How to Best Prepare Your Workforce During Transitioning to Industry 4.0

According to Deloitte in their document "Preparing tomorrow’s workforce for the Fourth Industrial Revolution For business: A framework for action" many employers are currently struggling to find talent due to the mismatch between skills and employers' needs.

Technology has changed the way we work and live, and how businesses are operating. Automation and digitization greatly impact the skills required for specific jobs. 

But unfortunately a great number of organisations are not prepared for the transition to Industry 4.0, especially in terms of their workforce. This transformation in the new digital era brings in the creation of new jobs, but also the loss of many.

​Physically demanding, manual or routine jobs will decrease, and those that require problem-solving, flexible responses and customization will increase. In order to support this transition businesses will need to upskill and reskill their employees, and implement a culture of continous learning.

L.E.K Consulting's manufacturing survey revealed that automation is motivating decision-makers in manufacturing industries to actively invest in their workforce and four out of five say that they are preparing for an increase in automation technology. 

In their blog article 'The Smart Way to Prepare Your Workforce for Industry 4.0' L.E.K also suggests following the three Rs approach to preparing workforce of businesses for the transition to Industry 4.0:

• Retain - it's crucial to focus your resources on retaining your current employees, more particularly those who are older, more experienced, familiar with the factory and with deep knowledge of the company and its culture. 
• Retrain - invest in retraining and upgrading the skills of your current employees so they can manage automated processes and take on 'creative' jobs which are less likely to be replaced by automation. Train them in incremental skills needed for higher-level jobs such as data analysis, process improvement, etc.
• Recruit - retaining and retraining your workforce will not solve the challenges imposed by Industry 4.0. You will also need to focus your efforts on recruiting new more tech-savvy talent.

The TransIT project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, that the Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club is part of, is developing an innovative curricula, educational methods and training courses that guarantee an effective transition to Industry 4.0 standards. The project will provide a solution for company leaders, industry executives, HR professionals, SMEs and VET centers.

The TransIT project is producing three main elements that together will form a complete training kit, whereas each element will offer strong capacity building and help to successfully adjust to the forthcoming challenges of Industry 4.0 standards regarding the future of work.

As part of the Training Kit we are preparing under the TransIT project, we synthesise good management practice enabling the transition to Industry 4.0 with three main overarching topics: innovation thinking, motivation management and technical cooperation. It also consists of the most relevant concepts relating to adaptive management. For more information on this kit - guidebook, read here.