DECEMBER 20238MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSBy Hao Dinh, Vice President of Technology, EnproIN MY OPINIONHOW TO DRAW IN THE NEXT GENERATION OF SMART FACTORY EMPLOYEESIn a previous article titled "Not Your Parent's Factory Job: Upskilling Key To Digital Manufacturing Success," I discussed the advantages of upskilling the existing base of employees with digital skills. However, to accelerate the digital factory return on investment, there will be skills that require hiring externally--for example, people with growth mindsets and digital natives.Individuals with a growth mindset believe that their talents can be developed through hard work and learning from setbacks. According to a Harvard Business Review survey, employees with a growth mindset are:47% likelier to say that their colleagues are trustworthy,34% likelier to feel a strong sense of ownership and commitment to the company,65% likelier to say that the company supports risk-taking, and49% likelier to say that the company fosters innovation.In contrast, people with a fixed mindset believe intelligence or talent are set traits. As a result, they are highly resistant to change, preventing them from achieving their full potential. Digital natives are people born with digital technology readily available or in the information age; thus, they are comfortable with and fluent in digital. Digital immigrants are people born before 1980 and need to learn how to live in the digital world. Today, 40% of US employees are digital natives, which will increase as previous generations leave the workforce.To attract digital natives and growth mindset personnel to work in smart factories, firms need to focus on the following:
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