CONFERENCE DAY ONE

7:00 am Registration & Networking

8:15 am What it Takes to Make a Leap a Reality

8:20 am Chair’s Welcome, Opening Remarks & Connection Before Content

Navigating & Preventing Unionized Working Environments

8:30 am Discover: Re-Branding HR away from Compliance to People & Culture to Enhance Collaboration

Synopsis

  • How can we change the relationship with HR leaders to be perceived as more collaborative rather than policing?
  • Partner HR with managers to create systemic change, introduce weekly meetings and rebrand HR to Culture services
  • How Magnaflow have increased employee satisfaction and engagement to a strong 92-95% through working closely with their people leaders to change the perception and structure of HR

8:50 am Discover: Building Trust, Transparency & Communication to Enhance Employee Relations

  • Elise Szarek Human Resources Manager - North America, Whitebridge Pet Brands

Synopsis

  • How can we prevent unionization by keeping employees happy?
  • Don’t just be A resource – be THE proactive Human Resource and provide company knowledge before it is requested
  • How Whitebridge Pets proactive approach with regards to communication and knowledge sharing has gained earned their employees trust and increased relations across the business 

9:10 am Discover: 3 Pillars of Engagement for Manufacturing Comms

Synopsis

  • Why STULZ USA uses an employee experience app to reach their workforce
  • 3 keys to high engagement with their frontline teams
  • Tips and examples you can use

9:30 am Develop: How Can We Navigate Already Unionized Environments?

  • Patricia Welch Vice President - People & Culture, Magnaflow
  • Elise Szarek Human Resources Manager - North America, Whitebridge Pet Brands
  • Tobi Anderson Head of Customer Experience, Speakap
  • Kimberly Goad SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Senior Director of Human Resources & Environmental Health & Safety, STULZ USA
  • Lane Gregory, MBA Director of Marketing, STULZ USA

Synopsis

Question & Answer Session Facilitated by the Focus Day Chair

With an increase in unionization across the manufacturing industry, alongside the shifting workforce expectations of the next generations of workers, what can we do to enhance employee relations or navigate an already unionized environment? 

9:50 am Action: How Are You Going to Take A More Proactive Approach to Employee Relations & Satisfaction?

Synopsis

Output Focused Action Session Facilitated by the Chair

How can we keep our front line employees engaged to prevent unionization?

  • What can we do to increase transparency and trust of the company?
  • How can we structure a communication campaign that reminds production line employees of the benefits of working here?
  • What are the practical things that we can adopt to make this transition easier?

10:10 am Innovation: Leveraging data & AI to retain your workers

Synopsis

  • How can we turn siloed HR data into actionable insights without hours of manual work?
  • Make data-driven decisions to improve engagement, retention, and hiring
  • Understand how AI can automate manual processes and supercharge your work

10:20 am Speed Networking Break

11:20 am Discover: Creating a Structured Competency System for Talent Development

  • Eric Piquant Director of Industrial and Operational Excellence Competencies Development, Michelin

Synopsis

  • How can we increase talent development opportunities for our floor staff?
  • Create a structured competency system
  • How Michelin have created a structure that has increased corporate home grown talent to 40%, this structure encompasses a gap analysis that helps map employees identify the competencies needed to develop

11:40 am Discover: Leveraging Leadership Development & Coaching to Influence Retention

  • Mark Farmer Senior Manager of People Operations, Grain Craft

Synopsis

  • How can we develop and empower our leaders to properly manage and lead their teams
  • Implementing a ‘Coaching’ model that ties into performance management and understanding the stark difference between Coaching and other techniques such as mentoring, counseling, and consulting
  • How Grain Craft have developed a leadership development program that includes 12 learning modules, leading to more engaged team members and an increase in retention

12:00 pm Discover: How AI is transforming the way we listen and engage leaders

Synopsis

  • AI in manufacturing is skyrocketing but do employees trust it?
  • 5 ways AI is changing how we engage and develop leaders right now
  • What AI will never replace…

12:20 pm Develop: How Else Can We Develop Our Leadership?

  • Mark Farmer Senior Manager of People Operations, Grain Craft
  • Eric Piquant Director of Industrial and Operational Excellence Competencies Development, Michelin
  • Steven Frost CEO & Founder, WorkBuzz
  • Dawn Smedley Head of Culture, WorkBuzz

Synopsis

Question & Answer Session Facilitated by the Chair

With an increasing diversifying workforce, how can we develop the skills needed for the changing manufacturing industry?

12:40 pm Action: How Are You Going to Develop Your Leadership?

Synopsis

Output Focused Action Session Facilitated by the Chair

How can we increase talent development opportunities for our factories team members?

1:00 pm Innovation: An Industry 5.0 Primer for Manufacturing Leaders

Synopsis

In this session, we will share real-world examples of how L’Oréal, Bosch, Coty and others are transforming daily work for frontline workers by giving them the power to:

  • Learn continuously on-the-job to grow skills
  • Collaborate with others to solve problems faster
  • Contribute to growing operational knowledge
  • Achieving new levels of productivity and efficiency

1:10 pm Private Lunch Hosted by Arbor

2:10 pm Discover: Building Next Generation Talent through A Home-Grown Apprenticeship Scheme

Synopsis

  • How can we build talent while increasing retention?
  • Partner with local schools, offer qualifications and create flexibility, allowing students to spend time in different departments that suits career interests
  • How Jokey have partnered with local schools to create a next generation talent pipeline, while delivering training that aids leaders to help students navigate different career options, rather than simply enrolling them into their initial interest

2:30 pm Discover: Utilizing Digital LMS to Upskill Our Hourly Workforce & Increase the Speed to Autonomy

  • Kristen Pela Head of Learning, Communications and Knowledge Management, Gilead Sciences

Synopsis

  • How can we upskill our hourly workforce efficiently and effectively?
  • Utilize technology such as digital LMS and Virtual Reality
  • How Gilead Sciences are paying attention to lessons learned from implementing virtual reality training and put these into a central accessible hub, that can recommend development opportunities

2:50 pm Develop: What More Can We Learn from The HR Leaders Who Are Upskilling their Hourly Workforce?

  • Kristen Pela Head of Learning, Communications and Knowledge Management, Gilead Sciences
  • Rebecca Ferguson Human Resources Manager, Jokey North America

Synopsis

Question & Answer Session Facilitated by the Chair

As our companies grow, and a proportion of our workforce retires, how can we upskill our current workforce to 1) Create growth opportunities for our floor workers and 2) Build a senior leadership that can boost productivity

3:10 pm Action: What are You Going to Put in Place to Train Your Floor Staff?

Synopsis

Output Focused Action Session Facilitated by the Chair

How can we increase talent development opportunities for our factories team members?

3:30 pm Innovation: Future-Proofing Manufacturing HR: Insights from Augmentir

Synopsis

  • Today’s manufacturing sector faces skill gaps, workforce shortages, high turnover rates, and safety and compliance issues. Addressing these challenges is crucial for maintaining a productive, safe, and engaged workforce.
  • Implementing an AI-driven connected worker platform to support continuous training programs can help upskill workers, improve retention rates, and prepare manufacturingv personnel for complex tasks. Furthermore, AI-driven tools streamline tasks allowing HR personnel to focus on strategic initiatives like talent development and workforce planning.
  • Traditional learning systems are inadequate for the needs of the current manufacturing workforce. Companies must adopt mobile-friendly learning solutions that connect and empower workers. Hear how one of the top US food and beverage manufacturers leveraged smart connected worker technology to overcome these challenges and make HR and operations stronger partners for next-level success.

3:40 pm Afternoon Refreshment Break

4:00 pm Discover: Re-Constructing Culture to Retain Skilled Talent

  • Belinda Dahn Vice President of Human Resources, Precision Machined Products

Synopsis

  • How can we prevent highly skilled talent from leaving our business?
  • Build a culture that employees want to be a part of and makes employees feel valued
  • How PMP are re-evaluating their company culture such as: reducing benefit costs, re-analyzing pay structure, giving thoughtful employee recognition and amongst much more, leading to a decrease in turnover from 32% to 4.5%

4:20 pm Discover: More than just clickbait! How Hitachi Energy is attracting, converting, and retaining the next generation of MFG workforce through automation

Synopsis

  • Why speed is more important than your employee brand
  • How to build a talent pipeline using Ecom techniques and programmatic marketing to reach job seekers
  • Why taking good care of your candidates leads to increased retention and a positive work culture

4:40 pm Develop: What Other Things Can We Do to Enhance Culture?

  • Belinda Dahn Vice President of Human Resources, Precision Machined Products
  • Christy Honeycutt SVP Strategic Development & Execution, AppyHere
  • Josh Stimpson Sr. Director of Human Resources, Hitachi Solutions America, Ltd.

Synopsis

Question & Answer Session Facilitated by the Focus Day Chair

The industry is harshly divided into corporate and frontline workers, how can we change this us VS them mentality to build a culture of trust and harmony

between our two distinct categories of workers?

5:00 pm Action: What Are You Going to Do to Enhance Your Workforces Culture?

Synopsis

Output Focused Action Session Facilitated by the Chair

How can we create synergy or shared goals between corporate and frontline workers?

  • How can we create proximity between these workers?
  • Can we re-examine the way hourly workers are treated/ have exposure to be more similar to those in the corporate environment?

5:20 pm Chairs Closing Remarks

5:30 pm Private Dinner Hosted by AppyHere