During the presentation portion of FTA FORUM INFOFLEX, ProAmpac’s Hank Welter and Maria Burkle discussed how leadership can drive success at a print company. Welter and Burkle looked at the strategies necessaryfor hybrid workplaces multi-generational teams.

According to Welter, 71% of millennials will leave a job within three years if they think leadership development is lacking. Meanwhile,  82% of American workers stated they would quit their job because of a bad manager.

“People don’t leave companies, they leave managers,” explained Welter. “And the average time with a company is 3.9 years. People don’t trust their leaders because of poor communication. And poor leadership in general, which is some people who have been promoted too fast or lack training.”

There is a cost to losing qualified employees, too. As Welter noted, replacing a skilled frontline employee could cost $10,000-40,000 per hire.

In order to retain key talent, mentorships and training are vital in a printing operation. “We have to be available for people to learn and you have to be intentional about it,” noted Welter. “Recognize the high potential in your employees and allow them to feel like an important part of the company. When I first started out, my team taught me how they wanted to be led.”

Leadership strategies

Welter stated several strategies worth implementing. Micro-learning and just in time development includes short, focused leadership development. Plus, companies should utilize safe-to-fail leadership experiences.

“You need to have an opportunity to learn from failures,” said Welter. “You don’t learn any faster than when you feel and feel responsible for it.”

Stretch assignments, pilot teams or initiatives, and earning-focused feedback loops are other strategies to implement.

In Burkle’s case, she played a key role in starting up her own machine for ProAmpac. She invested in putting strong processes in place for when she’s not around to run the machine.

“A lot of my growth I attribute to my mentors and coaches,” commented Burkle. “When I had a question or was training, I had a first point of contact (in Hank). He was my resource who was always there to help me. I learned how to ask what I needed.”

According to Burkle, 70% of Maria’s leadership was learned on the job. She attributes 20% of her leadership skills to mentors and peers, and 10% to formal training.

“Manufacturing isn’t short on talent, it’s short on prepared leaders – especially on the front line,” added Welter.