Recommendations for Action

Manufacturers and educators must focus on flexibility as part of their training requirements. Business, technical, and training programs should include techniques to work in teams, make decisions based on a number of variables, and manage change.

Manufacturers must provide adequate cross-training of employees in order to permit rapid personnel allocation decisions consistent with the requirements of a flexible workplace.

Manufacturers and labour organizations must develop more effective collaboration to upgrade employee skills and develop a greater degree of responsiveness to changing workplace requirements.

Governments must ensure that labour law provides employers with the flexibility to access the skills and capabilities they require to compete successfully.

iv. Creativity and Innovative Problem-Solving

Our Vision

• We have created an environment where Canadians are more willing to take necessary business risks and celebrate successes.
• Our strength is based on creativity – being open to new ways of doing things.
• Employees have the basic and technical skills that will allow them to develop innovative solutions.
• Businesses have the processes in place that will permit innovative solutions to be developed and effectively executed.
• Manufacturers are able to draw on employees as a creative resource, enabling decision-making at lower levels.

Challenges

• Canadians have had the luxury of a resource-rich economy and recently a low Canadian dollar which have made business relatively easy and affected our attitudes toward innovation.
• We tend to lack pride in business success.
• There is little emphasis placed on innovation management in college or university curricula related to engineering, business, technical, or other studies of relevance to manufacturing.
• Canada’s education system does not provide enough young people with the entrepreneurial, creative problem-solving, decision-making, and associated analytical skills required by the manufacturing workforce.