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Five Management Tips for Manufacturing Companies

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Management Tips|Five Management Tips for Manufacturing CompaniesWhen we speak of manufacturing, we’re often reminded of the factory floor itself, with its workers and automated machines working in harmony to mass-produce equipment and consumer goods for a global marketplace. We rarely think of the managers who make these things happen – and that will be the focus of this article. Managers are able to adapt their factories and production lines to build effectiveness and efficiency – and this is where the five tips below come in, showing you where and how to manage your production facility for the biggest gains in 2020.

Staff

As a manager, your first responsibility is towards your staff. Without staff who are motivated and happy, it’s difficult to run a business. It’s difficult to get them to work the extra hours you may need them to work, and it’s even harder to have them put their all into their work each day. As such, man-managing your staff, with regular meetings, appraisals, and pay rises will help get the most out of your human resources each week of the year.

Processes

You should also, as a manager, be taking a close look at the processes through which your business is working. For instance, your overall production process – from raw inputs to your outputs – is one overarching process, with several smaller processes within it. To really understand these various processes, you should audit your entire production cycle in order to get to grips with where you might, as a manager, be able to intervene and improve upon some of the processes that are central to your work.

Equipment

Astute managers should always be on the lookout for the newest and most reliable equipment to bring into their manufacturing facility. Without the best equipment, you’re unlikely to run at the highest-possible capacity in your facility, with gaps in production when certain elements fail or break. Be sure to use the most advanced in the load cell developer field, and the most impressive sensors and switches, in order for your production crew to continue producing through the weeks and months ahead.

Health and Safety

All facilities – whether offices or factories – require you to be responsible for health and safety. Laws in your locality will stipulate this, by showing you a number of responsibilities that you have towards your staff. While you may not be liable, should your staff suffer injury at work, your company surely will be – and this is something you want to avoid at all costs, as damaging litigation from a former employee will be an unwelcome distraction from your day-to-day operations.

Operational Planning

Finally, managers will hold regular meetings with senior figures across the company in order to divine where, in the future, the company ought to move. For instance, monitoring the market for signs of fluctuation and change can be important for your business – it means you can anticipate demand ahead of time, and put plans in place to ride out dips in demand, or to make the most of the peaks.

Managing in the manufacturing industry is a tricky task – and that’s why this article gathers together five top tips to help you make the most of your managerial role, boosting your company’s performance at the same time.

Office Ergonomics Are Key To Business Success

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Office Ergonomics|Office Ergonomics Are Key To Business SuccessA good business is one that takes the health and safety of all its employees seriously and part of this is to consider good, sound ergonomic practice in the office space.

If employees are engaged in repetitive tasks that put their bodies under strain, over time, this will show in their performance and in their general wellbeing. This has a negative effect on their work and their ability to achieve in the longer term.

Standard office environments offer many different challenges to the health and wellbeing of employees and, over the last few years, the understanding of this has increased. However, gaining a greater knowledge of good office ergonomic practice is one of the most important ways in which employees can be happier, fulfilled and safer.

Why Businesses Must Take Ergonomics Seriously

Put simply, a good grounding in ergonomic practice can help minimize and prevent injuries and conditions that arise from repetitive office work. The most commonly reported concerns amongst employees are injuries to the musculoskeletal system, caused by sitting or standing in the same position for too long, and repetitive strain injuries from activities such as sitting and typing.

How To Implement Good Ergonomic Practice

These issues need to be addressed, and one way of doing this is by having face to face meetings with employees either via one to one interviews or a larger group conference so that everyone can talk and air their views together and workable solutions can be discussed.

Another good way of gaining a greater understanding is to look at hiring a team of people to come in and observe how employees work and how they interact and move within the office environment, noting any health and safety concerns as well as the types of activities being carried out. Information on how employees sit or stand, how they move around the office are all important, as are looking at what can be done to improve rest facilities and creating spaces so that staff can have separate areas to work and relax in.

From these observations, solutions can be derived. These can be as simple as providing better, and more comfortable and supportive office chairs and desks, to providing better solutions such as wall storage bins that require little in the way of repetitive bending or stretching to use, or office shelves placed at heights all people can reach without having to bend or stretch.

What Results Can Such Practices Offer?

The results of such observations mean that long term both the business and the employee will reap the benefits. There will be less time lost in disputes and sick leave, and employees will hopefully be happier and healthier as a result.

A business that looks after its staff will almost certainly see a rise in productivity levels, and reductions in compensation claims and occupational health appointments. Many companies often overlook the topic of ergonomics when considering staff health and wellbeing, considering it the least of their worries. However, a little time spent on this now can result in a happier, healthier and more productive workforce now and in the future too.

How To Ensure Your Factory Floor Is Running Smoothly

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Business Operations|How To Ensure Your Factory Floor Is Running SmoothlyWhen you’re running a factory or a warehouse area, you need everything to be like a well-oiled machine – pardon the pun. If everything is flowing correctly, then you’ll have a better chance of hitting targets and creating lots of output. You might be able to get away with a little leniency and looseness, but that will eventually catch up to you in the end.

How can you create a smooth-running operation then? Well, fortunately, there are loads of different things you can do that will affect all aspects. The environment will obviously need to be on point, for starters. You’ll also need to get the workforce firing, too – they’re pretty integral to the way the entire business performs! Here are a few specific ways you can get all these kinds of things sorted out:

Make A Plan And Stick To It

Without preparation, you’ll probably falter at some point. Some businesses like to be fluid and free-flowing when it comes to all aspects. The majority need to have more of a cautious and collected approach to things. If you know exactly who’s going to be doing what, and exactly what’s going to happen, then you’ll have a clearer view of the future.

Create a plan for the week again, but be sure to outline your vision for the upcoming months, too. The long-term is just as important as the long term.

Create A Certain Way Of Operating

This might sound a little totalitarian to some people, but having a particular set of steps might make everything a lot slicker. Sure, autonomy is nice, and nobody likes being shackled by a certain style, but it’s a great way of getting things done smoothly. If your workers have a style drilled into them, then they’ll systematically fire through their jobs with little time for stalling and overthinking.

Make Sure You Have Everything You Need

This is pretty basic, but so many businesses don’t check themselves on a regular basis. If you don’t have certain parts or the right equipment, then you’re going to struggle to get things done. At the beginning of each week, be sure to take stock. You don’t want to have everything ready, then realize you’re missing a few swivel eye bolts, or that a particular machine is malfunctioning.

Hire The Right People

We mentioned before that the team is kind of important to the productivity. Well, if you have competent, efficient, and hungry staff, then they’re going to be more motivated than most. When you have active workers, the entire system will flow better. Unmotivated and sluggish people will always bring the rest of the team down and slow everything up.

Be sure to regularly train the staff, too. They will always need a kick up the backside because they’re human. New techniques and methods regarding all aspects of work are surfacing, too, so they’ll need to be up to speed.

Safety First!

Make sure everything is completely safe and good-to-go in the workplace. If things are looking a little ropey, then that’s only going to hinder the productivity and the flow. Errors will probably be made during the day, and the staff might be on tenterhooks throughout.

Safeguarding Your Employees: It’s A Business Necessity

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Safeguard your employees|Safeguarding Your Employees: It's A Business NecessityWhat are you doing to safeguard your employees?

Despite your busy schedule, you need to give them your priority. If you don’t, and if you fail in your duties in any way, then you are putting both your employees and your business at risk of harm.

The following are some of the reasons why employee safeguarding needs to be a necessity within your business.

#1: You will protect your reputation

By putting health and safety measures in place in your workplace, you are less likely to fall prey to employee compensation claims should an accident occur. And this doesn’t only apply in the workplace, as you should also adhere to drivers’ hours rules to protect those employees who spend much of their time on the road. In this instance, you would also protect yourself from compensation claims made by injured members of the public too.

Of course, it’s not only compensation claims that you need to worry about. Should your employees complain about you on social media, perhaps because you have neglected aspects of employee care within your business, then word is quickly going to spread. You are also in danger of ex-employees who might whistleblow to the media about any neglectful practices within your business.

And when your reputation takes a hit? Your business will take a financial hit in tandem.

#2: You will have more productive employees

As a business owner, you need to focus on boosting your employees’ health. As we discussed in the linked article, you can do this by keeping the office clean, giving your employees more time off, and by making regular health and safety checks.

And the healthier your employees are? The happier and more productive they will be, and that can only be good news for your business. So, take the appropriate steps to safeguard your employees’ health. Add in more break times, find ways to reduce the need for overtime, hire a cleaner if you need to, and raise morale to promote positive mental health at work. Your employees will then have the capacity to work harder and with more focus on quality, and they are less likely to fall ill and take time away from the workplace.

#3: You will retain your best employees

Why should your employees remain loyal to your business? If you are doing little to protect their physical and mental health, and if you don’t take their concerns seriously, then they have little reason to show loyalty to you. As these employee retention statistics suggest, the job marketplace is in the hands of the employee and not the employer, as staying in an unhealthy job does not have to be a long-term option. So, if you aren’t safeguarding your employees, you can’t expect them to stick around. Consequently, you might lose your best employees, and what’s worse, they might head to your nearest rivals.

So, protect your employees. Keep them safe in the workplace. Take action when they report concerns to you. And do what you can to keep them happy. You will be receiving their resignation notices if you don’t, and your business might suffer without them.

Take heed then and do what you can to safeguard your employees. While this is your moral and ethical duty, it’s also a business necessity, as you will experience hardship if you are neglectful.

5 Business Benefits of Good Health and Safety at Work

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StrategyDriven Human Performance Article |Health and Safety|5 Business Benefits of Good Health and Safety at WorkInstilling good health and safety practices in your workplace is essential. In fact, it should always be at the top of a business’s priorities, even if the industry your business is part of isn’t considered to undertake high-risk activities.

Failing to put in place appropriate health and safety measures can have serious repercussions that may negatively impact the overall success of your company. To emphasize more, this article will take you through the 5 business benefits of good health and safety at work that you should know about.

1. Save more on legal and insurance costs

It’s generally a bad idea for your business to be in and out of courtrooms due to scenarios that might have been avoided in the first place. Having said that, accidents at work can turn out to be very expensive in terms of legal fees, compensation payouts, fines, and remedial action required. If you properly train your employees on the importance of maintaining safety at the workplace, the possibility of having any costly accidents are greatly reduced.

2. Increase productivity

Good health and safety can also increase the overall productivity of any business. With proper measures in place, your employees will be able to carry out their jobs more efficiently, while remaining safe. This is because their morale will be highly uplifted knowing that they have very little to worry about concerning their health and safety at the workplace. I’m sure you’d like your employees to leave the workplace in the same healthy condition they arrived in, right?

“Back in the day, if there was an accident or health and safety issue in your workplace, you may have opened a filing cabinet to follow the paper trail. Those days are gone”, says David Rowland, head of marketing at Effective Software. “This is because the software has now become the dominant way to administer health and safety systems, and this can save your business time, unnecessary losses and, in the end, money”.

3. Enhance reputation

If your employees feel that you care about their health and safety, they will probably tell people about it. In the end, you’ll have more competition for employment spaces, and most importantly – more people will get to know about your brand (products or services).

For instance, let’s say you work as a call center agent in Company A, and as a result of work, you develop a throat and voice problem. Since you’ve made it a habit to call your mum after work, this time you simply text her and tell her that you can’t speak on the phone due to a voice problem you got from work. In the end, your mum might get a feeling that the company you’re working for is very irresponsible, and even go on to tell a friend about it. Word spreads around, and before you realize it, people don’t want to work for that company or buy its products.

4. Reduce absenteeism

Injuries or illness as a result of poor working conditions is arguably the main cause of increased employee absenteeism. For instance, if an integral staff member develops a more severe problem that requires an extended sick leave or time off, then you’ll definitely have to hire a new employee. Alternatively, you can choose to train someone within the company to take over the post. In as much as this is a step in the right direction, recruiting and training someone new will certainly cost you money. Don’t forget the amount of sick pay that you’ll have to pay the sick staff member.

5. Retain loyal employees

If your staff members feel valued by your company, this will most definitely make them happier at work. As a result, none of your employees would like to quit and work for a rival company. After all, who wouldn’t want to work for a highly reputable and caring company? Certainly not me!

It’s important that both you and your staff members are properly protected from injuries or illness at the workplace. By taking the necessary steps to safeguard their health and wellbeing, your employees will be far more inclined to focus on ensuring that your business succeeds. That’s why it’s important to remember the aforementioned business benefits of good health and safety at work.