Explore the Agenda
8:00 am Registration & Refreshments
9:00 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Building Workforce Stability That Survives Growth, Change & Integration
9:10 am Discover: What’s Actually Working to Reduce Attrition in Manufacturing: Culture‑Led Practices with Measurable Impact
- Drawing on The Manufacturing Institute’s work convening manufacturers across the U.S., this session surfaces emerging culture‑led practices that are improving retention, safety, and workforce stability across a wide range of plant sizes, geographies, and operating models
- Sharing early insights from manufacturers that are seeing tangible results, including significant reductions in attrition and sustained improvements in safety and engagement, by intentionally reshaping workplace culture rather than relying on isolated programs or perks
- Exploring how HR leaders can learn from what is already working elsewhere in the sector and adapt proven cultural approaches within their own organizations to strengthen retention and long‑term workforce resilience
9:30 am Discover: Transforming HR to Power the Next Generation Manufacturing Workforce: How Hoffmaster Is Driving Agility, Engagement & a 15% Lift in Production Output
- Challenging legacy HR models that no longer serve today’s manufacturing workforce, where tactics focused on morale and compliance were failing to engage employees, support 24/7 operations, or respond to growing competition for flexible work options
- Repositioning HR as a catalyst for change and workforce readiness by building business acumen, encouraging bold thinking, and fundamentally rethinking how HR partners with operations to address flexibility, engagement, and problem solving on the production floor
- Delivering measurable operational impact by linking HR transformation to frontline outcomes, including more meaningful engagement measurement, improved retention, and up to a 15% increase in production output on critical equipment within three months, driven by higher employee involvement and ownership in day-to-day problem solving
9:50 am Develop: How Can Manufacturers Translate Culture‑Led Transformation Into Measurable Retention & Performance Gains?
- Which elements of these approaches are universally applicable across plants, geographies, and workforce segments, and which depend on local context or legacy culture?
- How can HR move beyond programs and initiatives to embed culture into operating models, decision‑making, and day‑to‑day problem solving on the floor?
- What does effective partnership between HR and Operations actually look like when culture is treated as a driver of output, safety, and resilience?
- Where do organizations commonly lose momentum by focusing on engagement activity rather than structural enablers such as accountability, capability, and leadership behaviors?
10:10 am Action: What Practical Steps Can You Take to Strengthen Culture in Ways That Improve Retention, Stability, & Frontline Performance?
- Where in your organization is culture currently creating friction, such as resistance to change, disengagement, or inconsistent leadership behaviors that affect retention or output?
- What is one specific operating practice you could redesign to reinforce the culture you need, for example how decisions are made, problems are solved, or leaders are held accountable on the floor?
- How can you more explicitly link culture expectations to workforce outcomes such as retention, safety, productivity, or readiness for change?
- Who must be actively involved to make this shift stick across HR, Operations, and site leadership, and what alignment is missing today?
10:30 am Networking by Company Size
We’re introducing dedicated networking groups designed to connect you with talent leaders from manufacturing organizations similar in size to your own. This is your opportunity to share experiences, exchange ideas, and tackle challenges with peers who truly understand your operational context.
Track A: Talent Acquisition
Reducing Frontline Turnover Through Data-Driven Selection & Leadership Alignment
11:10 am Discover: Getting Plant Leadership Right: Birchwood Foods’ Data-Driven Approach to Reducing Turnover by 16%
- Confronting high turnover among plant-level managers, up to 88% in some facilities, often within the first year of hire, by analyzing exit data and identifying misalignment between candidate traits and frontline leadership demands
- Deploying a behavioral assessment platform to evaluate candidates’ natural workplace drives and decision-making styles, enabling better alignment with the realities of plant operations, team dynamics, and supervisory responsibilities
- Achieving a 16% reduction in frontline management turnover within two quarters by integrating behavioral insights into hiring, onboarding, and performance conversations, replacing outdated paper-based reviews with a digital system that supports continuous feedback, goal tracking, and leadership development on the shop floor
11:30 am Discover: Repositioning Recruitment as a Strategic Engine: How Unimacts Saved $2M+ & Scaled Global Hiring Through a Manufacturing-Focused Recruiting Center of Excellence
- Identifying the inefficiencies of reactive, vendor-led hiring and pivoting to a centralized Recruiting Center of Excellence to support expansion across manufacturing hubs in the U.S., Mexico, Asia, and Europe
- Delivering $2M+ in cost savings, 300+ hires, including 100+ in hard-to-fill roles like Plant Managers, Directors of Engineering, and steel production experts, and reducing time-to-fill by up to 50%, while eliminating $30K-$100K per executive search
- Embedding recruiting into workforce planning, P&L leadership, and post-acquisition integration by deploying a modern ATS/HRIS, standardizing global SOPs, and transforming recruiters into strategic advisors who drive business outcomes
11:50 am Develop: How Can Manufacturing Organizations Redesign Selection & Leadership Strategies to Drive Retention & Operational Stability?
- What are the most effective ways to diagnose turnover at its source and translate insights into actionable changes in hiring and onboarding?
- How can behavioral and capability assessments be integrated into selection without slowing time-to-fill or creating bias?
- What strategies help align leadership traits with the realities of plant operations, and how can organizations sustain this alignment through ongoing development?
- How can HR and plant leaders co-own retention initiatives to ensure accountability and measurable impact?
12:10 pm Action: What Practical Steps Can You Take to Embed Predictive Hiring & Leadership Alignment Into Your Talent Strategy?
- Where in your current selection process are misalignments driving early attrition, and what quick-win pilots could address them?
- How can you leverage data from exit interviews, performance metrics, and behavioral assessments to refine hiring criteria?
- What governance mechanisms (e.g. 30/60/90-day reviews, leadership scorecards) can track quality of hire and leadership effectiveness?
- How can you build cross-functional partnerships between TA, HR, and plant managers to sustain improvements and scale success?
Track B: Learning & Development
Building Internal Capability & Leadership Resilience to Future-Proof Manufacturing Talent
11:10 am Discover: Rebuilding Supervisory Structure to Transform Plant Performance: How Shawmut Is Aligning Workforce Planning with Operations
- Diagnosing the operational impact of leadership gaps – a legacy decision to cut supervisors created uncontrolled spans of responsibility, eroding safety culture, morale, and quality standards across manufacturing lines
- Partnering with operations and workforce planning to reintroduce critical supervisory roles, implement leadership development, and embed accountability frameworks that connect structure to the employee lifecycle and plant-level performance
- Driving measurable improvements in key metrics, targeting reductions in safety incidents, faster time-to-fill for frontline roles, improved retention, and higher engagement, while building a sustainable operations model to maintain long-term productivity gains
11:30 am Discover: Engineering Cohesion in Plant Leadership: How BASF Strengthened Team Performance Using Diagnostic Psychometric Tools & On-Site Development
- Tackling communication breakdowns and team cohesion issues across BASF’s manufacturing sites by creating detailed personality profiles to enlighten how and why people behave the way they do, and to explore individual and team dynamics
- Delivering tailored, plant-level development sessions for newly formed or evolving leadership teams, including production line managers, safety leads, and engineering heads to uncover perception gaps, decision making functions, and attitudes to build trust
- Help people understand themselves, others, and make the most of the relationships that affect them in the workplace through immersive, five-hour workshops held directly in break rooms and site offices, equipping leaders with actionable tools to enhance communication and performance
11:50 am Develop: How Can Manufacturers Build Leadership Cohesion & Structure That Hold Up Under Real Plant Conditions?
- How can manufacturers diagnose whether performance, safety, or engagement issues stem from leadership behaviour, team dynamics, or structural gaps such as spans of control and role clarity?
- What approaches help align leadership structure, capability, and day‑to‑day behaviours without slowing production or adding unnecessary complexity?
- How can diagnostic tools, team-level insight, and targeted development be used to rebuild trust, accountability, and decision‑making effectiveness across plant leadership teams?
- How can organisations measure the ROI of leadership cohesion and structural redesign beyond retention, including safety outcomes, productivity, engagement, and plant‑level performance?
12:10 pm Action: What Practical Steps Can You Take to Strengthen Plant Leadership Structure & Team Effectiveness?
- Where in your current plant leadership model are gaps in structure or cohesion creating downstream issues such as overload, safety risk, misalignment, or inconsistent performance?
- What rapid diagnostic actions (behavioural insight, role clarity reviews, or team assessments) could surface root causes rather than symptoms?
- How can targeted development, immersive workshops, and clearer accountability frameworks be embedded into plant‑level operations without pulling leaders off the floor?
- Which governance mechanisms (leadership scorecards, readiness dashboards, safety and engagement metrics) will help sustain improvements and prevent regression over time?
12:30 pm Networking Lunch
1:30 pm Speed Learning: HR, TA, & L&D LEAPs from Manufacturing Leaders
In this quick-fire session, five people leaders will uncover the story behind a “leap” they have made in their business. Each table will be hosted by an HR, TA, or L&D leader who will share the secrets of their most high-impact leap; you will then have the opportunity to question the host before moving on to your next table.