Workforce Development: Employee Lifecycle

The employee lifecycle is an organizational technique that illustrates how employees interact with the firm they work for. The whole period that an employee spends working for a firm is divided into seven stages by the employee lifecycle:

• Attraction

• Recruitment

• Onboarding

• Development

• Retention

• Separation

• Advocacy 

Knowing what each stage of your employees' experience should bring during their time at your precast company will help enhance their overall experience and keep more employees on longer.

Attraction

Attraction is the initial phase of the employee lifecycle. This is a reference to a company's recruitment strategy. A business must comprehend its strategy for luring top people. A firm has to define goals for what it wants to be renowned for and how it will differentiate itself from competitors before it can comprehend how to recruit talent. Business attractiveness factors include brand recognition, company culture, and perks and benefits.

This phase of the model is crucial since prospects will choose here whether or not they find you appealing as a possible employer. You won't be likely to draw the ideal people to assist your business expansion if you don't make a solid first impression.

Focusing on developing your brand and reputation is the greatest strategy to enhance this early stage of the employee life cycle model. Your brand will gain an outstanding reputation if you have a culture that values employee growth and innovation.

What Precast Manufacturers Can Do to Improve Attraction

The younger generation of precast laborers and designers will ultimately be looking for companies that are innovative in their fields. Showing off new technologies or processes to potential employees will show them that you are always at the forefront of industry practices.

To gain their attention, it is also essential to be where your potential employees are. Make sure you have a solid online presence on various social media platforms to share your business and what an employee can expect to be doing. You don't need to follow TikTok trends, but showing how unique the precast manufacturing process is and the results can get the right people interested in a job with your company.

Recruitment

Recruitment is the next phase of the employee life cycle. This is crucial regardless of whether you handle the hiring process manually or using software. This is so that they will always have a positive impression of your business based on how you treat them during this process, even if they don't get the job.

A precast company must have a recruiting plan after attracting individuals to its business. They must consider the type of individuals they wish to hire and the process for doing so.

A potential employee will become more acquainted with your business culture and the position's requirements throughout the recruiting phase. When seeking competent individuals, weigh the advantages of employing your network and current workers vs external agencies.

What Precast Manufacturers Can Do to Improve Recruitment

Precasters can help future employees during recruitment by making the process as streamlined and straightforward as possible. Make sure to have your job listings on your website and places like Indeed or LinkedIn where people might be looking for them. And make sure to take down those listings too, once you hire someone.

Social media can also be a great place to show off your business and help with recruiting. Consider doing short videos of your current employees speaking highly about the company and then mentioning where people can apply for the same job.

Onboarding

Onboarding and orientation are the following phases in the life cycle of a new employee once you have hired them. The primary goal of this phase is to assist new workers in comprehending and assimilating your organizational culture.

Ensure you provide enough details at this phase so that recruits know your organization's objectives, philosophies, and values. Additionally, you want them to be aware of their role in developing your company.

The new employee needs to know when their first day is, what to expect from that day and week, what sort of training they can expect, what their responsibilities will be, and what documentation has to be finished before they start working. Surprisingly, 60% of workers decide whether or not to stay with a firm after their first day. Doing this correctly may give new hires the impression that they can leave their stamp on the company.

What Precast Manufacturers Can Do to Improve Onboarding

Precasters can help their employees with the onboarding process by having new employees complete as much of the paperwork everyone hates before they even step foot into the plant. That way, the first day can be about the job, not the forms.

Letting your precast employees get hands on the first day in a safe and controlled manner can be a great way to show them why working for you is the right choice. Show off the projects you have completed, the precast components you are working on, and teach them how their efforts in the plant translate into the larger picture.  

Retention

The goal of retention is to keep workers on board with the business. The results of your effort from the four earlier phases are seen at this point. A precast plant is more likely to keep employees if it performs an excellent job of attracting, hiring, onboarding, and developing talent.

Attrition among employees is a regular aspect of managing a company. However, you should take action to keep your top achievers. It's critical to comprehend at this point what stops employees from quitting. That entails paying attention to their feedback, giving them the tools to enhance how they complete their tasks, keeping them interested, and making sure they feel at ease with their daily routine.

The easiest method to do this is through a rewards and recognition program. Building a loving and encouraging culture is also vital to promote employee engagement and happiness.

What Precast Manufacturers Can Do to Improve Retention

Keeping employees is much easier than higher new ones for your precast plant. Not all employees will want to move through the ranks, but you should have options available for those willing to put in the hard work with a clear path they can follow to achieve that with your company.  

Also, regular feedback is important from your workers. Think about giving them an outlet, anonymously if needed, to provide constructive feedback and ensure your management is willing to listen and make changes when legitimate claims are made. An employee who offers a suggestion that is then acted upon will feel much more connected to an organization than one who is ignored.

Development

While some employees are content to work in the same position for a long time, others are driven to advance their careers within the company.

You want to assist your staff in this skill development phase so they can do their jobs more effectively. You also should show your employees that they have a defined career path, whatever that looks like, so they won’t be pushed to look for work at another company to achieve their career goals.

Employees desire challenges and the chance to advance in their professions. Employee career development should be outlined in detail by the employer. While an employee's self-motivation may contribute to some development, a business should provide possibilities for growth.

• Discuss goals regularly with personnel.

• Evaluate the knowledge and abilities of each employee.

• Frequently offer possibilities for training.

• Encourage external learning and honor staff who pursue independent study.

• Get your supervisors to work one-on-one with staff to assist them in prioritizing the areas that need improvement.

• Encourage the team members to take ownership of their growth.

What Precast Manufacturers Can Do to Improve Development

Consider offering classes through your company or offering to pay employees that take classes that will directly improve the job skills they are currently doing. PCI has a wide variety of free eLearning courses and several other online options your employees can look at.

For employees looking to move up in your organization, offer them a pathway and provide mentors within your organization to help guide them through the process. Also, think about training managers to notice employees who have potential and point that potential out to them.

Separation

Employees should, ideally, depart your organization with good feelings and desires for their coworkers. Take the time to comprehend the employee's reasons for leaving and solicit honest input on what you can do to improve the workplace if you want to boost your future outcomes. Regardless of the reason for leaving, it's critical to make this last stage enjoyable. Apart from anything else, it affects your other staff members when a team member quits.

What Precast Manufacturers Can Do to Improve Separation

No one likes to lose an employee, but precasters who have employees leaving should consider, just like any other company, how to make that experience positive. The standard offboarding procedures should be completed, but afterward, consider having a get-together to celebrate your employee leaving for better things and showcase all they accomplished with your organization.

It is also a good idea to ask your employee for feedback and ask if you can get a written or video testimonial of their experience working with your company before leaving. These can be used later for helping with recruiting new employees.

Advocacy

Even after leaving a firm, employees can still be helpful ambassadors for the employer brand. Employees are far more likely to suggest a company to friends or acquaintances seeking a job if they have had a positive experience there, especially when it comes time to depart. The brand might be harmed, and future hiring attempts could be less successful if, on the other side, an employee's leave experience was less than ideal.

Even if they are no longer your workers, try to consider them brand evangelists. If it suits your culture, consider sending them holiday cards or emails, inviting them to more company events, or getting in touch with them when you're looking for new positions to see if they know anybody.

What Precast Manufacturers Can Do to Improve Advocacy

Consider taking advantage of those employees that left your precast company but loved working there. When you have job openings, send them an email or LinkedIn message with the job posting to send to others. You can even consider offering an incentive if you hire someone they suggest.

If you are attending job fairs, consider inviting previous employees who can tell future ones how much they enjoyed working for you and what they can expect.