Diversity in Production? Three ideas from Japan…

Today manufacturers are investing more in attracting workers, as their experienced staff approaches retirement and interest in manufacturing jobs are declining (in industrial economies). Besides targeted automation, tapping into a diverse pool of workers might help. Yet in production, increasing diversity and inclusion can be challenging. 

First, the type of work in a factory can be physically demanding and not always suitable for everyone. Second, recruitment works differently for factory jobs. For line positions, people don’t generally attend job fairs, or the language used in marketing matters less. Finally, standard practices to foster diversity are difficult to implement. It is hard to attend an employee resource group meeting, when you are working on a production line that doesn’t stop. 

Here are some initial ideas on how to attract and integrate workers from diverse backgrounds. These ideas will not apply to every manufacturer. Also it is helpful to understand different types of diversity and set appropriate goals. For example, some factories in Germany already have workers with immigration backgrounds, but on other dimensions (e.g. gender, disability) the picture looks different. 

Increase work hour flexibility

To ensure a stable production output, generally factories have well defined work hours and shifts. Yet, increasing flexibility on work hours can help managers tap into new pools of potential workers, helping with diversity along the way. 

I saw an interesting example of this in Japan, visiting a company with an unusually high percentage of women working in the warehouse. As we mentioned this, our hosts explained it was as a result of the work hour flexibility they offer.In this warehouse, after on-boarding, workers could sign up for as low as a few hours of work in a day. An intricate board and card system helped match supply of labor with the demand. The system could also accommodate workers' wishes to work on specific days. Surprisingly the company saw an increase in applications from the neighboring town, specifically from stay-at-home mothers who wanted to supplement their household income. 

Of course this would be difficult where the tasks are more complicated and require expertise. Plus in many countries there might be issues regarding unions or insurance. That said, the complexity of managing supply and demand is getting easier. New AI supported software such as Shyftplan can help workers gain more control over their schedules, increasing shift flexibility without having to use intricate boards.

Hire for potential, integrate wisely 

For increasing diversity, it is important to focus on the skills an applicant brings while hiring and support their integration after they join. I have seen a moving example of this also in Japan, in an electronics assembly factory. This factory made it their mission to employ mainly workers with disabilities, while making sure the production lines were just as competitive as in other factories in the production network. 

They achieved this goal by using a unique worker integration team. This team’s only responsibility was to understand the ability of each worker and build gadgets, tools, electronics around their disabilities so that everyone could keep up with the pace of production.

In the short term, such custom tools made production more expensive, but in the long term it helped the company get more competitive. The integration team became a center of innovation and knowledge for the whole production network. The tools they built were used in other lines for optimizing difficult production steps.

Taking a step back - wouldn't it be great to have employee integration teams at work, with people who specifically look at all the skills you bring and help you overcome the barriers you might have?

Such an integration team could also support workers close to retirement, or workers with an immigration background. Companies in software development seem more open to hiring skilled workers such as programmers from everywhere around the world. There are even organizations that help such employees settle in Germany and find jobs. Soon we will have to be just as open minded and helpful to blue collar workers as well. 

Visualize more and simplify communication

Speaking English at work also helps companies to hire workers from everywhere around the world and integrate them easily as they learn the local language. In a factory, however, a different approach is needed where workers might not have the language skills, nor the learning opportunities. To best integrate foreign workers, increasing visual communication on the shopfloor might help. 

Visual cues can shape human behavior and even replace written instructions. Visual management has always been a part of shop floor operations but companies rarely have a conscious strategy around it. Creating visual instructions would help everyone, even if they don’t master the local language. A good book on this topic is “Shikake - the Japanese Art of Shaping Behavior through Design” by Naohiro Matsumura. This book provides a structured process on how to use triggers (incl. visual ones) in our environment to shape behavior. 

Finally simplifying the corporate language (in work documents, instructions, or internal communications) can go a long way. On this topic “Corporate Language - das Praxisbuch” by Armin Reins has examples on how companies reduced jargon and simplified their corporate language in a structured way.

To summarize, the world of production has its unique challenges when it comes to diversity and inclusion. With an open mind, using new technologies, and thinking creatively, we can overcome some of these challenges. In a world where it is getting difficult to find people to take on manufacturing jobs, it is critical to do so.