Case Study: Nordenia USA Uses WorkKeys to Hire Technology-Savvy Workers

November 2006

The Company:
Nordenia USA, Inc. – Jackson, Missouri

The Challenge:
Hiring production employees capable of operating state-of-the-art packaging technology

The Solution:
Using WorkKeys^® profiling and assessments to identify candidates with skills needed to adapt to new technologies

The Results:
A "lean and mean" workforce that can be quickly trained

Situation
Nordenia is a flexible packaging manufacturing company, providing plastic packaging for a variety of clients, including Procter & Gamble, Tyson Foods, Advanced Foods, and the Schultz lawn and garden line. It employs approximately 375 people, 225 of them in production.

Founded in Germany, Nordenia opened the Jackson plant—its only U.S. plant—in 1990. The plant is equipped with state-of-the-art packaging and printing technology manufactured in Germany. Most of this technology had never been used in the United States.

Needs
When Nordenia representatives were hiring production people for its Jackson plant, they knew it was unlikely they would find workers with prior experience using the foreign-made machinery. Instead, they hired employees that they anticipated would be able to adapt to the new technology. Four years later, they needed to re-evaluate.

"We realized that we needed to back up and look at our hiring process," said Birdie Legrand, training coordinator for Nordenia USA. "Our turnover rate was high, and the skills of the people we were bringing in weren't up to the levels that they needed to be successful."

Solution
All 15 production jobs at the plant were profiled using the WorkKeys job profiling system. Current employees in each position created job task lists and took eight WorkKeys tests—Reading for Information, Applied Mathematics, Locating Information, Applied Technology, Teamwork, Observation, Listening, and Writing. Based on these test results, skill levels were established. Employees then identified the top three skills they thought were necessary to be successful in their jobs. Potential employees would be required to score at the accepted level for the WorkKeys skills identified.

Tests taken are different for each job title. For example, a conversion operator is tested on Applied Technology, Teamwork and Observation, but an engraving proof operator is tested on Locating Information, Teamwork and Observation.

Both job candidates and current Nordenia employees looking to transfer to another position take the required WorkKeys tests at Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center, a vocational school in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Results
According to Legrand, Nordenia has to be "lean and mean," operating with as few people as possible in order to be profitable. Since peers help with training new employees, using valuable work hours, new hires have to be up to speed on the job quickly. Hiring people with the foundation skill levels they need allows them to be trained quickly. As an added benefit, new employees and their coworkers are confident that everyone has the skills they need to succeed.

Future
The company is planning to extend the use of WorkKeys to its salaried positions. "We need to start working on cross training to be able to smoothly reassign engineers with different skill levels into different positions and duties," said Legrand.

Legrand also plans to profile several of the company's administrative positions.

Quote

"From the standpoint of the company, our foundation is what is going to make or break us. Our foundation is our people—our hourly people out there making the product. We have to invest to make sure that we have a good, strong foundation or we are not going to be successful. Working with WorkKeys, we ensure that the new people coming on board have the ability to perform at the level we need.": —Birdie Legrand, training coordinator, Nordenia USA