Dive Brief:
- Blu Perspective LLC, a western Michigan light industrial firm that serves the automotive and office furniture industries, has a unique manufacturing employee readiness training program that's producing outstanding results, MiBiz reports.
- With a lack of skilled labor in the region, Blu Perspective created an in-house training program to teach employees the soft skills needed to succeed in a manufacturing environment. But, now due to demand from their customers, Blu Perspective is training and contracting out a portion of their workforce to other companies once they complete the training program.
- The Blu Perspective program is also unique because it addresses a current lack of life skills training that area technical schools do not provide. Experts in the staffing industry see this as a way to improve upon the quality of manufacturing candidates in the market and a new way to manage a growing contingent workforce.
Dive Insight:
Many companies are faced with shortages of quality candidates around the nation. What a company like Blu Perspective is doing can serve as a model that others can follow. Taking charge of the training needs of employees and then essentially loaning them out to other firms is a risk that they are willing to take, but it also makes them a partner with other companies at the same time.
There is a return on investment in each of the trained employees who've completed the program in the form of billable hours and loyalty from customers that can last for years. Other companies are offering free college education, certification programs, and mentoring opportunities to try to close skill gaps.
