Planning for workforce growth: Workforce Development & Training

When William “Bill” Weier retired on Friday, December 4, 2020 after 41 years, he knew his retirement as a human resources (HR) veteran and well-seasoned machinist would be short-lived. In fact, he began his next chapter as the human resources director for Mazak Corporation the following Monday.

In Weier, Mazak had found the production-minded HR director the machine builder had been seeking.

I sat down with Weier during Mazak’s recent DISCOVER 2023 event at its headquarters in Florence, Kentucky, to learn about his, and Mazak’s, workforce development strategies and plans. What follows is a stream of conscious blueprint for employee development that any company, large or small, may find helpful amid the workforce shortages of today.

“To me,” he began, “the most important tenet of human resource management is to treat everyone with dignity and respect. And to expect that from everyone from the top down, and all the way through the organization.”

Emphasizing that type of culture at Mazak not only improves workforce development, Weier explained, it leads to workforce retention.

A slide from William Weier’s presentation at a Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive work environment training session held last year. Weier, who was invited to the event as a guest speaker, shared a story about recruiting David Clinger into the Mazak family.

“With retention,” he said, “it really comes down to the basics. It starts with great job descriptions. People need to understand their roles and the impact they have on the business. What’s more, they need to understand their potential progression and career path. Employees want to understand what it takes to level up in terms of skillset, pay and position.”

Mazak began by updating job descriptions across the organization. These include a skills matrix that provides a proficiency rating from 0 to 5 for each duty and task associated with each position. The proficiency scale is a tool used to place employees at the pay grades their skill sets demand. It’s not just a simple matter of how long someone has worked for the company.

“Years of service certainly affects proficiency in most cases, but it’s not everything,” Weier added.

Then there’s Mazak University (MU), which is comprised of more than 400 online classes that employees can take. If an employee wants to progress from a mechanical assembler to a runoff technician, they can use MU to find out what they need to learn in order to take on another role at the company. To complement that, Mazak also offers tuition assistance to those who seek further education outside of Mazak.

Showing existing employees the possibilities and future potential and that there is a tangible career trajectory for them at Mazak is key to the company’s workforce mission. So, when someone first secures a position at Mazak, Weier explained, that person isn’t limited to their initial role. For example, if someone joins the team to work with their hands, it doesn’t mean that the entirety of their path will involve manual work, though Weier emphasizes how important that type of skilled labor is to the organization’s success. He further noted that employees are encouraged to explore the possibilities and made aware that they can move up the ladder.

“Employees can work toward an associate or bachelor’s degree, and even for their master’s,” Weier continued. “We’re there to support you whatever journey they choose.”

Some of that support comes in the form of Mazak’s specialty recognition programs. One such program, called Hi-Potential Career Development, recently produced its first graduating class of five employees who all came off the shop floor, Weier said.

“One of the graduates was a top welder,” he noted. “His project was developing a process improvement team to improve the workflow out on the floor.”

The next Hi-Potential program will be twice as large with 10 employees, added Weier.

When it comes to recruiting new employees, Weier said there are many different avenues.

There’s a school down in Pikeville, Kentucky, which offers a two-year program for machinists and programmers. In the last two years or so, Mazak has hired eight of the school’s graduates.