A sort of service known as “blue-collar” refers to jobs that frequently require manual labor and are either waged or paid. Blue-collar jobs typically don’t need any formal schooling or training.
Many of these vocations involve physically creating or maintaining something. But this position has changed throughout time. These days, it is common to find employees in this position who have a formal education and are highly talented at carrying out a particular duty.
Many of them can be found in the fields of electronics, filmmaking, and aviation. They might not require a four-year degree, but the majority of them require competent workers with specialized training.
How Can Blue-Collar Workers Be Rejuvenated And Engaged?
First, businesses should consider them an asset to be managed rather than a cost to be kept under control. Respect must be shown for those working these jobs. They’ll put in more effort, perform better, and show more loyalty. Developing programs to train unskilled and low-skilled personnel is a successful retention tactic.
Employers need to interact with parents, teachers, counselors, and high school students to dispel misconceptions and preconceived notions about such conventional sectors. Leaders must implement a strong engagement program to combat the social message that employees’ job is unpleasant or insignificant.
The Top 5 Ways to Motivate Blue-Collar Workers
- What is lacking in their workplace, exactly? Recognition!
Employee pride is cultivated by rewards and recognition. The motivation and engagement of employees who are proud of their work are higher. Their motivation needs to be very different from that of their peers in the white-collar sector. Companies must therefore design the ideal recognition and reward systems for these workers.
Give them monetary incentives, such as bonuses, raises in pay, or other concrete benefits. Employees were surveyed by Incentive Concepts to find out their preferred reward type. According to 62% of respondents, physical gifts were chosen over praise and prospects for professional advancement.
Factory floor workers appreciate incentives like invites to company functions. Dinner with the chairman is another option. For them, being able to offer such experiential benefits may be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Peer-to-peer recognition and verbal appreciation are equally important in the process.
- Encourage growth and learning
As they advance to positions of decision-making, acknowledge them. Many businesses are funding the higher education of their best employees. Additionally, they are elevating them to managerial positions. It fosters a culture of trust among the workforce. Long-term, it motivates them to place their loyalty to the company.
- Recognize the impact of their jobs on their health.
Many blue-collar employees experience loneliness, boredom, life discontent, unhappy jobs, or despair. It could be a result of their lifestyle decisions, financial problems, or working situations. Additionally, they had high rates of obesity and smoking.
It may be beneficial to promote employee participation in wellness activities. Employers must put a priority on developing health and well-being initiatives in addition to routine medical exams.
Such exercises may be quite easy and straightforward. You may quickly remind someone to eat their fruits and veggies by sending them a message that says, “Remember to eat your fruits and vegetables.”
Blue-collar workers may be challenging to engage in wellness initiatives. Their work schedule must be able to accommodate the wellness program’s flexibility. Additionally, the organization needs someone to interact with the staff. They can gather questions or concerns about well-being and then put that knowledge to use.
Your health initiatives must incorporate both intrinsic and extrinsic benefits. They would adore receiving compensated time off for engaging in numerous forms of exercise. They also enjoy gift cards! A healthy workforce will follow from doing this, which will lower absenteeism.
- Take their advice
Listening to them is a further strategy for engaging them. You must have a thorough understanding of every person and how they approach their work as a leader or HR manager. While some people could be open to learning, others might not be.
You need to strike up a discussion in order to find out what they’re looking for. Ask your staff what would make them more engaged. Pulse surveys, which have been tremendously successful in gauging employee morale, are now widely used by businesses.
- Handle them properly
It’s crucial to comprehend that office professionals and blue-collar workers have diverse perspectives on their professions. For them, a career has a special significance. For them, the word “career” denotes “profession.” They may not desire to be in managerial roles, but they do want to be professionals at all times
Blue-Collar Workers’ Future
These workers are at risk from automation since the majority of their work requires physical labor and a low level of ability. But research indicates that these jobs are not becoming obsolete. In actuality, the market is expanding quickly.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that: They all have above-average growth rates. The need for a range of these vocations that will survive the development of technology has been brought to light by the pandemic.
In the upcoming years, employers should be aware of the following trends:
- You must tech-enable your team if you want to increase productivity. Skills in computer technology and machine learning are also in demand.
- Improve the digital literacy of your blue-collar employees as well.
- Encourage them to experiment with data and analytics and to be inventive and creative. Await with anticipation their conclusions and analytical insights.
- Together, let’s work to enhance the other key performance abilities. It could involve social skills, cooperation, and teamwork.
- They think that people and robots will work together to perform these professions in the future. Helping them learn robotics will enhance their skills.
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