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Recently, our new hire onboarding program was restructured to help improve retention while keeping employees safe, productive and engaged. Then COVID-19 happened, and we had to adjust again. And continue adjusting — it is an ongoing process.

Nobody likes an awkward conversation. Nobody really wants to tell a friend, colleague, or direct report that they are causing other people discomfort, especially when it’s related to personal hygiene. But we’ve all been in the company of someone with foul breath or an unpleasant body odor.

Knowing how to successfully onboard a new frontline worker can mean the difference between employees staying with you for the long run versus having a high turnover rate. In fact, Glassdoor reveals that companies that have efficient, robust onboarding processes tend to improve their retention rate by more than 80%. As an added bonus, employee productivity is about 70% higher at manufacturers with an effective onboarding process.

By: Gene Bernard, The Gluten Free Bar; Greg Bigus, Accord Carton; Jodi Haggith, Bonduelle Americas; Annie Piepenhagen, Dairy Farmers of America

Social and business norms are changing at the speed of light during this pandemic. It’s not just about adapting to change anymore though – it’s also about making personal connections while staying socially distant, learning and practicing new behaviors, and all while keeping up morale. Here are a few tips and tricks to help your team members weather the change and let them know you care.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend the traditional manufacturing environment. As mandates require organizations to practice social distancing in their facilities, many manufacturers are struggling with how they can safely provide critical workplace training to their frontline employees.

Intertek Alchemy’s number one priority is ensuring that employees are engaged and working in a safe environment. With that in mind, we are sharing best practices for manufacturers still operating. You can also view them in their entirety in our recent webinar:



You know your work environment better than we do, so please tailor these recommended best practices and to your specific circumstances.

Every day, 20 million US and Canadian frontline food workers grow, process, distribute, cook, and serve the food eaten by millions of people. These frontline workers can — and do —  make individual decisions that impact food and workplace safety, product quality, and operations.

Despite the importance of frontline workers, there’s limited research to help understand their motivations, attitudes, and perceptions about the workplace. To remedy this, the Center of Research and Public Policy (CRPP) conducted a survey to identify any perception gaps between frontline workers and those in corporate leadership roles. They found that new frontline workers start their jobs without the confidence that they really know the proper procedures.

This lack of confidence, coupled with workers making their own individual decisions, often results in unplanned downtime and injury. This has dangerous implications! It’s also expensive  —  each year, the cost of injuries runs companies $161 billion dollars.

Currently, 27% of manufacturing workers are over the age of 66, which means many of your frontline staff and supervisors will be retiring within the next few years.

There is a ton of research on millennials in the workforce just hovering by our fingertips, ready for us to hit “enter” and display almost innumerable stats, facts, and ideologies about this generation.

On-the-job training (OJT) is often hailed as best practice in manufacturing. After all, it just makes sense for workers to learn right where they’ll be applying the training, using the actual equipment.  Workers themselves love it, too, because they are learning by doing. And the frequent one-on-one dialogue provides opportunities to strengthen employee/supervisor relationships.

Not all downtime is created equal. Traditional, standard downtime typically entails any scenario when a machine or piece of equipment is not in production, but unplanned downtime is different. This is when a machine breaks or fails or a worker is unexpectedly absent.  

This post is the first in a series that reveals the best practices and latest developments presented by experts on the leading edge of safety training at our 11th annual Engage conference.

Microlearning is the buzzword in the training world. But be warned—it’s not solely a method to learn “faster” or simply have shorter courses.

Every single one of your workers fits into one of the categories in the Knowledge Confidence Square. Think about your team as we move through each square: Who is often full of doubt? Who is uninformed? Who has reached a mastery level?

Today’s manufacturing workers are diverse, spanning generations, education, and cultures. Finding universal ways to effectively train all workers is key to maintaining quality and safety on the floor.