How to Retain Your Experienced Welders

When you do get skilled and experienced welders, just keep them. Reflect those effective and proven ways to perfect your manpower retention strategies.

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7 Easy Ways of Motivating Your Welders
6 Sure-Fire Ways of Motivating Your Unskilled Welders

Developing Effective Welding Manpower: Learn from a Successful Model (Part 1)

Now that there need a large number of skilled and experienced welders who can handle well welds and help train and inspire novice welding workers who are expected to make remarkable future contribution to your business. It is important that you hunt out the experienced, complementing your manpower. And it will be more crucial if you can retain them and earn their commitment. Keeping those employees will help prevent the revolving door of welders at the shop-floor and in the field. 

Below are some effective ways that many companies have successfully applied. You can refer to and it will be great if you make some constructive additions to this list. 

1. Regular events for honouring the laborforce

Those events not just help cement relations between employers and employees, and between employees, but free welders’ work stress and concern. They dedicate much time to their job, then there need some time spared for their life entertainment. Those events do help out. If brand-new welding workers often think of dwelling into their work for skilling up and solidifying their career, the experienced, to some extent, prefer a work-life balance. Of course, they will strive for more recognition, much better pay and work advancement. At the same time, they want to have some space to entertain. The workplace include such entertaining events can keep the veteran welders for long.

Regular cookouts or the like will be very effective to foster labor relation and keep experienced welders

These events may include a large workforce event with nicely served food and drink,  games, raffles for gift cards, TVs and cash, and regular party outdoors where the office workers act as the serving lines. 

2. Paid handshakes for welders

Handshakes bring warmth, sincerity, willingness and commitment. Shake your welder's hand and give him worthy encouragement

The company management takes a random walk around the workshop and hand out a bill (ex. $50) to a welder with well organized workspace or demonstration of a significant effort in dealing with a customer. That way will bring out surprising happiness to employees and motivate their contribution. Plus, they will enjoy more job satisfaction, feel more comfortable with their employers, which is more important than pay. Not to mention the fact that bonus is a remarkable motivator of workers.

3. Perks to promote positive welder activity

If welding workers display safe working practices, have their training, certifications updated, or enhance operations through a helpful suggestion, for example, they will be entitled for the perks. Perks here vary by companies. However small or big fringe benefits are, they sure will put a big smile on your welders because you manage to create a culture that your employees want to engage in, be proud of and share in the company growth.

4. Effective training on new technologies, machines, consumables

It is important to offer useful training on state-of-the-art technologies, machines as well as consumables to the company workforce to keep the welders engaged in their work. The employees need feel that they are contributors to an organization’s success. A company’s investment in training its existing welders will be just like assertive words for its commitment to their future, and significantly more cost effective than hiring and training new workers.

5. Safety as the culture

The workplace stressing safety as its culture will be more inviting and enable welders to exert their best efforts. This should cover repetitive  safety training, frequent assessment of working practices, OSHA requirements and safety standards. Also, the employers should allow the welders to involve in open discussions and suggest safe working habits.

Developing a welding fume extraction system may solve ventilation, communicating a message of workforce appreciation. Such a heartfelt care for employees will help contribute to improved retention. 

All in all, an enterprise’s goal is to create and sell products that best serve its customers whilst reaping profitability gains. A strong manpower is pivotal to accomplishing that goal. Strategic recruitment coupled with structure workforce retention efforts will surely go a long way to maintain safety, engagement and productivity of a skilled and experienced workforce.

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Developing Effective Welding Manpower: Learn from a Successful Model (Part 3)

How to push up an effective welding workforce that excellently achieves production goals and specifications and becomes dedicated to the company? Let’s take lessons from a successful model and get the satisfying answer!

It will be a success if you manage to bring talents into the fold. And it will be a hit if you can develop an effective welding manpower. You can avail tips generously given by companies successful in building a talented welding team that work out their heart. Among them is Shapiro & Duncan Inc. – the third generation mechanical contractor with services in the mid Atlantic region. Its current manpower of 40 workers includes pipe cutters and fitters, plumbers, warehousing workers, truck drivers, and 6 pipe welders. 3 of them are the experienced with at least 4-year dedication to the company. The other 3 are newcomers with on the job for at most 90 days. Until 6 months ago, this company ran a three-welder shift, but as a matter of a work surge, it added another three-welder shift.

Let’s see how Shapiro & Duncan Inc. developed its welding team.

3. Give motivated candidates ample opportunities to become a welder

Will motivated young welders be worth a chance?

It is worth giving motivated candidates chances of being part of your company. This holds for many companies, including Shapiro & Duncan Inc. Some of this company best outcomes have been with the young without knowing what they wanted to do from scratch, but with enthusiasm and enjoying a kinaesthetic style of learning. Once they establish themselves in the trade, their outlook becomes bright. It is not overstating that pipe welding workers will always be able to land a job. Employment security and high wage are guaranteed if novice welders have good attitude and flame will to complete their training.

4. Don’t just stop with technical training

It is critical to develop your welders' soft skills!

Technical training is important though, it is not enough to make a powerful welding team. It just as important for new welders to develop behavioural skills and learn about the company culture.

However good you are, or how many times you have been around the block, everyone coming into this company has to live the company values, and work towards achieving the company goal. That is why Shapiro & Duncan partners every new welders with a veteran supervisor in the field.

Overall, while technical skills are critical to posses, especially in welding, work ethic, soft skills are just as important when it comes to employee advancement and company’s effective operation.

See also:
Developing Effective Welding Manpower: Learn from a Successful Model (Part 1)
Developing Effective Welding Manpower: Learn from a Successful Model (Part 2)

Read More

Developing Effective Welding Manpower: Learn from a Successful Model (Part 2)

How to push up an effective welding workforce that excellently achieves production goals and specifications and becomes dedicated to the company? Let’s take lessons from a successful model and get the satisfying answer!

It will be a success if you manage to bring talents into the fold. And it will be a hit if you can develop an effective welding manpower. You can avail tips generously given by companies successful in building a talented welding team that work out their heart. Among them is Shapiro & Duncan Inc. – the third generation mechanical contractor with services in the mid Atlantic region. Its current manpower of 40 workers includes pipe cutters and fitters, plumbers, warehousing workers, truck drivers, and 6 pipe welders. 3 of them are the experienced with at least 4-year dedication to the company. The other 3 are newcomers with on the job for at most 90 days. Until 6 months ago, this company ran a three-welder shift, but as a matter of a work surge, it added another three-welder shift.

Let’s see how Shapiro & Duncan Inc. developed its welding team

2. Cement relationships to find out talents

Foster connections to detect talents!

For successful effort of manpower recruitment, the company starts with hiring ads in local newspapers, trade magazines and on its website. Plus, it leverages community relationship. For instance, it develops connections with local welding schools, and such association as Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). When ABC kicked off a welding and pipe-fitting apprenticeship, Shapiro & Duncan got involved. Its relationships also extend to government agencies like the D.C Department of Employment Services. Those relationships allows it to quickly and effectively bring talents into the fold.

The main difference between the welder recruitment process and processes for other trades is that welders are required to overcome the hands-on testing. The novice welders are offered with a week on the job before Shapiro & Duncan tests them. For those with past welding experience, the company may test them just right away. Its hiring process is proved effective. On the in-house GMAW test, its candidates have to weld a joint on the Schedule 80 pipe to ASME’s B31.1 power piping code. The weld is required to be perfect without pits or cracks. Following one week of training, the pass rate is 90%.

Here technical training takes place in a controlled environment for absorbing essentials of welding before those skills have to be used under more demanding conditions in the field. That basic learning involves welding 2 pipe sections together on a workbench with all the equipment and tools in place; welding pipe sections with 9 feet off the ground and in a tight space. Shapiro & Duncan gives their new hires the chance to get it just right in the fabrication shop before sending them out in the field.

It can be seen that welding workers are now in hot demand, especially, those with experience and skills. Amid skill shortages, many employers refuse to give a pay rise. This is making it harder to attract and retain talents. One of effective response to this problem is to foster relationships with related agencies and associations, such as training centers, staffing agencies. By so doing, employees can look for right persons, even if they are at entry level. Those newbies with motivation and passion will create many values to the company if the employers offer proper training and orientation. What they have is youthful energy, a strong burning desire to conquer challenges and chase their career. What they lack is experience and skill. So it is partly up to employers who can completely set their heart on fire, give them bright outlook and appropriate coaching.

See also:
Developing Effective Welding Manpower: Learn from a Successful Model (Part 1)
Developing Effective Welding Manpower: Learn from a Successful Model (Part 3)

Read More

Developing Effective Welding Manpower: Learn from a Successful Model (Part 1)

How to push up an effective welding workforce that excellently achieves production goals and specifications and becomes dedicated to the company? Let’s take lessons from a successful model and get the satisfying answer!

You may also be interested in:

7 Easy Ways of Motivating Your Welders
6 Sure-Fire Ways of Motivating Your Unskilled Welders
How to Retain Your Experienced Welders

It will be a success if you manage to bring talents into the fold. And it will be a hit if you can develop an effective welding manpower. You can avail tips generously given by companies successful in building a talented welding team that work out their heart. Among them is Shapiro & Duncan Inc. – the third generation mechanical contractor with services in the mid Atlantic region. Its current manpower of 40 workers includes pipe cutters and fitters, plumbers, warehousing workers, truck drivers, and 6 pipe welders. 3 of them are the experienced with at least 4-year dedication to the company. The other 3 are newcomers with on the job for at most 90 days. Until 6 months ago, this company ran a three-welder shift, but as a matter of a work surge, it added another three-welder shift.

Let’s see how Shapiro & Duncan Inc. developed its welding team.

1. Develop a challenging and rewarding environment at workplace

Make all your worker efforts rewarded!

Welders in its fabrication shop are expected to end up an 8-hour day with 100 inches of welds or more completed. 99% of the time, its welders are able to attain that daily production goal as well as specification. How can this company get that satisfying result? Indeed,…

According to its longest tenured welder – Richard Youngbar, the key to this job success is to keep down the shield and keep welding. He is persistently motivated and quick to take the initiative. Youngbar has been dedicated to Shapiro & Duncan Inc. for over 10 years. His specialization is in gas metal arc welding (GMAW). As the most veteran welder, he also acts as the informal mentor to those newer to this welding team.

Youngbar and his team welders apply Fab Man - a custom-tailored project management software program, for staying on top of the work-flow. This software serves as a tool-kit for short interval planning (SIP) and time entry. Each welding workers clocked into this program at the start of his workday and chooses work orders which display how much time is allocated to challenge each weld. The welders are motivated to beat these times  bearing in mind that they are in charge of completing a weld that addresses the specification. A spool map showcases a drawing of what needs doing. When completing a work order, they clock out and choose a new one.

This way is another word of work planning. Indeed, with a specific planning, goal to be attained, workers find it easy to promote themselves.

For quality control, it is important to watch the welders when they are working. Look at closely every joint. Some complex weld might have to be sent to a vendor for an ultrasound or X-ray inspection, but for the most part, visual inspection is the standard determinant for whether its welders meet fabrication expectation. Also, the company gives individual welders pointers to help them perform the appropriate root pass, keep uniform bead, and most importantly, stay within the expected specs.

Building a challenging employment, this company manages to push up its employees, make most of their capability, help them with strength promotion and weakness improvement. Not only intended for a stimulating and inspiring environment, Shapiro & Duncan Inc. motivates its workers with worthy rewarding. Because they add value to the company, they would see value back. Specifically, aside from a commitment to its employees and equipping them the resources they need to do their job, it fosters good communication with them. Everyone here treat each other just like a family, and try to have some fun at free time every day. Admirably, Shapiro & Duncan Inc. has lost just one welder within the past 10 years.

To add it up, when the two sides – employers and employees, enjoy win-win benefits, anything called motivation, hard work, productivity, revenues can be handled well without much sweat.

See also:
Developing Effective Welding Manpower: Learn from a Successful Model (Part 2)
Developing Effective Welding Manpower: Learn from a Successful Model (Part 3)

Read More