A blue-collar employee is an industrial worker performing manual labour and forms the base of the workforce pyramid. Such base-level employees may be skilled in certain tasks but a majority of them would be still uneducated, low-skilled. Blue-collar workers often earn wages as per their daily work. Staffing companies in India and manpower outsourcing companies, who are into bulk recruitment, are concentrating more towards recruiting blue-collar workers in the industry.
Blue-collar workers form the base of an organisation and have massive economic importance. They perform physical labour jobs like agriculture, plant operations, warehousing, mining, food processing, trucking, etc. They are the economic workforce who immensely contribute towards industrial production and profit.
In India, from 2012 to 2022, a considerable percentage of blue-collar employees have shifted from agriculture to the industrial production and services sector. Earlier, a huge portion of the blue-collar workforce was in agriculture only with a lower percentage involved in industrial activity. This portrays an even distribution of blue-collar workers across the economic sectors in India which signifies their involvement towards industrial as well as economic development. Staffing companies in India must maintain their focus towards the recruitment and outsourcing of blue-collar workers to the industrial and services sectors.
Blue-collar employees form the lower base of the industrial workforce as they are directly involved in industrial production with manual labour. Hence, the probability of them leaving jobs is much greater than the higher-level workers or white-collar workers who are into office work. These workers might be dissatisfied with the wages they are getting or maybe their workplace conditions are not suitable for them, on account of which they may decide to resign.
Organisations must follow certain strategies that can help them keep their blue-collar workforce satisfied and help retain them. Manpower outsourcing companies must also be involved in formulating strategies to gain more insights into blue-collar employee retention.
To be precise, blue-collar employees lack decision-making power and their work routine is repetitive. This can make them suffer physical exhaustion and sometimes they are into performing dangerous and life-threatening industrial tasks. Such harsh situations can take a toll on your blue-collar workforce. These can make them feel undervalued and can create job dissatisfaction within them.
Organisations need to inculcate certain strategies to ensure blue-collar workforce satisfaction. As you are aware, the basis of employee retention happens to be job satisfaction. So, this strategy will apply to blue-collar workers as well.
This is the first and foremost strategy that organisations should apply. Recognising their blue-collar workers and collaborating with them. You, as a manager, must get them involved in the organisation’s decision-making processes rather than forcing your decisions on them. Also, you can consider asking for their feedback on the work they are doing which will enable them to feel connected with you. Show empathy towards your workers while communicating with them. This will make them feel valued and motivated, which, in turn, will ensure their job satisfaction.
Rewards are always welcome for any employee! Just like white-collar employees, blue-collar workers also have expectations. They expect to be rewarded and their achievements to be acknowledged by the management. Rewards and acknowledgements act as a source of encouragement to workers so that they can have a positive mindset towards their jobs and workplaces.
As a manager, you need to identify the potential hazards that can harm your blue-collar workforce. These workers are sometimes involved in life-threatening industrial tasks and in case they are handling complex industrial machinery or are involved in construction sites, they are prone to serious injuries.
In such cases, the organisation must implement medical and life insurance schemes for these workers. This will ensure their safety as well as make their families financially secure. Implement regular medical check-ups for your blue-collar employees. Medical insurance schemes will help them during unforeseen accidental injuries, disabilities or illnesses. If loss of life happens during certain hazardous industrial activities, their family members or nominees can be paid through life insurance schemes.
Best performers, often white-collar workers, are recognised at workplaces with monetary hikes and promotions. Blue-collar workers involved in direct manual labour deserve such hikes too. They are often daily-wage workers who are paid accordingly as per the work they do in a day. Implement a strategy where the best-performing blue-collar employees receive considerable hikes based on their performances. This will surely keep them motivated and improve their productive ability further.
Technology is the requirement of the modern world with artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) taking over the work culture. With the digitalisation of the workplace, it is best to invest in technology and along with that train and develop your blue-collar workforce on the latest technologies and implement them in their work routine. This will make your workers feel empowered as their professional skills while doing their jobs will considerably improve. Such blue-collar workers who will be highly skilled in technology will be an asset to you in the future.
Staffing companies in India need to identify prospective blue-collar employees interested in learning new technologies in the workplace and developing themselves towards better industrial production.
Remember, blue-collar employees are just like white-collar ones. They may be performing manual labour, but their demands are similar. Their needs shouldn’t be underestimated. If their basic demands concerning their health and safety, salaries and performance rewards are met, they are sure to feel satisfied and motivated to perform better. What’s better, if you take care of their needs they will choose to stay with your organisation as long as you would want them to.
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