4 In-Demand Skills for Light Industrial Management

Making the transition to management in any career requires specialized skills. In the light industrial field, not only do you need to be familiar with the specific focus of your company, but you must mix those technical skills with soft skills.

Making yourself the best candidate for a management position isn’t impossible, but it will require that you acquire certain new abilities. Here are a few of the skills that companies are looking for in management candidates.

1. Leadership

It may seem obvious, but leadership skills are very important. While every manager needs to lead, industrial management requires a different type of leader. Imagine a new manager came to a production facility. They have no experience on the production side, they aren’t familiar with the needs of your team, but they have had management training.

On paper, they are qualified, but in practice, they won’t be able to keep up with the demands of light industrial work. They’ll also have a hard time earning the respect of their team.

To make it in management, you need to be able to keep the business running and the team’s skills in top shape, but you also must be familiar with the needs of your staff. Being familiar with their roles helps to make informed decisions to keep them satisfied in their job and effective for the company.

I’m not saying that no one from outside your industry can be an effective manager, they can. It takes a focus on more than just by the book leadership.

2. Problem Solving

When was the last time everything you did in a day went according to plan with absolutely no hiccups? Never, right? That is the reality of light industrial work. There will be things that go wrong or efforts that fall short. No matter what happens, the deadlines stay the same and the work must get done.

For managers, this is a huge source of stress. They need to meet deadlines and keep business moving, but they also can’t see the future. Because of that, problem-solving is one of the most important skills a manager can possess.

Industrial work moves fast, when problems happen in one part of the process, everything else comes to a stop. The ability to get problems fixed and get your team back on track is key to success. Seeing the potential for hurdles and preventing them is even better. Working closely with your team to create solutions on the fly is the difference between a good manager and a great one.

3. Communication

All the training in the world won’t help a leader who can’t communicate with their team. Effective communication reaches across all industries, and it’s simply a skill that cannot be avoided. For light industrial managers, communicating with your team on the floor as well as leadership and customers is essential. Just with other skills, the communication skills will differ for each situation.

Communication goes further than being able to speak with your staff. Part of many days will be conflict resolution, negotiations, as well as training. This full range of communications skills is invaluable to any leader. Honing your communication skills is made even easier as they are useful for anyone, manager or not.

4. Certifications

Although they technically aren’t skills, certain certifications are just as helpful to light industrial managers. Certifications act as physical proof that you put the time in to develop better skills to help your team and your company thrive.

Every industry has its own set of certifications, so knowing which certifications are important to yours is the first step. Two certification programs that are useful in light industrial management come from the Association for Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) and the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

APICS offers certification for production and inventory management or CPIM. It is the standard of professional competence in production and inventory management, focused training to maximize ROI and increase customer satisfaction.

ASQ offers many certifications surrounding quality control and efficiency. These practice areas are very attractive to employers as they have a direct result on ROI.

Reliable Resources are experts in providing top talent to the Light Industrial market. Get in touch today to learn more about our placements.

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