Industry Talk

Regular Industry Development Updates, Opinions and Talking Points relating to Manufacturing, the Supply Chain and Logistics.

How to increase supply chain productivity through employee engagement?

The supply chain is the set of activities that are carried out to produce goods and services for a company. It starts with raw materials, which are processed into intermediate products, then assembled or manufactured into final products.

One of the most important aspects to supply chain productivity is employee engagement. You will know you are successful in this area when your team feel valued and appreciated, leading them to do their best work for your company.

If you want to increase supply chain productivity through better engagement with employees, here are some tips that can help:

 

Provide employees with clear goals and objectives

Developing specific, measurable outcomes that the employee is responsible for accomplishing will help them see how their actions impact company success. Employees who understand what they are working towards become more engaged in your business. It creates an environment where everyone is working together to achieve a common goal.

For example, if you want to increase supply chain productivity by increasing inventory accuracy so customers can receive orders faster, measure it weekly and give feedback when targets aren’t met or exceeded. Letting your team know about these expectations means they’ll be able to work harder next week to beat them!!

When employees have clearly defined roles within the organization, there’s less room for confusion about tasks or accountability. It also enables them to feel more in control of their work, which can lead to increased satisfaction. Developing clear goals with measurable outcomes is the first step in increasing supply chain productivity through employee engagement.

 

Create a sense of community

When employees feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves, they’ll be better equipped to succeed. By creating an environment where your people want to work together and feel valued by their colleagues, you will develop engagement throughout the organization.

The more engaged employees are with each other, the easier it is for them to thrive in their current roles or take on new ones that support company goals. Creating cross-departmental projects can lead to knowledge sharing between teams who don’t usually interact directly.

This could help increase supply chain productivity through collaboration across different areas within your business! You might also consider hosting team-building activities outside normal working hours as another way to build relationships between staff members.

 

Increase employee engagement by providing them with the tools and skills they need to be successful

Along with clear goals and objectives, your employees need to have the proper tools to accomplish their tasks. The right equipment and software can help increase efficiency, making it easier for them to achieve targets and outperform themselves.

When every employee has the necessary skill set needed for success within their roles, they’ll feel more engaged at work because they know what is expected of them each day.

They also feel more empowered to make decisions and take the responsibility for their work seriously because they have access to everything they need.

 

Invest in technology that will help increase productivity such as RFID tags or barcode scanners

Investing in technology that can increase supply chain productivity is one of the most important things you need to do. Using RFID tags or barcode scanners throughout your warehouses and stores will help employees manage inventory more effectively, which means less wasted time looking for items.

For example, using automatic identification technologies (AIT) like radio frequency identification (RFID) enables employees at every level within your organization to make better decisions about how products are sourced, shipped, and moved around your facility.

It helps with everything from receiving goods on time through automated tracking capabilities, processing orders faster by scanning incoming shipments immediately upon arrival, all the way down to providing retail staff with the information they need while working directly with customers so there’s no delay between ordering and receiving.

Another important thing you can do to increase productivity is investing in automated solutions like warehouse management systems (WMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP). These systems can help employees manage workflows and see where inefficiencies lie within their processes, making it easier for them to identify areas that need improvement.

 

Plan ahead – make sure you have enough capacity when it comes to storage, transportation, and warehousing

Let’s face it, planning ahead is not everyone’s strong point. However, if you can make a habit of doing this within your supply chain business, you’ll be able to increase productivity throughout the company by leaps and bounds!

By making sure there are enough resources available when they’re needed (for instance, warehousing or transportation), employees won’t have to scramble around trying to find products just before an order needs to ship out.

They can focus on what matters most – developing relationships with customers that will help them continue growing their businesses because every aspect has been thoughtfully planned for in advance.

If everything goes according to plan while increasing supply chain productivity through employee engagement, then both employers and staff win at the end of the day.

 

Provide mentorship opportunities to help develop the next generation of leaders

One of the best ways to get employees excited about their work is by helping them develop leadership skills they can use throughout their careers. If you have a limited budget, consider mentoring junior team members so that they learn from your more experienced workers who have been with your company for some time now.

You might be surprised at how fast these young individuals will pick up on everything and become just as proficient in no time! Having an employee-friendly culture where everyone’s voices are heard goes a long way when it comes to increasing productivity within your business because even if there isn’t money left over or enough room in the budget for new hires, then providing opportunities like this one will help alleviate any existing problems quickly.

 

Recognize outstanding performance with rewards and bonuses

Last but not least, providing incentives and bonuses for employees who go above and beyond the call of duty is an excellent way to boost morale while increasing productivity.

Maybe you’ll want to start an employee rewards program where those who consistently perform well throughout their time with your company are rewarded to motivate others to do the same.

It’s worth trying out if it means everyone can be happy and productive at work!

 

Conclusion

By following the steps outlined above, you’ll be able to increase productivity within your supply chain organization by leaps and bounds.

However, keep in mind that no two companies are alike so it’s important to find out what works best for you rather than just copying everything everyone else does!