed their job requirements.
“My view on that is the one thing worse than training somebody and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.”
As for the effects of Sept. 11, Koslowsky is skeptical the events would have that much of an effect on Canadian manufacturers and exporters. Undoubtedly many companies were directly affected, but things were already slowing down and employers were gearing up for a recession anyway.
Sept. 11 just pushed it over the brink and some employers that have announced layoffs since then may be using it as an excuse, he said.
The economists at CME are also reluctant to make predictions about what lies ahead, said Howcroft. Earlier in the year as things were slowing down, they had hoped for an improvement by the fourth quarter. Now they say there is a chance things could pick up late in the second quarter of 2002, though the third or fourth quarter of next year is probably more realistic, he said.
