Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/817722
May 2017 • SMT Magazine 41 an extended amount of time does so because of its employees. Thankfully for those of us in the PCB assem- bly industry, we have the IPC standards to guide our way. The IPC has a time-tested training pro- cedure that works individually or on entire teams. This affords us a positive benefit of not having to find candidates with both the skills and character to fit the position. So, do we hire skills? Or do we hire culture? If the candidate has both, then this is not a ques- tion. However, if we can interview candidates that are interested in the position, but don't have the skills as well as those that are skilled, we've increased the number of candidates that we can review. We also have the confidence that these candidates can be trained sufficiently to fill the position. This method requires us to un- derstand that the candidate will not be valuable the day they start. Training takes time and of course a lot of practice. It requires a big com- mitment for the company and the employee to agree to employment without skills. Once you've found them, how do you hire them? Once you've found a worthy candidate, you've got to make them an offer that will result in a positive reaction. Some companies don't struggle with this part of the hiring procedure. The smaller companies though, do. There's a lot to consider. For instance, if you've found a skilled person that fits well into the culture, you must be able to offer them a package that is a step up from their current position if you hope to convince them of a change. If you've chosen an un-skilled person you must balance the cost of training with the cost of normal employment and still make it lucra- tive for both. It's a difficult position to be in for the smaller companies, but a necessary one. We've already acknowledged that our compa- nies would not be successful if not for our em- ployees. That includes our newest employees. Training: Pros & Cons If your company must consider a training program, and I suggest every company does, you will have concerns that must be reviewed, discussed and agreed to internally. Any training program will be costly and time consuming. It will require either sending the employee offsite for a week or more, or if you're committed to the process you may have an IPC certified train- er on your team. In which case, it will require two of your employees be out for at least one week. There are positives and negatives to consid- er with both options. If you choose to send the employee away to get the training you will en- dure the costs each time and experience incon- sistency because the trainers are different each time. If you choose to have someone internal- ly qualified as a trainer then the costs will be less, but you'll also lose one of your top em- ployees for an entire week for training. Howev- er, each employee will be trained consistently and with a slant toward the way your company wants things done. It helps to not have to un- learn practices learned from an outside trainer. Also, you will undoubtedly consider the ramifications of a training program. How many of these people will take advantage of our gen- erosity and then leave our company for a high- er wage? How many will appreciate the amount of time and effort we've invested and stay long term? What will the return of investment be to the company? These are all valid questions and unfortunately cannot be answered accurately until time has passed. Some company-trained employees will leave—count on it! Some will also stay and become valuable and trusted em- ployees that you can depend on for a long time. The Nurturing Process: Gen X, Gen Y and Millennials Every company has a diverse group of em- ployees. A common topic discussed these days is how to cater to your Gen X, Y and millennial employees. Their motivations for work are not the same. The Gen X employees learned early in their careers that work is necessary to live. Gen Y employees feel that there must be a work/life balance and millennials feel that work should enhance their life. I won't get into a discussion of management techniques for success; that is for another arti- cle. However, it's easy to see that all employ- ees cannot be managed the same way. In gen- eral, it may be easiest to recognize the differ- THE CHALLENGE OF FILLING POSITIONS IN THE PCB ASSEMBLY INDUSTRY