Frontline Talent of the Future Initiative 2024

6Work Design & Safety Reimagine the frontline work to create safe and productive workspaces and processes.Talent Capabilities Talent requirements are clearly linked to a future technology roadmap. Job roles and organizational structure are updated regularly to meet evolving needs, with augmentation, automation, regionalization, and outsourcing deployed appropriately. Technology is used to augment and protect workers, reducing their time spent in manual, repetitive, or dangerous tasks; meanwhile, a strong safety program proactively identifies and mitigates risks. Employees have easy access to tools and resources that support mental and physical wellbeing. What Best -In-Class Looks Like Western Digital uses a digital control room to transform operator roles – Thailand A digital control room fundamentally shifted work of operators away from repetitive manual jobs. The new approach integrated automation, redesigns shopfloor process flow, engaged touchless WIP control, and incorporated IIoT signals & alerts into a Command Center. The initiative improved OEE and reduced flow disruptions, boosting labor productivity 21%; likewise, it reduced equipment failure diagnostic times from 2 hours to 10 seconds with >90% accuracy. ML/AI -enabled predictive maintenance provides operators and technicians with prescriptive solutions allowing for faster response time. The Command Center has contributed to achieving a 91% engagement score. The system provides both operators and technicians with an upward career path—46% of job roles have been redefined, with 37% shifting upward to involve higher skill levels.Unilever factory implements agile and Continuous Organizational Restructuring - USA Operating in a highly competitive talent market with high attrition risk, Unilever Kilbourn initiated a process that systematically reviews and revises the plant's organizational structure every six months to create roles that align with both current business needs and the available talent pool. A focus on developing opportunities in various roles across all levels of the organization has retained top talent, to the extent that 81% of local management has come from intentionally developed roles. The site has also seen a large improvement in employee retention, with an attrition reduction of 68%, attributed to this newfound ability to create development opportunities in a flexible and agile way. Examples from our Pilot Participants