Reach the Students Earlier: Building a Passionate Medical Manufacturing Workforce

The skilled labor shortage, which according to a Deloitte and Manufacturing Institute study threatens to render two million American manufacturing jobs vacant by 2025, has begun to affect the medical device industry.
 
Despite medtech’s potential for a rewarding career in an industry whose purpose is to save lives, there is still a stereotype associated with employment in the skilled trades. The perception that a factory job requires little skill or thinking and offers no advancement opportunities unfortunately still prevails, and popular culture doesn’t help—trade workers are still depicted as bumbling, poor, uneducated, lazy, and rude.
 
This is simply not true, especially in medical device manufacturing. Today, skilled tradespeople working to build medical devices and components need strong technical know-how and experience to operate complex part fabrication machinery. To work in medical manufacturing, prospective employees must often complete work-based learning programs, undergo an apprenticeship program, or obtain an associate’s degree.
 
But changing the attitude toward the skilled trades is only the first step to build a competent and, more importantly, passionate medical manufacturing workforce. Medical manufacturing companies must also do their part to recruit and retain employees. It can cost significant time and effort to implement workforce development programs, but without them the skilled labor shortage will continue to decline.
 
To gain more insight into how medtech manufacturers are attracting and developing a passionate workforce, I spoke with Shane Vandekerkhof, global education and training integrator at RJG Inc., a Traverse City, Mich.-based complete injection molding solution provider.
 
Sam Brusco: What efforts, if any, does your company make to reach out to schools to generate interest in the industry? (Colleges, trade schools, high schools, even middle or grade schools?)

Shane Vandekerkhof: Most of our outreach is the community colleges who have developed or are developing plastics programs. We have partnerships with Central Community College in Columbus, Neb., Davis Technical College in Clearfield, Utah, University of Wisconsin-Stout in Stout, Wis., and Grand Rapids Community College in Grand Rapids, Mich. These partnerships vary from eDART equipment to hosting classes to some of them developing their own RJG Qualified Trainers or having our courses as part of a curriculum. On a more local level, we will bring in high school and middle school students for a site visit. We have done this at our facility in Gibsonville, N.C. and also in Traverse City, Mich. We have also had visits from elementary school students.

Brusco: Is there a way industry can get involved in the classrooms for a STEM program?
 
Vandekerkhof: What we are finding more and more often is that the industry needs to reach students at an earlier and earlier level so they realize this is a possible career path. Colleges and employers are going in at the middle school level more often. Bringing students into a facility to show them what products they make, how they make them, and where they apply to their everyday lives is an important component in community outreach.

Brusco: Does your company offer internships or apprenticeships as a means to attract and train employees? If so, what benefits have you found in using these programs? How can interns and/or apprentices be effectively used? 
 
Vandekerkhof: We do offer internships at our office in Traverse City, Mich. We have had students who are pursuing engineering, software programming, or plastics degrees. Besides having an additional resource to work on projects, the interns can also provide us with insight as to what the current needs are from a student’s perspective as well as what’s being taught, so we can stay current in attracting talent and providing the necessary training to the industry. 

Brusco: What education and training do you offer to enhance the expertise of your workforce? 
 
Vandekerkhof: We are currently working with the State of Michigan on a training grant to offer professional development training to our Michigan-based employees. There are no limits on what training is provided. It could include training on software to customized training that is particular to what we do. Our employees can take any of our training courses free of charge to further their knowledge of the injection molding process. This helps them communicate with our customers more effectively regarding product or training offerings. 

Brusco: What strategies do you employ regarding employee compensation and recognition to help retain your workforce? 
 
Vandekerkhof: RJG has a profit-sharing program that allows the opportunity to earn quarterly bonuses. We have monthly luncheons where we give employees company updates and recognize employee or departmental accomplishments. This could be completing a training event, implementing new processes or procedures that benefit the company, or a big personal accomplishment. We have a “High 5 board” where people can thank and appreciate each other for any reason. These “High 5s” are posted in our cafeteria and then sent out quarterly to our global workforce. We are always looking for ways to recognize our employees’ hard work. We have instituted a wellness program where employees have the opportunity to win prizes by completing certain fitness goals and challenges. Our office in Traverse City sits on a river and employees can sign out kayaks to take afloat. We have also put a Frisbee golf course on our property. We are trying to take advantage of a great location and offer employees activities. 

Brusco: How do you instill a sense of purpose (which is VERY important to the millennial workforce) in your employees to help ensure pride in their work and their retention?
 
Vandekerkhof: We have a very strong culture at RJG that instills hard work and fun. We understand that we can have a tremendous impact on our customers as a business, but also at a personal level. Some people will take our training to be able to get a job promotion or better themselves in some way, and if you look at how we can make a difference to a company or to a person, that brings a lot of job satisfaction. Our products can be found on airbag applications to medical devices and knowing we are helping our customers maintain a high level of quality to critical components is very satisfying.

Brusco: What future new efforts, if any, will you make to attract, educate/train, and/or retain your workforce? 
 
Vandekerkhof: We currently offer tuition reimbursement up to 100 percent without any commitment to staying with the company. We believe if you care about your employees and treat them right, they stay. Our turnover is pretty low compared to industry standards and I believe that’s a testament to the work environment we offer. We have also recently expanded our flexible work options, allowing people to work from home more often than in years past. More and more employees are taking this option, and you can see how much it means to them to be able to do that.

Brusco: Is there anything else you’d like to say regarding medical device industry workforce development? 
 
Vandekerkhof: I don’t believe the medical device industry is much different than other industries regarding workforce development. Injection molding companies are competing for labor across the board and the labor market remains very competitive. Whoever can find the right balance of wages, benefits, and quality of living will have an advantage.