STRUCTURAL BUILDING COMPONENTS MAGAZINE
March 2006 Support Document

Over the course of the next year, a new column in SBC Magazine will explore various aspects of the work force shortage facing our industry, and examples from within the industry of what can be done to begin systematically addressing it. These aspects will include:

• Homegrown Technicians:

When it comes to truss technicians, there really is no substitute for someone who can do this job well. How do you find these promising individuals? The answers are as varied as the markets component manufacturers sell products in. However, one method has the greatest potential for meeting the industry's need for designers: hiring and training locally, also sometimes referred to as the "home grown" method. In general, this consists of working with your local high school or technical college, and enticing a promising student to come and work at your facility. SBC Magazine will explore this practice in greater depth and highlight a few examples where component manufacturers have successfully utilized it to meet their truss designer needs.

• Industry Promotion:

As stated earlier in this article, there is a generational and educational bias against the manufacturing and construction industries. This can be attributed, in no small way, to a misconception of what jobs are like in our industry and what type of career an individual can expect if they work in this industry. The most effective way to combat this misconception is through promotion of the positive aspects and varied career opportunities available to anyone who comes to work for you. In other words, it takes a committed and persistent effort to promote the industry to those outside of it. SBC Magazine will explore ways that you can effectively promote your business and share some ways in which WTCA and its members are marketing the industry.

• Local Relationships:

One of single most important steps you can take as a manufacturer to immediately improve your workforce situation is to develop a working relationship with your local community colleges, technical schools, and universities. In fact, it is never too early to start, high schools can also be a rich source of young minds eager to learn the skills necessary to become employable. These relationships are important, not only because of the many career fairs and job expos they host, but also for the opportunity they can offer you to speak to a classroom of attentive students about the many rewarding careers in the structural components industry. Arranging internships through their career and counselor offices is also a win-win-win situation for you, the employer, the student and the institution. SBC Magazine will cover in greater depth the many benefits of developing a close relationship with the educational institutions in your community.

• Adapting to Immigration Reform:

Leadership in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have pledged to enact meaningful reform of the nation's immigration system in 2006. How far reaching that reform ends up being is anyone's guess at this time. However, as stated earlier, the House has made the first move in passing H.R. 4437, the "Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2004." This measure, if enacted, would establish strict new employment reporting requirements and includes stiff fines of up to $25,000 to employers for each illegal immigrant worker they have hired. It does not contain any guest worker or work visa provisions and threatens immediate deportation for an estimated 11 million individuals (2000 U.S. Census data) currently working in the U.S. SBC Magazine will closely scrutinize this bill, as well as other measures expected to be introduced early in the session, and keep you informed on their potential impacts as well as potential strategies to comply with any new laws that result from enacted legislation.

• Local Workforce Boards:

You may or may not be aware the U.S. Department of Labor supervises a vast network of local workforce development boards across the country. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 gave state and local officials additional authority and flexibility in utilizing federal job-training aid. As a result, local workforce boards provide public training, job-search and placement assistance for the unemployed. In addition, many offer adult literacy and other labor-market services. The problem is that they are a resource that goes almost unnoticed, particularly by our industry. However, some manufacturers have had success filling positions through their relationships with these local organizations. SBC Magazine will look further into the role they play in bringing willing workers in contact with willing employers, and share instances where it has worked well in our industry.

• Building an Employee Team:

Moving beyond the challenges of finding qualified individuals, there are also obstacles in the workplace to overcome. Developing a cohesive and collaborative group of employees not only can help you save costs and speed up production, it also has the added benefit of attracting and retaining your workforce. The structural components industry possesses a manufacturing process that is rare in the level to which employees are dependent upon one another to produce the final output, from design to production. SBC Magazine will take a greater look at the opportunities for teamwork within your manufacturing facility, and provide examples of how some employers have made strides at building teamwork.

• Examining Benefits
Finally, you spend all that time and money to get each employee in the door and dedicate hours upon hours to training them. The last thing you want them to do is walk right out your door as soon as they get another offer somewhere else. Workforce studies done by Deloitte and Touche since 2001 have consistently shown that once they're in the door, employees take wages and basic benefits like health care as a given. They concluded that paying more doesn't equate to retention. Rather, differentiating yourself from other employers through offering advancement, supervisory experience, continuing education and training, and recognition for their contributions to the success of the company are the types of things that entice employees to stay with you for the long term. SBC Magazine will analyze various employee benefits and share some of the ideas component manufacturers across the country are implementing successfully to retain and reward their employees.