HR may see blue collar workers as difficult to engage or just not interested in anything other than collecting a paycheck, but they are crucial in ensuring daily operations run smoothly.
"We're talking about it now in terms of engagement, but historically we talked about it in terms of job satisfaction," says Kim Dawson, director of employee experience at Austin-based YouEarnedIt. "If you're happy at your job and say you're satisfied, whether that's in 1980 or 2018, they're all the same. The only difference is the focus on engagement is more refined now."
One HR manager of a distribution warehouse, however, says his department is "limited in how much creativity it has to work with" when dealing with manual workers who spend their day loading trucks.
The HR manager does stress the importance of listening. "You have to have a good understanding of each individual and how they view their job," he said. "Some may not want to learn. Others do. You have to start with a conversation to understand what they're looking for."
But what appeals to white collar workers appeals as well to blue collar workers, some HR professionals say. The most important thing for HR to remember is blue collar workers want to be respected and valued. Recognizing that blue collar workers need career development and appreciate management that is transparent and clearly communicates what they expect is important.
Trader Joe's makes sure that each employee is not working on the same task for more than three hours, which "keeps the job fresh," for workers, says David Shanklin, head of culture strategy for New York-based CultureIQ, an employee-engagement platform provider.