Creating a Workforce That Sticks With You

Originally in the May BPD and Merchant Magazines. 

According to a 2018 Salary.com survey, the manufacturing & distribution industry has a retention rate of 80%, which puts it above industries such as hospitality and healthcare. That and similar studies find companies that retain motivated employees are able to reduce expenses and boost productivity and morale.

UFP Industries (formerly Universal Forest Products) has been beating the industry trend for a number of years. “The last time I looked, we had an 85% retention level,” said David Brown, a Southern Yellow Pine Buyer at UFP Industries. “Some stay a few years and move on, but most of the people we’ve hired have stuck with us.” Brown attributes their success, in part, to a 12-week training program that follows a thoughtful screening process.

UFP Industries leverages all the typical channels for seeking out new employees – career fairs at college campuses, online job boards and employee referrals – and recruits out of the corporate headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich., and its purchasing offices in Union City, Ga. and Windsor, Colo. “We’re growing company that’s looking for people all the time. Hopefully we hire the right people; I think we have been.”

“We don’t specifically look for majors that align to roles. I’ve been in the industry since I got out of college, but I didn’t know anything about lumber at that time, and I’m still learning. Our philosophy is to hire a good quality person, with a strong work ethic, who wants to learn, is outgoing, and wants to get ahead in life. We can teach everything else.”

The UFP Industries interview process includes phone screening, an in-person interview and the Caliper Profile test (for salaried employees) to assess fit in the company. If the candidate is a good match, an offer is made. “We can hire in the purchasing department, sales – there is always a need, and production – people who want to work in the plant and run various product lines, depending on the plant. At this point, we ask if there is something a new hire is leaning toward if he or she would prefer to look into different areas. Sometimes this changes in the middle of training.”

The 12-week training program starts on an employee’s first day, with each “class” typically consisting of between one and three new hires. New hire classes are held in both the Georgia and Colorado offices.

Each employee is assigned a mentor (usually a buyer), and provided with a new hire booklet that includes a detailed schedule, learning objectives or outcomes, and assignments for the duration of the program. Program participants add notes and handouts to their booklet, which can then serve as a resource for the rest of their UFP Industries career.

Trainees spend a few weeks in purchasing office departments such as Southern Yellow Pine, transportation, Canadian and West Coast lumber species, and panels, learning the essential functions and tools of each, from looking up products and creating purchase orders on the computer system to finding and booking trucks. Each week, new hires walk the yard or plant and come back with three questions for mentors, and sit in on the market calls.

The trainees are taken on a sawmill visit to see how lumber is made, from log to finished product, and given reading assignments from the Buying & Selling of Softwood Lumber & Panels and other Random Lengths publications. New hires also learn what Brown calls “lumber math,” how to figure board footage, cuts and yields, to determine pricing. Once new hires are knowledgeable with the UFP Industries systems, the department they’re working in will have them call mills for quotes or assist with purchasing. Usually mill sales people are given a heads-up before trainees call them, since they can be a little more timid than tenured employees.

“We feel the more we can teach about how the product is made and where comes from, and how it gets to you, including the different species and grades, before you get in sales or production world, the more you have a step up on someone just out of college. You’re not going to be an expert in 12 weeks when you leave; the idea is to give you a taste.”

Every Friday during the 12-week period, each new employee is asked to write a recap of everything they’ve learned that week that is sent to his or her mentor, along with vice presidents and general managers at UFP Industries plants. “These recaps are a great selling tool after the program to get a permanent job. When a manager is looking to hire, and reads a recap he or she thinks is strong, that manager will call the mentor or department and ask for thoughts, and to see if that candidate is interested in and could do a good job in that manager’s area. Ninety-five percent of these trainees go into production or sales – the areas of greatest need – from there.” 

“We do try to send all our new hires to the North American Wholesale Lumber Association (NAWLA) Wood Basics Course. If a new employee is in training during the same time as the course is taking place in the spring or fall, we have sent them to those classes. All have come back and said it was great.”

NAWLA’s Wood Basics Course is a four-day immersion class, typically offered twice each year, that includes both classroom training and field operations to teach industry new hires about the entire spectrum of the forest products industry: from seed to tree, from production to sales. Classes cover all the topics relevant to success in a forest products industry firm, such as sales training, product segmentation, price & cost trends, logistics & transportation, and forest management & operations. Instructors are recognized experts in their respective fields, including those from Oregon State University and Virginia Tech.

Brown notes that while theirs is a time-consuming approach to training, is expected in addition to regular responsibilities, and takes the participation of the entire office to ensure the success of this training program, it is appreciated by his colleagues.

“Everyone is on board with the program. It has been very beneficial when the person starts with their new positon at one of our plants. We’re 12 years into the current program, and continue to refine it every year. It’s been pretty successful. It’s neat to see 22 or 23-year-olds come through, and try to help them find their career path. It’s even better talking to them later and seeing how they’re doing. I’ve been a mentor to seven or eight people, and try to check in with them two to three times a year. I’ve got former trainees all over the country now – from Florida to California, who have established jobs and started families. I’m always here if they need anything.”