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Why Smarter Employee Scheduling Is Central to Manufacturing’s Comeback

The North American manufacturing sector is experiencing a historic revival. Driven by reshoring momentum, tariff shifts, and pro-industrial energy policies, there’s a wave of new factory builds, domestic supply chain reinvestment, and production realignment underway. Yet amidst rising capital ...

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How to Navigate Today’s Labor Landscape in Complex Industries: A Roundtable Discussion

The end of a year and the start of a new one is an ideal time for contemplation, reflection, and change, both on the personal level and for organizations as a whole. In 2023, even with the labor shortage easing, workforce managers will continue to contend with many of the same challenges that emerge...

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The Role of Workforce Flexibility in Manufacturing

Workforce Flexibility Series – Part 1 We recently completed another segment of our Manufacturing Leaders Roundtable Series with HR and operations experts from industries with high-volume staffing requirements. With continued labor stressors on operations leaders and frontline workers remaining hig...

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Top 3 Chemical Industry Challenges: How Employee Scheduling Automation Helps

Digitalization is a buzzword that resonates with all industries, but it’s an especially hot topic for chemical manufacturers today. So much so that analysts expect to see a surge of digitalization initiatives get underway in the short term. Workforce scheduling is one such initiative that is gaini...

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4 Proactive Strategies to Manage Absenteeism: A Best Practices Guide

Absenteeism, which is generally defined as the repeated pattern of habitual absence from work, has been a decades-long challenge for many companies. However, the problems stemming from absenteeism continue to skyrocket, especially in industries with frontline workers, thanks to the global pandemic a...

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How to Adapt Workforce Capacity to Meet Peak Demand

Even as employment rates stabilize, manufacturers and other 24/7 industries such as energy and healthcare still face a highly competitive labor market. These always-on operators need the ability to run lean and be more adaptive to ever-changing conditions. They must learn how to efficiently utilize ...

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4 Effective Scheduling Strategies to Increase Workforce Flexibility at Your Chemical Plant

The shortage of skilled labor has been a long-standing concern for the chemical industry. Scrambling to cover unexpected shift openings to meet minimum staffing and safety requirements is a daily challenge for many team leaders. COVID-19 has exacerbated the situation with short-notice worker absence...

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The 5 Myths of Overtime Management: How to Make OT Work For, Not Against, Your Business

The concept of overtime (OT) is a familiar one, especially in the United States. Woven into many companies and work cultures, overtime is an especially important aspect of front-line operations in always-on industries like energy, manufacturing, healthcare, and public safety. In fact, in the oil and...

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2020 Vision: Labor Laws to Watch in the Year Ahead

They say, “Hindsight is 20-20,” but being well-versed on the new labor and employment laws in your state is critical to manage the future of your company. From minimum wage increases to mandatory paid sick leave, here are a few things you need to watch for in the coming year. Minimum Wage Increa...

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How to Improve Staff Retention

Hourly Worker Retention Series – Part 4 This can be read as a stand-alone article and as part of our Hourly Worker Retention Series. How you nurture the quality of employee relationships is similar to nurturing personal relationships. When you meet someone new, for example, you find yourself very ...

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What Do Hourly Employees Want in Their Work Schedule?

Hourly Worker Retention Series – Part 3 This can be read as a stand-alone article and as part of our Hourly Worker Retention Series. Think of how you feel after spending hours on a complex puzzle only to realize you are missing a piece. This scenario is much like the challenges a manager faces whe...

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How Do Flexible Work Schedules Impact Retention?

Hourly Worker Retention Series – Part 2 This can be read as a stand-alone article and as part of our Hourly Worker Retention Series. How Do Work Schedules Impact Employee Retention? Let’s say you knew the secret to increase both productivity and retention of your hourly workforce – as well...

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