This leading food and confection manufacturer has a catalog of more than 20 brands and a rich history that spans more than 100 years. With customers all around the world and seasonal peaks in demand, this manufacturer has depended on Staff Management | SMX to help them meet their production goals for over 20 years.
Challenge
The manufacturer recently revamped their Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, operation after updating the packaging of their products to make them more aesthetically appealing to their customers. As a result, packing had to be performed by hand. To fill these new packing roles, Staff Management | SMX was tasked with strengthening recruitment tactics and implementing strategies to increase fill and maintain low turnover rates within the contingent workforce.
Solution
Staff Management | SMX’s onsite management team surveyed workers at the facility to learn what they cared about most and used these insights to improve engagement. One opportunity we discovered was that associates wanted to advance to higher positions with the manufacturer but didn’t meet the educational requirements. In partnership with the client and a local career center, we launched an onsite educational program to help our associates meet their goals. A tutor visited the facility weekly and taught courses to prepare associates for their GED tests.
This program raised morale among associates and opened up growth opportunities for them with the manufacturer. The program also aligned with the client’s principles for community investment and made our employment offer stand out to candidates when compared with offers from other companies in the area.
In addition to the GED program, Staff Management | SMX teamed up with Church World Service, a local refugee support organization, to provide job opportunities for 25 of the non-profit’s clients. The organization provides transportation as well as translators to help refugees navigate the workplace. With this and other partnerships, we were able to expand the manufacturer’s talent pool. We are also investing in a manufacturing training program for students with intellectual disabilities at surrounding high schools. The training program will prepare these students to enter the workforce when they finish school.
Results
Through effective partnerships and innovative programs, Staff Management | SMX has attracted enough new workers to meet this client’s growing needs. By offering engagement programs that our workers were interested in, we were able to increase retention rates, reduce overtime costs and maintain a high headcount, resulting in increased production capacity.
