Although the respondents are not representative of all U.S. manufacturing plants, their data do provide a window into HR practices and HPWS implementation in SMEs that is not available in other, more representative, manufacturing surveys. In any manufacturing business, workers play a pivotal role in the success of the company. An over-reliance on temporary workers is a signal of lack of commitment to workers a trend which was not found among plants in this study. Using temps in this way allows plants to choose to hire workers who already have experience working in their shop environment. One of the most prevalent problems in the SMEs surveyed is retaining good workers.
Turnover is expensive in terms of recruiting, training, and retaining a workforce.
A high percentage of quits at a given shop signals that workers do not find the work attractive and may have found a better job elsewhere. In addition to normal costs associated with turnover, shops that report firing a large number of workers may face high legal costs costs which could be avoided if the shop were to implement an effective screening process. Job Quality One factor that makes a job attractive to workers is pay. In a HPWS environment, workers are given additional responsibilities, and are rewarded financially for their group or individual performance in carrying out those responsibilities. Workers are also attracted to jobs with decent benefits.