Van Meter Helps HNI Overcome Workforce Challenges with Revamped Apprenticeship Program

CLIENT: HNI CORPORATION  |  LOCATION: MUSCATINE, IA

As you might expect, it takes a large workforce to power one of the world’s largest manufacturers of workplace furnishings, but not just any workforce will do.

Muscatine, IA, based HNI Corporation relies on a highly skilled workforce to keep its massive operation rolling as smoothly as the office chairs it produces.

With retirements of their skilled trades teams looming in the future and a highly competitive recruiting market, HNI knew it had a potential problem on its hands. So it called on the industry experts at Van Meter to help be a strategic partner in solving its workforce challenges.

THE CHALLENGE

When HNI Senior Talent Acquisition Manager, Matt Nicol, took inventory of his company’s workforce, he discovered a haunting trend — an increasing number of their skilled trades workforce were already at or nearing retirement.

What if 50% of the skilled trades decided to retire and sail off into the sunset on the same day? Maybe that isn’t a likely scenario — clearly, these members like their jobs and compensation enough to stick around past retirement eligibility — but it got Nicol thinking that something needed to be done.

“One of the big problems that we faced was overall retirement forecasting,” explained Nicol. “Skilled trades has been an area that has lacked interest over the last several years, so we wanted to re-energize the interest in skilled trades.”

Nicol knew the apprenticeship program that was already in place wasn’t meeting the needs of the organization.

“We had a problem with attraction to the program as well as work-life balance within the program,” said Nicol. “The curriculum was relatively outdated, so we were starting to really swing where external candidates were more interested than our internal members, and the program was not robust enough to move as quickly as our manufacturing technology was moving.”

In order to revamp its Maintenance Apprenticeship Program, HNI turned to Van Meter, a trusted partner that has helped train HNI members for decades.

THE SOLUTION

“They were looking to take the Maintenance Apprenticeship Program to the next level,” said Van Meter Account Manager, Shawn Harksen.

“Van Meter is uniquely positioned to solve workforce challenges with our customers,” continued Harksen, “mainly because of the folks that we have on staff …They know what's needed to support a facility, whether that be an end user, an OEM (original equipment manufacturer), or a system integrator. Our staff comes with knowledge from all these locations, and they understand the business. They understand the challenges. They know what is needed to be successful.”

Nicol couldn’t agree more: “They understand our processes. They understand our facilities. They understand the equipment. They really understand our journey and what we're trying to achieve.”

With the full support of HNI’s senior leaders, Nicol and team, which included Chris Kleppe, Senior Skilled Trades Manager and Jordan Egger, Skilled Trades Manager, sat down with Van Meter’s experts, and, together, developed a revamped Maintenance Apprenticeship Program that has met the needs of its members through in-person training and online courses while providing work-life balance and placing an emphasis on company culture.

In the past, some talented employees didn’t enroll in the Maintenance Apprenticeship Program because it required attending classes at a brick and mortar after a full work day.

“That was very difficult for our members to manage a home life, especially if you have a family,” said Nicol.

With the flexibility of online courses, and in-person training taking the place of scheduled work, the program is more attractive than ever.

And Van Meter’s experts not only helped HNI design the program curriculum, but also teach within the program and provide custom training as well as ongoing program support.

“We'll do basic training from Industrial Controls 101 up to Advanced Programming on PLCs (programmable logic controllers),” said Harksen. “So they really get the gamut. We do some hydraulics and pneumatic training – its whatever you might need to be successful as a skilled trades individual.”

THE RESULT

Now, HNI has a four-year registered (with the State of Iowa) apprenticeship program that will take someone from an entry level skill set to an advanced maintenance technician. And there’s no doubt the program is working.

“We've seen tremendous attraction,” said Nicol. “Over 60 percent of our members in the program have come from inside HNI, and, historically, it's never been that strong.”

HNI has also seen a major increase in job applicants. Since the program has been completely revamped, they’ve seen the applications grow tenfold the past 2 years, making the program incredibly competitive and selective. “This is significantly more than we've ever seen historically,” added Nicol.

And if that’s not enough, HNI has a skill-based assessment that it uses throughout the apprenticeship program, “and what we’ve been able to measure is substantial growth,” said Nicol.

“I had absolutely zero mechanical knowledge before I started,” said Jordan Peterson, recent program graduate. “The maintenance apprenticeship program has set me up for success.”

Success indeed, which Nicol quantified this way: “I always tell folks, you can make just as much, if not more than an engineer, coming out of our program with zero debt.”

Developing training programs that boost attraction and retention is just another way Van Meter can meet the needs of its customers, and Harksen couldn’t be happier about what Van Meter and HNI were able to accomplish together.

“Being able to put together a program that takes them from A to Z and gives them the skills they need to be successful in their positions, has been a great endeavor for us and for HNI.”

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