Podcast: Why investing in workforce training pays off for manufacturers
Key takeaways
- Experiential training boosts retention and performance by engaging employees in hands-on learning and real-world simulations.
- Hiring from non-traditional backgrounds requires structured onboarding and context to bridge industry knowledge gaps.
- Short-term thinking undermines long-term ROI—training is a critical investment, not just a cost.
- Career paths and internal growth opportunities improve retention and reduce costly turnover in manufacturing roles.
Maria DeLorenzis Reyes is CEO of training innovations at MDR Brands. She has over 30 years of experience in training and development, product management, project management, and business process re-engineering. Her background includes a mix of corporate and entrepreneurial roles, along with academic training in business from multiple sectors. Maria recently spoke with Adrienne Selko, senior editor at EHS Today, about how companies should design training to be more effective and what role leadership plays in training.
Below is an excerpt from the podcast:
EHST: I think one of the aspects our audience would appreciate the most—since most of us work in manufacturing—is if we did an overview of some of the best practices you’ve found in working with manufacturing companies over the years.
MDR: I’ve had a wide range of experiences working with manufacturing companies. A lot of times, the training methods I use really depend on the specific needs of the company—whether I’m working with people on the floor or in the back office, all of whom are part of the production process in different ways.
The methods I believe are most effective are actually a combination. People need to be able to watch videos, take in information visually—but then what’s even more helpful, and often not given enough time, is the discussion afterward. Bringing people together to have what I call the "experiential" part of training—where they interact, go through an activity, and deliberate on takeaways, different perspectives, and how it all applies.
I remember one particular time when we were addressing a lack of mastery among some line workers. The issue actually stemmed from how management was training them. When I dug into it, the training process was basically: “Show them once, then expect results,” with no follow-up resources or structure. These leaders never really learned how to train. So, the blame often fell on the operators when, in fact, it was the training process itself that was flawed.
What really helped was putting the leaders through exercises that showed how detailed and actionable training needs to be for it to stick. The only way they could grasp that was to experience it themselves through simulation. So while it doesn’t have to be the only method, that hands-on, experiential element is absolutely essential.
EHST: What we’re hearing from manufacturers is that, more and more, employees aren’t coming from what would be considered the “traditional” route—technical schools or even four-year degrees. Because of the labor shortage, companies are hiring people from fast food, Amazon, and other industries, which brings a totally different perspective. How challenging is that training?
MDR: Yeah, that’s a great point. I mean, listen—there are certain skills (and I hate that they’re called this) referred to as “soft skills,” that are just essential. They go beyond technical ability. Sure, you need technical skills to run machines or work in engineering, depending on the company. But soft skills apply across all industries.
The challenge comes down to context. New hires from other industries need to understand the environment—what the company does, why it does it, who the customers are. They need to get a feel for the ecosystem, which may be completely different from where they came from.
That said, there’s also opportunity in that. Take someone coming from fast food—it’s a highly systematized environment. There's a lot of process, innovation, SOPs, and standards. That’s a similarity that can be leveraged in training.
But here's the issue: a lot of companies have moved away from really investing in comprehensive training. Sure, they’ll train someone on how to operate a machine or complete a process. But they skip the rest—the context, the soft skills, the understanding of how it all fits together. Without that holistic approach, it becomes very difficult for people to thrive, especially when they’re coming from other industries.
EHST: One of the reasons I’ve heard for that, especially in conversations with manufacturers, is the ROI on training. Twenty years ago, people stayed with a company for five to seven years. They’d cross-train and move up in the organization. Now, the workforce doesn’t stay as long. So companies don’t want to invest in training people who might only be there for three years. They’d rather just train them for the specific job. Have you seen that?