As the monsoon marked the start of the decline in the overall inverter battery sales in the country, I experienced a few things in this so-called “Season” that directly / indirectly affected everyone in the industry. 

Several factors need to be addressed and acknowledged by us to keep up with the industry trends and be prepared for any avoidable issues in the future. To name a few we had:

• • Manpower Crisis

• • Raw material Crisis

• • Low payment Circulation

Today I will take the first issue as it is the most painful area for the lead acid battery industry, especially the MSME segment.

Let’s talk about each one of them one by one. 

Manpower Crisis

This season one of the major issues dealt with across the industry i.e. Battery smelters, oxide/ alloy manufacturers, Battery manufacturers, and other raw material manufacturers experienced the employee crisis. Be it Skilled supervisors or operators or unskilled labourers and contractors.

I got calls from many of my customers and suppliers asking me if I could help them in such a situation in any way. We just laughed together after getting my response of being in the same boat with them. 

One of the major shockers for us was when a customer of ours told us that he started getting unskilled labourers from Chowk for 8 hours at Rs 500 per day in April and later paid up to Rs 1000 per day in June. No one including him could justify such rates for a newly untrained labour. The reasons however are endless. Some say that it was because of the excess heat this year that there was a shortage. Another reason was due to crop harvesting. Another set of reasons came from a lot of marriage functions and celebrations. One other prevalent topic was that due to the election labourers were getting free ration in their hometown by the nominated candidates. And the list goes on. 

The scene is the same when it comes to the skilled employees too. Here also, the reasons mainly discussed were supply demand and high-paying jobs to employees in the season. 

Friends, let me tell you that the reasons were more or less similar last year also. I analysed these reasons thoroughly and later reviewed them with last year’s reasons and found that previous year our analysis was spot on and the same pointers were repeated this year. The only positive aspect for us this time was that we were prepared somewhat, if not fully from our experience of last year. 

Let me share it with you.

If we analyse it properly we would find that the main issues could be summarised in the following points:

1. 1. Skill gap – The kind of employees and labourers we require in our industry are for specific purposes. Considering the challenging nature of the job, the demand always exceeds the supply whenever we have to operate the factory near full capacity. Most of the companies in the industry are either dependent upon contractors for providing the labour or have old labourers who have been working with them for a long time.  As we grow we upgrade our vehicle, we upgrade our clothing style, we even upgrade our plant and machinery and we even upgrade our overall lifestyle. But what we do miss upon is, upgrading our employee skill sets. It’s high time we invest in training and development programs to upskill existing employees and attract new talent. Upscaling the skillset of the employee will not only help us and our system grow leaps and bounds but it will also help them grow as a person. Avoiding this would lead to a redundancy in the system and the team won’t be motivated or confident enough to perform at their peak. 

One of the steps we took last year and are still trying to implement is the process of video documentation in the plant.
By documenting every process and machine operation in video format we now just play the videos every day for the new labourers and show them the videos for half an hour before they start the work.

2. 2. Low loyalty – Lead acid battery manufacturing companies often face a common challenge: low employee loyalty. This can lead to high turnover rates, decreased productivity, and a loss of expertise. One of the major reasons that we came across was the culture issue in the company. The company is usually operated either by the owner or a production/plant head of the company. The employees, especially the low-paying job operators and labourers couldn’t open up easily about their problems and felt unheard. The main objective of the company in peak season is usually providing the material to the customer on time. The excess workload along with a few other situations makes the employee feel that they are either getting paid less or they are getting overburdened. Leave the internal politics of the factory to the employees. The upper management is usually not even aware of these problems.

      To address this issue, companies can start by offering competitive compensation and benefits packages that match industry standards. This shows employees that their hard work is valued and appreciated.

Additionally, involving employees in decision-making processes and company activities can make them feel more invested in the company’s success. Strong leadership that sets a good example and supports employee growth is vital, as is open and transparent communication about company goals and challenges.

Finally, providing support programs for employees facing personal or professional challenges and conducting exit interviews to understand why employees leave can help companies identify areas for improvement.

By implementing these strategies, lead acid battery manufacturing companies can increase employee loyalty, reduce turnover rates, and improve overall productivity.

Implement employee retention strategies, such as competitive salaries, benefits, and career advancement opportunities.
A positive work environment that prioritises work-life balance, respect, and open communication is also essential. Regularly recognizing and appreciating employee contributions can go a long way in boosting morale and loyalty.

3. 3. Low process automation – When we started the business as owners only a few of us were visionary enough to think of a long-term plan for setting up the manufacturing facilities. We usually don’t work these ways. An MSME unit is operated by a hustler owner who keeps on learning, implementing and earning. Usually, whatever he earns, he invests it back into the factory. Sometimes when the luck favours he purchases that are / plot next to him. Then he expands in that direction. This process of small expansion and reinvestment compounds over some time and after a while he thinks that maybe we should have redesigned the whole manufacturing setup in a better-structured way, that could have been more automated requiring low labour. But what could be done now? The price of automation is too much now because it involves changing the system and infrastructure. Plus, it impacts the immediate production process. 

Add to this, the physically demanding nature of battery manufacturing work and the lack of job security contribute to high employee turnover rates.

But no matter what the reasons we provide, the fact of the matter is automation will help us increase production, efficiency, and productivity. There is no doubt that our dependency on the labourers will reduce drastically. It’s a no-brainer. Ask any owner who has done even a slight modification in automating the process and reducing the dependency on labourers. It’s a boon for them. Although it requires a one-time cost, it’s worth the effort.

The major emphasis of the owners is on profit-making, passing the discounts, and copying random sales ideas. 

4. 4. Dependency on a certain type of employee– In our factories, certain tasks are very specific and require a specific skill set. So we tend to operate from the point of view that the employees that are operating these machines would be with us for a long time. And we sometimes miss the point that when they get leave due to any reason we are in no position to operate smoothly further. The major reason for this dependency is that it takes a lot of time to train the other employees to learn that skill, the cost of hiring an additional person, and also our comfort zone.
      These employees later leave the company due to several reasons. For example, better offers, employee burnout, their family issues, etc. 

This then impacts the company in multiple areas like production delays, high operational costs, quality issues, customer dissatisfaction, etc.

I have observed that though this problem is a perpetual issue, we can reduce it somehow by following a few pointers. We can reduce our dependency on local employees, instead, the team should be a mix and match of employees from different regions, and locations, if possible. This usually doesn’t let the plant come to a halt due to a certain event or occasion. Getting specific labour from different contractors can also solve this problem. For example, let’s say some segments of labour from the local area went on leave then the labourers from Bihar/Jharkhand would be there to do the job. If the employees from  Bihar went for chhath puja then the employees from Jharkhand, Jammu would be there to keep the production running. UP would  / UP. Two sets of contractors also help in resolving these problems. Along with this a small incentive to our in-house operators to develop their team would help everyone in the company including them. 

To, conclude addressing the manpower crisis in the lead acid battery industry, especially within the MSME segment, requires a multifaceted approach. By investing in skill development, fostering employee loyalty through better compensation and work culture, embracing process automation, and diversifying our workforce, we can mitigate the challenges posed by seasonal fluctuations and other external factors. Learning from past experiences and proactively implementing these strategies will not only stabilize our operations but also drive sustainable growth and success for the industry as a whole. Let’s work together to build a more resilient and adaptable future. 

Catch you next time with the later part of this topic