From High Turnover to High Performance: The TEaMS Training Advantage

This article appeared in the April 2025 issue of MiMfg Magazine. Read the full issue and find past issues online.

In today’s business environment, manufacturing managers face hiring challenges as seasoned employees retire and new employees, often with non-industry experience (retail, food service), join the workforce. This transition can lead to gaps in industry-specific skill sets that result in quality and productivity issues. Lack of experience or confidence can also lead to cultural disconnects between new hires and the organization which results in a high turnover.

After Training: Will They Stay or Will They Go?

As seasoned employees are retiring in record numbers, their tribal knowledge and experience leaves with them. Traditional training typically focuses on task completion in sequence and doesn’t capture tribal knowledge and technique.

When new hires come from non-manufacturing industries, they lack industry experience and skill sets, and exhibit higher risks of safety, quality and productivity issues. When not confident, new employees are more likely to quit, forcing HR and manufacturing teams into a perpetual hiring/training loop. We see situations where job trainers have less than two years of experience. It is not surprising these organizations are experiencing safety, quality and productivity challenges.

Training Enhancement and Mentoring

TEaMS (Training Enhancement and Mentoring System) focuses on knowledge transfer and skill development, not just sequence of operations. TEaMS hones knowledge transfer by emphasizing why process attributes are important to the product.

MMA partner The Luminous Group has developed the TEaMS methodology to provide comprehensive guidance on three key questions:

• What tasks need to be performed?
• How should these tasks be executed?
• Why are these tasks important for maintaining Safety, Quality and Productivity?

By answering these questions, TEaMS ensures that employees have a clear understanding of their responsibilities and the impact of their work.

TEaMS builds skill development by ensuring the new employee understands what is important in each process attribute and how to perform each process.

A mentor works with each employee to ensure understanding, building employee confidence, while providing two-way communication with the employee.

Real Results and Competent New Operators

The Luminous Group has helped several companies implement TEaMS. A Michigan manufacturer was experiencing challenges in quality, productivity and new hire turnover. This manufacturer was using traditional “on the job training” but found it was no longer sufficient and asked The Luminous Group for help.

The organization assembled a team of skilled operators, team leaders, quality and safety team members to develop a TEaMS toolbox. TEaMS incorporated their existing standard work documentation and created touch points between the employee and the mentor during the training process. Employee feedback is evaluated and used to improve the training.

Since the implementation of the TEaMS program, the company has observed significant improvements in:

• Training Effectiveness: Employees receive more thorough training, leading to better retention and improved skill
• Employee Engagement: The interactive nature of TEaMS improved employee satisfaction resulting in reduced turnover
• Quality Improvement: With a deeper process understanding, employees reduced errors
• Productivity Enhancement: Employees achieved productivity goals earlier

Is your organization experiencing safety, quality and productivity issues with new employees? Want to reduce knowledge loss of retiring employees? Rethink your approach to operator training and explore solutions such as TEaMS. Learn more.

About the Author

Bob Peery is a dynamic operations professional with extensive experience in Lean/Continuous Improvement and industrial manufacturing. He may be reached at bob@luminousgroup.com.

The Luminous Group is an MMA Premium Associate Member and has been an MMA member company since December 2017. Visit online: www.luminousgroup.com.