Leader Feeder by Front Line Leadership Systems: Recent Episodes
Front Line Leadership Systems
Join our Leadership experts for weekly advice on how to develop consistent, capable and confident Supervisors, Managers and Team Leaders who drive safety, productivity, quality and team member engagement. In this series we will highlight some of the key elements of the Front Line Leadership Training System. This comprehensive approach will ensure a lasting change in the leadership approach and culture of your business to support high performance.
Struggling with a difficult conversation at work? Get proven tips for handling tough conversations as a manufacturing manager with confidence and clarity.
Discover effective strategies to manage a multigenerational workforce team, enhancing communication and skills while turning challenges into benefits for all generations.
Join us as we discuss the importance and value of embracing workplace diversity for frontline leaders. We explore how a diverse team encompasses differences in ethnicity and language, age, technical skills, experience levels, and industry backgrounds.Discover how bringing together varied perspectives fuels improved problem-solving and innovation, leading to more creative solutions. How to address the potential challenges of managing a diverse team, including navigating differing values and opinions, and insights on constructive conflict management. Plus, learn how understanding individual strengths, a key aspect of situational leadership, can be leveraged for effective cross-training and building a truly stronger team.Tune in to gain valuable perspectives on gauging the positive impact of diversity through enhanced problem-solving efficiency and increased innovation within your team.
Busy schedules and excessive admin tasks often keep manufacturing leaders away from the floor, impacting team productivity and morale.
Reduce manufacturing turnover. Discover the 'Hope Slope' strategy: listen to your team, make impactful changes and build hope to retain valuable employees.
Unlock your team's potential! Discover the best strategies to inspire and motivate your team, drive success, and boost team morale as a frontline leader.
Effective communication from frontline leaders enhances employee engagement, improves connection to strategy and empowers teams.
Uncertainty in business? We wanted to share an episode of our sister podcast, Accelerating Operational Performance, hosted by Greg Schinkel. Learn how effective leadership can turn challenges into opportunities. Discover strategies to navigate uncertainty, improve operational efficiency, and boost your team's performance. You can watch this episode on our youtube channel as well here: https://youtu.be/wNnUi_4lML8
Manufacturing leaders can transform complaints into teamwork through effective shift management.
Break down communication silos within your company to enhance collaboration among teams and departments. Discover strategies to identify and overcome these barriers.
Unlock your potential as a frontline leader! Discover how to develop your leadership skills and engage your workforce through effective frontline leadership training.
These essential leadership traits for manufacturing supervisors build trust in the workplace, create a culture of credibility, and foster high-performing teams.
Equip yourself with the strategies to successfully lead your manufacturing team through change. Discover how to maintain morale, improve communication, and achieve organizational goals.
Join Greg Schinkel and Kirk Langford as they rewind through previous episodes, unearthing valuable leadership tips and insights. Learn the essential qualities of effective leadership and discover the power of self-awareness, curiosity, and continuous learning in driving performance and empowering teams.Here are the clips and links to the full episodes in the order we talk about them in this episode:1. Curiosity and Helping Others Matter: https://youtube.com/shorts/rEsX4S1pJs8From the 'Developing Future Leaders within Your Warehouse' episode: https://youtu.be/4neLsAumcls2. The Power of Self-Awareness and Curiosity: https://youtube.com/shorts/pOy5QRWZSWYFrom the 'The Impact of Effective Leadership on Manufacturing Performance' episode: https://youtu.be/dHpuucBxBNk3. Who's Training Your Team Members?: https://youtube.com/shorts/VWHUAPOsXLQFrom the 'HR Training Solutions for the Modern Manufacturing Workforce' episode: https://youtu.be/8lTCgDR6UBM4. Honest Feedback for Leadership Growth: https://youtube.com/shorts/NvuDkHU1CYgFrom the 'The Impact of Effective Leadership on Manufacturing Performance' episode: https://youtu.be/dHpuucBxBNk
REPLAY: Discover the benefits and drawbacks of synchronous and asynchronous learning for manufacturing leadership training.
Learn how to assess the confidence levels of your leaders in their leadership abilities. Discover tools and strategies for effective leadership development programs.
Discover the importance of assessing change readiness in your organization with tips on how to perform a successful organizational readiness assessment.
Unlock the secrets to building a strong employer brand through employee development. Attract top talent and create a supportive work environment with these proven strategies.
Discover effective HR training solutions tailored for the modern manufacturing workforce. Ensure compliance, safety, and skill development for your employees.
Discover strategies for identifying and nurturing future leaders in your warehouse. Develop essential skills for effective team management and overall operational success.
Learn effective strategies to improve employee retention in the manufacturing industry. Find ideas to reduce turnover and retain your valuable workforce.
Explore the significant impact of effective leadership on manufacturing performance. Learn how strong leadership can drive success in the manufacturing sector.
Explore how virtual training can enhance leadership skills, address traditional training challenges, and offer practical solutions for manufacturing environments.
Unlock strategies for effective employee performance management and discover innovative techniques to transform routine evaluations into engaging, constructive, and impactful conversations that drive real organizational growth. Perfect for HR professionals and managers seeking to enhance their performance review processes.
Learn how post-training assessments play a crucial role in measuring the effectiveness of training programs in manufacturing.
Discover how to assess the effectiveness of your training program with post-training evaluation questions and feedback surveys.
Join this insightful discussion on leadership essentials. Discover how your presence as a leader influences team success, and learn actionable strategies for motivation, engagement, and operational leadership.
Using Workforce Flexibility for Enhanced Manufacturing Productivity. Flexible work strategy empowers employees in the manufacturing industry.
Discover the power of manufacturing training programs for effective learning and skill development. Industry-tailored training program in manufacturing.
Discover the benefits and drawbacks of synchronous and asynchronous learning for manufacturing leadership training.
Discover the transformative potential of on-the-job training in manufacturing settings. Explore best practices and employee real-world applications.
Discover how microlearning is revolutionizing skill development in the manufacturing industry. Explore quick, effective methods for manufacturing training.
Discover how to empower leaders quickly and attain leadership excellence with a training strategy called Competency-Based Training (CBT).
Plant managers need a variety of knowledge and strengths to lead their teams. One helpful method is called Training Needs Assessment (TNA).
Creating a Versatile Manufacturing Workforce At a manufacturing plant, adaptability is the key to success. As the manufacturing sector continues to evolve and customer demands fluctuate, having a versatile workforce becomes not just a competitive edge, but a necessity for thriving in the ever-changing landscape. Building a versatile manufacturing team requires strategic planning, thoughtful […]
How can you improve manufacturing operations with supervisory training? Manufacturing is ever-evolving, with the need for continuous improvement ingrained in the fabric of sustainable success. There is a myth that improvement initiatives should only emerge in times of crisis. Let us debunk that myth by exploring supervisory training and how it serves as a […]
What does the future of virtual front line leadership training look like? The emergence of virtual training has sparked a conversation about its efficacy, applicability, and the future it holds for supervisors. Dispelling the myth that virtual training is only suitable for specific leader types, it is crucial to recognize that virtual programs can […]
What strategies can you use to have better, more effective communication between HR and manufacturing supervisors? Effective communication between Human Resources and manufacturing supervisors is crucial for organizational success. This insightful discussion emphasizes the importance of collaboration and communication across all departments to ensure organizational goals are aligned. The myth that HR should exclusively […]
How does engaging manufacturing supervisors in improvement drive results? In the dynamic and intricate landscape of manufacturing, where precision and efficiency reign supreme, the role of supervisors often finds itself underappreciated when it comes to spearheading improvement initiatives. It is imperative to debunk the pervasive myth that manufacturing supervisors are innately resistant to change. […]
In today’s dynamic manufacturing environment, retaining skilled plant engineers is crucial for the success of any organization. Plant engineers play an important role in overseeing operations, ensuring efficiency, and driving productivity. However, a common myth is that they are solely driven by the nature of the work, and they will stay committed regardless of […]
Have you considered the significant and long-lasting payoffs of investing in training and development programs for your factory management team? In today’s competitive manufacturing landscape, the pursuit of excellence is a constant challenge. One critical aspect that often gets overlooked is investing in factory management training development. A common myth in the manufacturing industry […]
What are common challenges that HR has to overcome when working with distribution supervisors? HR professionals often encounter a unique set of challenges when working with distribution supervisors. These challenges can significantly impact operational performance and employee engagement. Here are two main challenges HR faces and strategies to overcome them effectively. Challenge #1: High […]
Why are frontline supervisors disengaging? Organizations often focus on motivating and engaging team members, but sometimes overlook a critical aspect: the engagement of frontline supervisors. It is a common misconception that leaders are immune to the same issues that affect team members. The consequences of disengaged frontline supervisors can be substantial for organizations. Here are […]
How can HR and manufacturing leaders help frontline supervisors excel? After our Front Line Leadership training, we have what is called an impact meeting. This is where we sit down with the management team after our project wraps up, and discuss any observed change and improvement that they have noticed since our training. Recently, in […]
What do you do when you get low culture survey results? A study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 80% of employees say that workplace culture is a crucial factor in their decision to stay in an organization. Whenever someone shares with me that they quit their position and moved on to […]
How do you boost employee morale in a factory environment? The National Safety Council found that workplace stress amounts to 300 billion dollars each year in costs. This is in the form of absenteeism, turnover, and drops in productivity. It is a costly problem when we allow the routine of factory work to stress people […]
What are the benefits of comprehensive supervisory training in manufacturing? The only time you generally receive supervisory training is when you are promoted, when in fact you have not even been exposed to issues as a supervisor yet. This training should be an ongoing process, not just a one-time event when someone is promoted. According […]
What is the future of manufacturing front line leadership training? The landscape of front line leadership training is ever-changing, and it is important to stay on top of best practices so that your leaders can benefit accordingly. Read on to discover ten of the most recent trends in front line leadership training that we […]
How important is continuous training for manufacturing supervisors? Training is not a one-time event that you can move on from. People learn over time and manufacturing supervisors require continuous training. Below, we will explore three myths that are commonly assumed when it comes to continuous training. Myth #1: Continuous training is not necessary for supervisors. […]
How do you increase warehouse productivity? There are plenty of ways that organizations attempt to increase warehouse productivity, that are in fact not productive. Here are four myths and facts that will help you run a more productive warehouse: Myth #1: Automation is the only way to increase warehouse productivity. Many executives and managers believe […]
Leadership Skills of Manufacturing Supervisors What are the leadership skills that manufacturing supervisors need to be most effective? Often, we think that all a supervisor needs to focus on are the skills within their department and their daily duties. However, they need to have a broader understanding of the manufacturing process from the front-end all […]
Engage Distribution Center Employees How often do you engage with distribution center employees? Engagement with employees is often overlooked. This can be attributed to a misconception that employees are: Unmotivated to engage because of the type of work they are performing Present purely for a paycheck Performing basic tasks that require no training Dismissive of […]
How to Improve Operations with Frontline Supervisors The current misconception in the workplace is that frontline supervisors have little involvement in improving operational performance because their priority is to maintain the preexisting procedures and policies. In reality, the opposite is true. Supervisors are highly aware of all performances within the production facility, and that includes: […]
Empowering Plant Managers Improves Performance The issue we are addressing today is the behavior of plant managers that lead by empowering and those who micromanage. Plant managers, directors, or VPs of operations believe good plant managers need to be heavily involved in every aspect of the facility. This expectation instills the micromanaging behavior that […]
Why it is Important to Recognize Shop Floor Employees Most leaders and companies do not realize how impactful recognition is in the workplace. There are 3 reasons why that is: Unnecessary: Your hard labor is recognized and acknowledged in your salary. Too Expensive: Time and money are not essential expenses for the business. Top Performers […]
How Communication in Warehouses is Changing with Technology Technology can replace communication, but the real question is, should it? As much as we depend on technology to supplement communication, it should not replace the humanity required in most situations. Technology has significantly improved how we track goods, determine what is required next, and measure efficiency. […]
If you were to ask most workplaces if they felt that the work ethic of the average worker has declined throughout the generations, most would agree, especially with the younger members of the workforce. Is it laziness, or perhaps they no longer want to work in a challenging operating or production environment? In reality, “voluntary […]
An Engaging Plant Manager Is Crucial For Workplace Improvement There is a misconception suggesting that plant managers are not interested or engaged in the day-to-day operations of their facility. This perception can be especially harmful to your workplace because your managers are responsible for: Daily check-ins with team members Performing routine checks to ensure things […]
Four myths prevent frontline leaders from having coaching conversations with distribution employees. If you are to commence coaching, many believe it is either to invoke disciplinary action, it will be time-consuming, only managers can initiate the conversation, or it will be intimidating. Coaching Conversation Fiction Myth One: Strictly for Disciplinary Purposes If you are not […]
The assumption within manufacturing, production, and distribution is that as long as you have technical skills and some experience in the facility, you have the key skills of a plant supervisor that will make you successful. This is why most companies promote technically strong people into supervisory roles only to see them struggle. To hit […]
When enrolling in virtual training opportunities, there is hesitancy as to whether or not virtual leadership training for logistics leaders is an effective method for your team. This week we will evaluate this approach so you can make an informed decision as to whether this is right for you and your leaders. Virtual Training Versus […]
Burnout happens in the workplace, but your leadership can take preventative measures before it goes past the point of no return.
You first need to realize that your teams do not have an endless supply of energy and enthusiasm to bring to every task if you are not stepping up and supporting them when there are gaps in their performance or productivity.
Almost 60% of leaders report being or feeling burned out. In 2021, 1,000 high-potential leaders were interviewed, and they found that 86% felt exhausted at the end of the day. That is a significant increase of 27% over the previous year.
Front Line Leaders Feeling Burned Out in the WorkplaceWe helped a manufacturer who had a very significant burnout issue when it came to their supervisors. Either they would abruptly quit, resign from their post, or stay and become demotivated. Their leaders felt under supported.
The company identified this root cause and provided the skill-building tools they needed while also reversing the burnout to reignite the energy and motivation they originally had.
Preventative Burnout MeasuresNumber One: Quantify the Workload
Inevitably, we keep increasing the workload and expectations of our teams until they break. Often this occurs because most of our hires do not tell us they have been given too much to do.
You need to look at the workload that you have assigned to your leaders and ask, "Is that a reasonable thing to expect from them daily?”
Number Two: Leave Time for Leadership
A lot of supervisors are so busy doing a lot of admin tasks, project work, meetings, and committee tasks, that they do not end up spending enough time on the floor interacting with their people. Reevaluate some of those tasks and delegate.
Number Three: Shift Tasks to Support Departments
Suppose we surround supervisors with the support they need. In that case, they can focus on their leadership responsibilities, and other departments or groups can take away some of the work that is often offloaded onto the supervisor.
Be cautious not to over-delegate your leaders, as this could result in their burnout and could affect their team-building development or capabilities.
Leadership Training and Development Our Front Line Leadership program can help get you on the right track. We offer training in English, Spanish, and French. Choose training In-Person, Virtual, or our new On Demand format.
It all starts with a conversation on our website at uniquedevelopment.com.
Retaining employees is a real issue in manufacturing, and it is not because these workers detest the idea of remaining at any job longer than a year. This perception can influence your behavior, which results in that self-fulfilling prophecy coming true.
Do They Have a Reason to Stay?The fact is that an employee who has a weak connection to the company is more likely to leave and move on to other things, even if those other things are not as good or better than what they are experiencing in your company.
What Studies Say About Turnover RatesA HALO study in 2021 said that 73% of people would be open to receiving an offer and might even consider it carefully, even if they are not actively looking at changing jobs.
This is bad news for you because your employees will entertain an offer and may even accept it, with you finding out after the fact.
Addressing Significant Turnover Problems One of our clients had a significant turnover problem. They were experiencing a 40% turnover, meaning they had to hire 40% of their workforce to remain even yearly.
We have seen worse cases, but for this example, we are going to focus on this 40% issue this client had been experiencing.
The problem with that level of turnover is that supervisors became frustrated and disenfranchised because they had to onboard and train new employees, knowing that 4 out of 10 (or 2 out of 5) would not stay in the organization long.
And so, you are continuously retraining and dealing with the productivity gaps that happen when you constantly have new people working for you in the department.
Developing Positive Employee InteractionsYou can create an attractive workplace for employees so that they will either turn down opportunities from a new organization or choose to return after they have explored their options.
Here are a few recommendations your manufacturing leaders can apply to increase employee retention.
Number One: Identify the Interactions
There are several moments of truth in which a supervisor and an employee will interact throughout the day. It could be around the:
- Training
- Initial greetings
- Integration into the workgroup
- Giving feedback
- Learning progression discussions
- Assessing productivity over time
You can identify all those interactions between the supervisor and the employee.
Number Two: Magnify the Moments
There is a correlation between customer service and your employee experience because they are experiencing what it is like to work for your company.
If you magnify those interactions and moments, you will leave people feeling better about themselves and their decision to work in your organization.
Number Three: Leverage the Love
Once you have built significant interactions, you can use those to push up performance. And that is because people will not see it as offensive, or a concern purely based on the numbers.
It shows your team that you want the best from them, and they will choose to contribute to the success because of the relationship you have established out of respect.
When you “leverage the love”, it just means that you can push the boundaries on performance and get people to achieve more than they ever have.
Furthering Your Leadership Development Retaining your employees is just one of the many essential skills your leaders require to succeed. When you are ready to develop more strengths, visiting our website can get you on the right path in your leadership journey.
Our Front Line Leadership program is available in traditional On-Site classroom workshops, Virtual Training studios, or On-Demand programs where people can learn at their own pace over a multi-month period.
What is important is they put those new leadership behaviors into action so that you can see them change and evolve and see the impact on your operating results.
It starts with a conversation. You can do that on our website at uniquedevelopment.com or connect with us on one of the many social media channels. We are active on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
No matter how you connect with us, we look forward to starting an initial project with you. Once you see those results, you will expand it into a multi-project relationship.
The truth is that people do not always learn the same way and participating in any form of training will not be as effective regardless of where it comes from.
Furthermore, 70% of learning does not even happen in a classroom. It occurs in the day-to-day experiences that your team members have on the shop floor. They learn on the job. But did you know that 20% of your learning comes from feedback and greater self-awareness, and 10% comes from formal training?
Achieving Long-Term Results With TrainingAn equipment manufacturer partnered with us to train their supervisors. Initially, they wanted us to cover many topics in the first wave of training. We obliged that by doing a consolidated program in a reasonably intensive format.
To ensure that the lessons were effective, our recommendation to this business was to incorporate the tools that had been taught and connect them to the daily work supervisors implement on the shop floor. Doing this would help them put into practice the conversations they would have after the training program.
By focusing on specific challenges that the supervisors were experiencing and demonstrating how to put those strategies into practice, the training became more valuable to those recipients. This approach increased the likelihood of long-term positive changes because it was put into action.
Choosing The Right Leadership TrainingHere are a few guidelines to consider when choosing leadership training for logistics leaders.
Number One: Focus On The Essentials
Leadership training can include many optional topics, and there are always buzzword topics companies are interested in having their people learn. But when you really think about it, the essential issues focus on:
- How to communicate and interact respectfully.
- How to motivate, especially when working with multiple generations.
- How to mitigate and deal with conflict situations constructively.
Number Two: Practice Real-Life Scenarios
Most participants would tell you that role-playing and practicing is the most daunting part of leadership training. It does not seem practical from their perspective. By giving them a real-life scenario, they can see the results of those lessons and the direct benefits (or recognize adjustments) to improve the workplace.
Number Three: Apply And Share The Success
Inevitably, some team members will better grasp new leadership capabilities more quickly than others. When this happens, get them together, even in small groups, and have them share how they have been able to apply the training content.
This approach can help motivate those beside them who might be more reluctant to try it. But when they hear their colleagues say how great it worked for them, they will be even more inspired and motivated to try those new things.
This is something we measure ourselves, using our state-of-the-art leadership or leader behavior builder system, where people set commitments to put specific ideas into action. If the supervisors or managers of those participants have conversations with them, they can help pollinate and propagate that learning to other people.
Front Line Leadership Training ProgramsDeveloping leadership capabilities, especially when choosing the right logistics leadership training for your team, starts with a conversation.
You can connect with us on our website at uniquedevelopment.com. Our training programs are available in English, French and Spanish. We also provide In-Person, Onsite, Virtual, and, most recently, On-Demand training allowing you the flexibility to learn at your own pace.
It is essential to everyone's success that you dedicate time to training your leaders to ensure that your company can grow into the future.
Does Training Factory Leaders Impact an Organization's Growth Rate or Success? 83% of businesses and many leaders in those businesses have identified that training and developing leaders is crucial at all levels. However, only 5% of companies make any kind of meaningful attempt to build their leaders consistently.
The president of one of our clients, a multi-location automotive accessories company, confessed that they did what most companies do. They took some of their best employees and promoted them based on their technical skills. Only to watch them struggle when they were doing things from a leadership perspective.
Communication from the leadership team was poor with their people regarding motivating and handling conflict. As a result, many issues were escalated to HR to take care of, or in some cases, to the president. They realized that they required training for those leaders so they could be successful.
That is where we came in.
After working with them on some fundamental training, we noticed that their leaders could handle most of the real issues. They proved that they could effectively address issues that caused grief and aggravation to reduce the number of complaints to HR.
Things to Consider When Training Factory LeadersNumber One: Focus on Leadership Fundamentals
There are lots of different buzzwords and topics that people get excited about. When you look at it, leadership is a game of fundamentals, at least to start with. Those fundamentals include communication, motivation, problem-solving, and handling conflicts.
Number Two: Strengthen the Bench
Strengthening the bench means that your leaders develop the employees on their team because those team members need to be able to step up if the company grows.
Your leaders need to be ready for future promotions. Your employees need to be cultivated and strengthened, so they do not have to rely on their leader to do their day-to-day business tasks and work.
Number Three: Encourage Leaders to Identify Future Leaders
Leaders should focus on creating future leaders. When you recognize your team members' potential, you can use encouragement and support their development. Doing this sets your future leaders up for success when a promotion is offered.
Furthering Leadership DevelopmentAll the recommendations we presented require at least the baseline of leadership capabilities and confidence.
It starts with the conversation if you recognize similarities between yourself and that automotive accessories manufacturer.
Visit our website at uniquedevelopment.com; from there, we can set a time to discuss which training approach will provide the results you strive for.
Our mission is to create workplaces led by supervisors and to create an exceptional experience for everyone.
Poor Attendance in PlantsWhether you have a factory or a warehouse, it is very problematic when team members display poor attendance in plants during their scheduled hours. The absence rates in plants average around 2.9%. That means if you have 200 people expected for work, you are down around six people daily.
You often have to hire more help to ensure you can run the production scheduled for that day and meet deadlines.
How Absenteeism Impacts Teams and Overall Plant PerformanceA leadership team we worked with had an abnormally high absenteeism rate. To ensure operations could continue as planned, they hired extra workers from temporary agencies to fill in. They did not realize that this approach cost them more than a quarter of a million dollars to plug the absenteeism gap in their production pipeline.
By working with their supervisors and management team in both training and strategizing, we were able to affect a 50% reduction in absenteeism.
That was using a twofold strategy.
First, we had to address the chronic absenteeism of team members, and then we focused on creating a workplace where everyone wanted to come to work.
Reduce Absenteeism in PlantsNumber One: Define the Problem
If we were to focus purely on the surface level, we would assume that absenteeism is the problem. However, there is a strategy called "The Five Why Method" for getting to the root cause.
Why are people not coming to work?
Dig deeper and step into the position of your absent team members. By stepping into that role, you can diagnose if they do not find the work rewarding or are experiencing negative interactions with coworkers or their managers.
Define the problem by learning the root cause to take steps to correct it.
Number Two: Address Chronic Absenteeism
Instead of generalizing and declaring that everybody is absent too often, you will find that you can apply the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule. This rule suggests that a relatively small number of workers are absent more than others and will, sometimes, take advantage of policies.
At times, the real issue is something that an individual is experiencing within their personal life. You must look at those who are chronically absent and apply corrective conversations.
From that point, you can assess and determine if progressive discipline is necessary. Communicate the impact the individual has on the company when they are absent. Explain why their attendance is required at the times they are scheduled.
Number Three: Create the Desire To Come To Work
Everyone is faced with the decision each day from the moment they wake up if they "feel" like going to work today.
The options are:
- "Yes! I need the income."
- "Maybe, but______."
- "I am not feeling overly motivated, so perhaps not."
If the last two dialogues occur, it could lead to the decision to “call in sick” or to “call off work.” Many managers assume that the paycheck alone motivates team members to be present in the workplace.
The reality is there are a lot of other aspects that are present when people go to work. It could be:
- The social aspect of interacting with their coworkers.
- The relationship that they have with their boss.
- The nature of the work and whether they feel challenged, motivated, and supported.
Focus on the things which can usually be addressed by increasing the leadership capability of your team.
Further Training for Front Line LeadersHow do you optimize other strengths to increase your capability as a front line leader? That is where we come in with our Front Line Leadership Training Program.
We offer On-Site or Virtual Programs to deliver to your teams or our new Front Line Leadership On Demand Program that allows learning on your own time and schedule.
Visit our website at uniquedevelopment.com, and then we can discuss how we can improve the leadership effectiveness in your organization.
Training warehouse supervisors must increase their effectiveness to sustain changes over time. There is a current perception that there is never enough time to participate in training. Certainly not enough time to do a proper follow-up to reinforce those leadership skills.
The opposite is, in fact, true. It is not a matter of not having enough time in a day, but rather, a matter of commitment of importance.
Management decides the order of importance, and those tend to have increased time spent with better results. Time needs to be dedicated to developing your leaders over time.
Introducing New Training, Not Reverting To Already Learned FundamentalsThe president of one of our clients grew from 50 to nearly 2000 employees after we worked with them. Our trainers worked with their front line supervisors and team leaders. We continued to train them again the following year based on the success they had as a result.
It occurred to us that it would be more beneficial to these leaders to expose them to new training materials rather than repeating the fundamentals we had previously worked on.
Our client expressed that though they understood our desire to provide more value, content, and topics, they were more concerned about practicing the fundamentals than sharing those concepts differently until it became second nature to their leaders.
There was value in this feedback. Most of the time, leadership requires a core set of skills and behaviors that must be mastered to achieve maximum impact. This was evident in their business results.
Encourage Behavior Change After TrainingTip One: Do Fewer Things Well
Most of our clients appreciate that we have a wide variety of topics in our training programs. Still, most would be better off if they selected a few topics and then explored them deeper. This approach would allow them to practice their new skills so that they become confident in deploying those skills back on the job.
One of the top reasons people hesitate to put their newly acquired training into action is insecurity over not having mastered the skills and publicly embarrassing themselves if it does not translate effectively on the shop floor.
Our training program offers a portion we call the leader behavior builder. It allows our trainees a chance to set one commitment of putting one leadership practice into action and reinforcing it for up to 30 days before they move on to applying another course concept.
Tip Two: Practice New Skills
Providing time in the training program can allow people to get a chance to try the activities with one another and witness each other performing them to obtain a greater insight into the reality of incorporating that into their leadership practices.
Most training still focuses an excessive amount of time on the "what" and the "why." Not realizing that it would be more successful if we took more time to focus on the "how."
Tip Three: Use Positive Peer Pressure
You have heard of peer pressure. It occurs when an individual displays actions or behaviors because they believe that is what their associates think they should do or become susceptible to their influence. What if we could change the narrative and make this a positive?
Addressing Resistance To Change Consider for a moment that one or two of your leaders genuinely want to apply and practice the concepts taught in a training program. However, some members are skeptical and avoid putting those ideas into action.
As the manager, we encourage you to bring all your leaders together and have a conversation. Bringing everyone together can result in those who are excelling with the newly learned skills to inspire those who have yet to apply them.
If the resistant leaders witness newly learned skills that seem to work for their colleagues, it can encourage them to make an attempt.
Creating this positive peer pressure allows us to talk about what we learned and what we are putting into action. This can help reinforce the successes and get the hesitant parties to apply those course concepts back on the job.
Establishing Future Success For Your LeadersOnce you have established effective training strategies for your warehouse supervisors and extended the value, you can focus on the next steps for future success.
Our Front Line Leadership Program can help deliver the support and training your leaders will need to help the business meet and exceed expectations.
Training is offered in a variety of configurations.
This includes:
- Module Topics
- Training Onsite, In Person, Virtually, or On Demand
- Offered in English, French, and Spanish
It starts with a conversation by visiting our website uniquedevelopment.com. From there, we can discuss your needs and develop a custom-tailored solution that will drive the leadership behaviors that will increase your corporation and organization's success.
Essential Skills Logistic Supervisors NeedWhen the role of a team member evolves to become a leader, it's assumed that they inherit the essential skills logistic supervisors require to succeed purely based on the time invested within the company. That could not be further from the truth.
The number of years with any business does not translate into qualifications for higher roles.
Transferable Skills From Technician To A Leader There is a drastic difference between technical skills on the floor and supervising team members to meet expectations.
Only 11% of HR leaders feel they have a strong enough bench strength in their front line leadership teams to take expected leadership roles.
These essential skills are often seen as things supervisors should pick up through osmosis by being around other leaders. The problem is that this approach doesn't transform those people into good candidates for those leadership roles. Now you've got a problem, and you'll realize it after the fact.
You have no one you can promote from within, and you now have to seek external candidates to add to your leadership ranks.
External Hirings Vs. Internal PromotionsThough some external hiring is good, you should still have a pipeline of leaders for internal promotion.
We helped identify this problem with one of our clients regarding their warehouse employees.
Their initial belief was that if you've worked here long enough, you know what you need to know to become a good supervisor or leader. When they promoted people who they thought should "get it automatically," those individuals struggled in their roles. Taking this approach resulted in turnovers and not obtaining their performance numbers.
They came to us to deliver leadership training once they realized that leadership had its own skill sets. As a result, leaders began to understand the difference between transitioning from employee to group leader.
Once this was mutually understood, our client saw improvements in their operating results, and their leaders felt more confident, capable, and more consistent with one another.
Increase The Abilities Of Supervisors Here are a few tips to increase the abilities of your logistic supervisors to be more effective:
Tip One: View Leadership As A Competitive Advantage
Too many companies tout their benefits, compensation, location, and flexibility. These are important to people when they're looking for work. What if you could honestly say, "You will not work for a lousy supervisor or a bad manager if you work for us"? You may wonder how you could promise somebody they won't work for a bad boss.
Suppose you decide you will not tolerate leadership behaviors that aren't positive and conducive. Over time, you will not have the kind of supervisors that people want to quit and leave to go and work for somebody else. Use leadership as a competitive advantage.
Tip Two: Improve Communication
Your logistic supervisors need to have good conversations with their teams regarding performance. People generally want to win, but they must be told what winning looks like. Only when they receive feedback on how to win, can they do so more consistently.
Tip Three: Increase Effectiveness And Manage Conflicts
There are going to be disagreements over:
- How and what you do in your role
- Whether or not the goals are reasonable
- What the best method is
There will always be disagreements over proposed improvements to determine if this change will result positively. Managing conflicts and bringing constructiveness out of these disagreements is an essential skill that would make your logistic supervisors more effective.
Building Leadership Skills Within Teams There is always room to build upon your team's leadership skills, and our Front Line Leadership content can provide that. Whether it's the core content or the additional content we have in our library, we can help your team master the fundamentals they initially need and provide more advanced leadership skills after.
Workshops can be delivered either on-site, in person, or through our state-of-the-art virtual training studio. An additional resource we offer is our On-Demand program. This option allows leaders to acquire training at their own pace, practice putting those lessons into action, and keep their learning going over several weeks or months.
Visit our website at uniquedevelopment.com, and from there, we can start a conversation to determine the right solution that will help your leaders elevate their performance and be more successful over time.
Together we will increase talent retention and also drive operating results.
How Do You Keep Logistics Supervisors Engaged After Training? A significant number of companies view training more as an event and not as much as a process. There is a current bias regarding logistic supervisors: they will not stay engaged with training after it is delivered, and it is impossible to change these habits because they are deeply ingrained.
Habits are difficult for people to change because they are incorporated over time. When you receive instruction asking you to behave differently, there will be resistance at first until it has been performed several times. That is when the action becomes a habit.
Leadership Training & Research Logistics According to ResearchGate logistics, supervisors who underwent leadership training improved their learning capacity by 25% and their performance by 20%. All while remaining engaged.
The research shows that most leaders appreciate the training they receive and implement.
Training Biases Within Business A client we worked with expressed that their managers resisted training efforts for the following reasons:
- Previous training already occurred.
- The methods taught did not translate into long-term solutions.
- Lessons taught were not put into action.
During our time with them, one of the executives of this company then shared that their previous establishment viewed leadership development as a multi-year process. This business recognized that reinforcement helps leaders remember and integrate new behaviors into their routines. We put together a multi-year training program for the organization, and instead of viewing it as one course, it became a three-level program that everyone went through. After the three-year process, they sought to create refresher sessions to keep that spirit of learning and growing alive.
Keeping Supervisors Engaged After Training Keep your logistics supervisors engaged after training with these three tips:
Number One: Think Long-Term When businesses consider enrolment in leadership training, it is generally because an incident or situation has transpired recently to cause them to search for solutions. It could be:
- The results of an employee survey divulged concerns.
- HR has received a complaint.
- The turnover rate is on a steady increase.
- Issues escalated to management or HR that should be manageable on a supervisor level.
When you think long-term, remember that retaining all of the information from a two-day class is not something everyone can do.
Consider our education system as an example. Can you absorb everything you need in a year, or does it take more time to build on the skills you learn?
Reflect on your development journey. It takes more than one lesson to make the information gained stick. Even after the second or third time that you hear it in a slightly different way, that causes you to integrate it into your behaviors.
Number Two: Reinforce The Lessons Many managers will still send their team members to receive training.
Unfortunately, something we still witness when some leaders show up for their first day of training is that they were told the day before that they would be attending a class, even if this was planned weeks in advance.
We highly recommend that you discuss this between the manager, supervisor, and the front line leader attending the course.
If you communicate with your leaders as to what areas you would like them to focus on, they are more likely to attend the course with an open mind. Share your reasons for enrolment and what you hope to see come out of it.
Reinforce learning through those discussions before and after training, with a touch base. Consider asking:
- What are you putting into action?
- How is that going?
- If you have been struggling with something, how can we support you so that it stays alive?
Number Three: Lead By Example Many supervisors will point out that their managers should have undergone the training. This can create confusion if their managers do not demonstrate the behaviors and skills that these leaders were enrolled to learn.
There is power when you, as the manager, lead consistently with what supervisors are being trained to do. This approach removes the barrier and confusion between what you witness your leaders do and what you are being trained to do.
Additional Development To Become Exceptional Leaders Traditional training used to consist of three days of content, but we have twice that amount available.
So if you have "been there" and "done that," it is time to explore other topics or find a refreshing way to go back to the fundamentals with your team.
You can connect with us on our website at uniquedevelopment.com, and together we can help find a solution that will help your leaders grow in the short term but sustain long-term results.
This will ultimately lead to behavior changes that will drive organizational excellence.
Manufacturing Leaders Quiet Firing Last week we focused on quiet quitting. This week our focus is reversed as we explore manufacturing leaders quiet firing.
Quiet firing does still exist in workplaces, and a few ways you can recognize it is when your leaders start to take away things from people in terms of:
- Work schedule
- Tasking uncomfortable assignments
- Roadblocking training
- Avoiding discussions about an increase in their pay, additional perks, or even recommending them for promotion
By withdrawing that support, you are not telling someone directly that they are fired, but it becomes uncomfortable to the point that they feel they have no choice but to quit.
Addressing Morale & Performance Problems One department we focused on for a customer had a morale and a performance problem. Upon further investigation, it turned out that instead of addressing performance issues and difficult conversations, the supervisors withdrew their support in hopes that certain employees would find it distasteful and would quit.
They were essentially quietly firing the employees. The problem is that it created two significant problems:
- Employees with performance issues persevered longer than the supervisors hoped they would.
- Good-performing employees, who were meeting expectations, were starting to become disgruntled because no one addressed the performance problems they witnessed in their coworkers.
Our recommendation was to begin training their leaders to initiate productive conversations to address these behavior and performance problems.
The Results of Those Discussions The good news was that many of the troublesome employees either turned things around, were terminated, or quit. The remaining employees began to see that performance was essential and that the management was willing to have this situation resolved, and there was more respect all around.
The real question is how to avoid quiet firing and address performance problems.
Tip Number One: Clarify Expectations Your starting point is to clarify your expectations when there is a performance or behavior issue. You must ensure that you and the team member are on the same page regarding what is expected.
Tip Number Two: Address the Behavior & Performance Issues Having difficult conversations is not always a supervisor's favorite task. Still, once most employees know they need to address an issue, many will make those changes to meet your expectations. But it will not happen unless you have those conversations.
Part of our training program is to help people become more effective at having those conversations about behavior and performance issues.
Tip Number Three: Recognize Performance Instead of focusing solely on a bad performance, we should recognize that good performance also happens. When we discuss what is going well and who is meeting and exceeding expectations, it can help others understand that management is concerned about winning and performance and willing to acknowledge it.
It does not have to be a numerical remuneration or bonus; it just has to be a form of acknowledgment.
Further Improving Your Leadership Skills After you have invested in the skill sets of your front line leaders, we recommend that you continue building your organization’s capability for future growth.
Our Front Line Leadership program is an excellent way to build your front line leadership team's skill sets and confidence level. Your training can be delivered on-site or in person if you have enough people to participate. Another option is to enroll your team in our public workshops or take part in our virtual training delivered from our state-of-the art virtual training studios.
We also have Front Line Leadership On-Demand, which allows you to register one person who can interactively learn leadership skills but do it at their own pace online. No matter how you want us to work with your team to improve their skills and performance, it begins with a conversation.
You can do that by visiting our website at uniquedevelopment.com. From there, we can discuss what the best approach is for your company. Together we can increase the skill of your front line supervisors, team leaders, and managers.
Are your factory supervisors quiet quitting? Today we are going to address quiet quitting, but not regarding your team members; we are focusing on your supervisors.
Why Are Your Factory Supervisors Quiet Quitting? When it comes to quiet quitting, is it simply people slacking off? It could be slacking off, but it is never random. It is often on purpose and deliberate.
The fact is quiet quitting is not just about slacking off on the job. Usually, it is an overall symptom of disengagement. When people are engaged and motivated, they will give:
- Good energy
- Effort
- Enthusiasm
But when those forces are not there, they tend to quiet quit, which means they are still on your payroll but not necessarily delivering on their results.
This becomes a more significant issue if it is in your leadership team and your supervisors.
What It Means To Quiet Quit Quiet quitting in a job is usually where the employees refuse to take on any extra tasks and do the bare minimum expected of them.
If you are in a supervisor role, you are not putting any energy and enthusiasm into leading your people, setting expectations and setting goals that will drive up performance. Partly because of the pandemic, we noticed that one of our clients had a tough time with their supervisors. The senior managers felt the supervisors were slacking off and not doing their jobs. But when we dug deeper, many supervisors were just burnt out. This can also be attributed to the stress caused by the pandemic, partly from being understaffed and underappreciated.
They perceived that because inflation was rising, the number of increases to their compensation was not reflected in the raises their people were getting. Leaders and employees were becoming more aware that the gap was shrinking, ultimately demotivating the supervisors.
Instead of criticizing them, we encouraged the management team to focus on how to show the supervisors more:
- Appreciation
- Acknowledgment
- Support
It allowed us to change how the supervisor felt they were being treated, which would increase their capabilities and efforts on the job.
How Can You Prevent And Address Quiet Quitters? Below are a few ways you can deal with factory supervisors quiet quitting.
Tip Number One: Dig Deeper When you talk to your supervisors one-on-one, you'll probably get more feedback from them as to what is happening and some of the things causing them to be frustrated and disengaged.
Once you identify some of those issues, then you can start focusing on turning them around. Remember, the goal here is not to make everything unforgettable instantly. It is to show people that you are trying to become more supportive and create a more positive environment where they can do their best and perform.
What do they need to feel more supported? Find that out and deliver on it, and you will have success.
Tip Number Two: Stay Positive It is tempting to go negative and focus only on the things that are not going well.
Like any team member, they get worn down with constant criticism and being told that what they are doing is not good enough. We need to highlight the gains we are making as we are making things improve going forward and that we are removing frustrations that can make the supervisors’ lives easier and more effective.
Focus and stay positive.
Tip Number Three: Focus On Winning Now a focus on winning is different than avoiding losing if you can understand the difference.
When we are just trying to whittle away at mistakes and errors, it is never as motivating as when we are focusing on achieving the results that we are going for.
That means each day you are looking to hit your numbers and that we at least acknowledge, it does not even have to be a formal recognition in terms of trophies, awards, or bonuses. But recognizing the things that are going well when we are winning. Do it regularly, not just once in a town hall meeting, but daily as we get our performance numbers up.
Looking At The Next Steps Once your supervisors see that management is paying attention to the good job that they are doing, you will notice:
- Consistent quality work
- Increased morale and attitude
- Reduction of quiet quitting
- Positive environment
- Increased productivity
After you have addressed factory supervisors quiet quitting, you may recognize there are other areas that you will need to invest in some of the other leadership skills because our leaders need these skills in today's competitive environment.
That is where our Front Line Leadership comes into play.
You have the option for on-site, enrolling team members in our public workshop, or delivering from our state-of-the-art virtual training studio. This helps when you have a lot of leaders scattered in different production locations.
You can also take advantage of the new Front Line Leadership On-Demand Program, where people can learn at their own pace and implement those new behaviors.
It starts with a conversation. Visit our website at uniquedevelopment.com.
You can also connect with us on many of our social media channels LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
We can discuss how our organization and yours can work together to drive leadership excellence that ultimately drives operating results.
Do your warehouse supervisors need support? We need to look at the support that your supervisors feel so that they can, in turn, create supportive relationships with their team.
The myth many management teams believe is that if people needed support, they would ask for it. Many supervisors, and even team members, are reluctant to ask for help because it makes them look weak or unable to do their jobs.
The fact is that warehouse supervisors need to feel that they themselves receive solid support to then be able to create a supportive environment for their team members.
What Does the Research Suggest? In some research in the Journal for Applied Psychology, the authors Linda Rhodes Shanik and Robert Eisenberger identified that the organizations that supported their supervisors and their leaders tended to create an environment where the supervisors acted in a supportive way to the team members.
The leaders created a supportive environment for team members once they received support themselves. This produces several payoffs because not only did productivity increase and error rates were reduced, but it also increased morale, attitude, and culture. It drove down turnover rates and increased retention.
The Effects of Insufficient Support The supervisors in one warehouse we worked with felt that they lacked support. This included their management team, operations managers, and some of the support departments that they relied on. They adopted the mindset, "I guess I have to be the one that does everything." They hunkered down, and they got very individualistic. In doing so, they became quite negative and cynical towards the company. It especially showed in their willingness to support their team members. Consequently, they started withdrawing from that supportive environment because they felt they were not being supported.
We did some training with the management team and the supervisors and ensured they got what they needed to be successful. That then cascaded in the supervisors showing that same level of support to the team members, and overall results went up, turnover dropped, and engagement was through the roof.
Three Ways to Increase Support Here are three tips for you to increase the level of support for your warehouse supervisors.
Number One: Increase Your Awareness Pay attention and take the comments seriously that you hear from people. They might be framed as cynical or sarcastic, but there may be some truth behind it. If your supervisors do not feel they are being supported to the level they need, they cannot drive the success of your operation. Be more aware of that.
Number Two: Practice Servant Leadership Servant leadership as a concept says that instead of viewing the organization as "I am your boss, and you do what I say," we flip it upside down and say, "You are serving the customer and adding value. How can I support you in doing that better?"
When managers view their primary role as supporting the supervisors, they will also start to look at how they can serve the needs of their team members who are making the work happen and driving value for customers.
Number Three: Ask and Deliver It can be scary when a manager asks their team members, "What can I do to be more supportive of you?" They become immediately worried it will be a very long list of things they will have trouble delivering.
It is essential to ask your people, "What could I do to help support your performance and your ability to drive the results we are looking for?" From there, you can start to look at that list and not overpromise and underdeliver but look at the things you can put into action that will drive the success that people need to feel more supported.
Strengthen Your Support System Once you have incorporated a support system for your warehouse supervisors, there are other leadership skills you can enhance. Our Front Line Leadership program is ideal for that!
We can arrange to come on-site and provide in-person or deliver a virtual experience from our state-of-the-art virtual training studio.
Another option is our Front Line Leadership On Demand program. It allows individuals to learn the valuable leadership skills they need and implement them at their own pace. These options, of course, can get narrowed down by having a conversation with us. And the best way to connect is through our website at uniquedevelopment.com.
We can have a conversation about what will drive the success of your leaders and your organization so we can put a plan into action. It could be a short-term workshop or a long-term leadership development journey. We look forward to becoming your partners in organizational excellence.
What makes an efficient manufacturing supervisor?
We need to look at efficiency, not necessarily production efficiency on the floor, but your efficiency as a front line leader. What is it that makes an efficient manufacturing supervisor?
One misconception is that supervisors are most efficient when they multi-task and constantly switch from one task to another in reaction mode.
The fact is that most efficient manufacturing supervisors will have a game plan for their day. They tend to chunk tasks to execute them effectively and efficiently.
Does Planning Hurt Efficiency? During one of the classes, a supervisor mentioned that he thought his planful nature hurt his efficiency. Another participant in the class said that they felt their scattered reactionary approach was more efficient.
After a lot of discussions, we determined that, generally, the consensus was that we needed to have a game plan in a day. While making time for the fact that there would be inevitable interruptions and distractions.
Here are a few tips for your quest to become a more efficient manufacturing supervisor.
Tip #1: Plan Your Day in Chunks
Some activities you perform as a supervisor are better done at the shift's beginning or end. Then others can be scattered in the middle. If you chunk your time that way, you can ensure that the priority activities are allocated to the best time of day to ensure those are completed.
Tip #2: Identify Your Top Priority for The Day, Or Maybe Up to Three Priorities For The Day
You may be wondering, why only one or three?
It is because many days will have lots of distractions and interruptions, and you might be lucky to achieve one important priority. It is essential to go into your day knowing, “Here is the one thing I want to get done."
Now, if you have a little more confidence that you will get beyond that number one priority, maybe expand your list to the two or three biggest priorities for the day. At least then, if you have a day that gets away from you, you can still say that you achieved your number one, number two, and number three priorities for the day.
Tip #3: Stay Flexible
When we say to stay flexible, it is unrealistic if you take our advice and immediately try to plan every minute of your day. We have asked supervisors, "How much of your day do you have under your control, and how much of your day is spent reacting to things that happen, whether it is people not showing up for work or machines having downtime or having a shortage of materials?"
The answer, of course, will depend, but many supervisors will say that they have to keep a third to half of their day for the unexpected. If that is the case, then stay flexible and only plan for a third to half of your day to be under your control and recognize that the rest will be in reaction mode.
Continue Your Efficiency Training Taking these three tips, you can increase your efficiency as a manufacturing supervisor, and then you will want to work on some of your other leadership attributes.
Of course, that is where we come into play.
You have the option of having us come into your organization to train groups of people together or have enrolments in our public workshops. We also offer on-site training to deliver in-person, or you are using our state-of-the-art virtual training studio.
Another option is our Front Line Leadership "On-Demand" program. This course is a great alternative you can take at your own pace, especially good if one or two people need to increase their leadership skills.
You can find all the information on our website at uniquedevelopment.com.
Like most of our client relationships, it all starts with a conversation, so I look forward to connecting with you to see how we can support your organization in achieving leadership excellence.
How can a recession affect your front line leaders?
Today we need to look at how a recession is affecting front line leaders. We will also give you some tips for how you can increase the effectiveness of your leaders even when there's a business downturn.
Can You Prepare For A Recession And How It Affects Your Front Line Leaders? Is there a way to prepare my leaders for a slowdown or a recession because we're not sure what the outcomes are?
The truth is front line leaders need to be prepared to work as you downsize or rightsize your workforce.
It's not something you want to leave to chance. Inevitably, there are ups and downs. If your organization is entering a soft period, then you will need to prep your supervisors for how to deal with that.
Restructuring And Downsizing A Workforce One group of supervisors we worked with in one of our client locations was really struggling about how they would deal with the fact that they were going to go through some form of restructuring and downsize about 15% of their workforce.
They couldn't even fathom how they would redo their work processes to deal with having fewer workers.
By helping them through some critical thinking skills, we really helped prepare them to think through how they could meet the slightly lower production numbers with slightly fewer team members.
Here are a few tips for how you can help your leaders get prepared, and basically how a recession affects front line leaders:
Tip #1: Clarify The Right Amount Of Labor
A lot of times, when an organization is going through a growth cycle, additional resources are added. Likely not fast enough. Which then leads to team members becoming overworked and stressed. As the orders start to soften, you'll find that people are getting caught up and less stressed.
What this likely tells you is you may be carrying a little bit more labor than you need to. As a management team, you want to educate your leaders to understand that there is this labor mix based on sales flow.
As the order quantities drop, you will need to adjust the labor down accordingly. Not only will you not become profitable, you risk losing more money. Ultimately, it will put the success of the organization in jeopardy. Clarify what the right amount of labor is and explain it to the front line leaders so they understand it.
Tip #2: Think Through Your Options
We often set up these work and production cells to deal with a certain number of workers, and maybe now we have to rethink that.
Thinking through the different options and alternatives is helpful as we think about how we're going to reallocate the labor resources within the department.
Tip #3: Make Changes And Adjust As Needed
People can get very judgemental. The reality is, we don't know these things for absolute certainty.
What you need to do is:
- Truly enjoy what you do with any other change
- Go in with a curious and open mindset
- View it more as an experiment
Keep in mind that even when you do lay it out, it won't always work out the way you hoped. Which leads to you needing to make another adjustment.
If you don't get defensive, you will realize that we don't know how to do all this exactly right the first time. Let's just keep tinkering with it–it's normal. We thought we knew what we needed, it turns out we need to change it a little bit more."
If you can be that kind of agile leader who is capable of bouncing around and having things right over time, that's all you can ask for in an organization.
Investing In The Skills Your Leaders Need for Future Growth Have you thought about how your organization should be positioned for future success?
Investing in the skill sets of your front line leaders is a great way of building your organization's capability for future growth.
That's where we come in with our Front Line Leadership Training Program. It's a three-day program, or you can choose six half-days.
Available in English, Spanish or French.
It can be delivered in-person or on-site for your organization. We also offer public workshops, also have some on-demand offerings, and we can do the delivery through our virtual training studio on a live basis in a very interactive way.
Figuring out what is the best solution for you means a visit to our website at uniquedevelopment.com. There you can check out the different topics and alternative options for how we can partner with you.
Once we do our first project together, like most of our clients, you're going to see how well it worked. Together we will increase the capability of your leaders. This will allow them to deliver higher performance from an operating basis, but also higher-than-ever employee engagement.
How does the Front Line Leadership Team play a role in times of laying plant employees off? This is not the most positive subject, but in any manufacturing or distribution organization, there are times when the workload drops enough where there is no other choice but to action some layoffs.
A Leader’s Role In LayOffs There is a misbelief that leadership does not have a role to play when it comes to layoff decisions– that it goes through human resources. At that point, they take care of handing out the slips and the employees’ exit.
The challenge in most organizations is the recognition that we may need to layoff today but also maintaining a positive relationship so that we are able to recall those employees in the future.
Your Front Line Leadership Team (and the leadership team in general) should be part of the layoff process if they want employees to return at a later time. There needs to be this smooth transition, and we need employees to feel that we have been treating them respectfully and effectively.
Calling Back Experienced Workers After A Cold Layoff One of our manufacturing clients had to lay off employees because their order volume had dropped. It would then spike back up, and they had to hire/rehire until it went back down to more "normal levels."
When they needed to do a layoff, they would tell the HR department, "You know what? Just let go of those guys and give them their slips and tell them where they can go to apply for employment insurance."
The problem was that it made the layoff process really cold and felt like a lack of caring on the employer's side. But at the same time, the company felt that their volumes would eventually increase again, and they would need some of those experienced workers to come back.
They came to the conclusion that involving the leadership team in the process would increase the chance of an employee's willingness to be called back in the future. It conveyed a sense of positive intent that there may be a callback in the future.
Leadership Involvement When A Laying Plant Employees Off How should a leader stay involved when laying plant employees off? Here are a few suggestions:
Number One: Deliver The News and Explain Why
There is no need to sugarcoat it. You need to explain that the order volume has gone down. Which means ensuring that the labor mix is correct, given the volume of business at the time.
Most employees will inherently understand that they do not expect you to keep them around if there is no work. This approach helps solidify a positive experience as opposed to, "Sorry, we need to perform a workforce reduction, and you are out of here." Always link the news and the reason.
Number Two: Express Positive Intent To Recall In The Future
This does not mean making a full-on commitment because no one can predict what the future will bring. But you want to say, "Hey, as our volumes come back, we will be reaching out to you if you are available to see if you want to return, which we hope you would consider doing in the future." Laying that groundwork makes it easier to bring them back down the road.
Number Three: Wish Them Well And Help Them With The Process
This means that you want to have them leave with this sense of, "Hey, we really wish we did not have to be going through this. This is just what the business requires right now." Here are all the ways that you can help that employee:
- Assist in their application for employment/unemployment insurance
- Explain who they need to go to
- Give direction on the next steps to take
- Provide them with their paperwork
By helping them understand how to get the benefits that they need, they will remember how well you treated them even as you did a layoff. If we could warm up the layoff process, we can lay the groundwork for recall in the future.
Strengthen Your Leadership Skills And Abilities Once you have mastered having to lay plant employees off, you can help your leaders strengthen themselves in other areas.
That is where our Front Line Leadership Training Program comes in. It is three full-days, or six half-days of content, and really it is about three times that amount of content for some of our clients that keep coming back for more development opportunities.
You can review the course content and start a conversation with us by visiting our website at uniquedevelopment.com.
You have the option of bringing us on-site to deliver the training in-person. We can also provide training by using our state-of-the-art virtual training studio.
We want to be your partners in leadership excellence.
Plant Manager Situational Leadership and Strategy What is it that plant managers need to know about situational leadership? Let us look at this topic, that many of you have probably heard before, called situational leadership.
Do leaders believe there is one way of doing something, or is this a false preconception? The fact is that there is not just a one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to your leadership approach.
Furthermore, it needs to be tailored a little bit to each team member.
The Result of a “One-Size-Fits-All” Strategy The leadership team at one of the production facilities we worked for was very hands-off in their leadership approach. They would bring you in, have confidence in you and then throw you into the deep end and hope that you could learn things over time.
They would almost take great pride in saying, "Hey, we were all thrown in the deep end. We all figured things out. It will all work out in the end. We know you can do it."
And you might say, well, that is not bad. I mean, people do learn from that kind of adversity.
But what they found is that the team members got a lot of stress. They wandered around trying to figure things out, asking each other for tips and getting very little structure and guidance from their supervisor.
Adjusting the Strategy with Front Line Leadership When we came in, we recommended to the team of leaders that they provide their people with more direction and a hands-on approach to initially build up their confidence and capabilities over time.
This team went through some development sessions with us, and then what they learned is that the leader should actually adjust their approach depending on the task proficiency of the employee or team member.
For example, if I am new to a task, even if I have worked in the organization for a while, I am going to need someone to explain things in a little bit more detail initially, and then slowly withdraw and allow me to act more on my own over time.
When you realize that situational leadership is just being more directive at first, slowly becoming more supportive, and then finally allowing the person to work mostly independently, you would say, oh, okay.
That is a way of getting employees to feel more confident and capable for them to begin feeling secure and not feel that they are left adrift, trying to figure things out for themselves.
How You Can Improve Plant Manager Situational Leadership Solution #1: Understand Situational Leadership We cover the topic in a couple of different ways in our program.
One way is, we talk about being more autocratic versus being more coach-like as a different way to look at situational leadership.
If you look at it from the employee's task proficiency, you would realize that you become more directive upfront and then more supportive over time.
Solution #2: Assess your Team Member’s Task Proficiency That means looking at each individual on your team and asking:
- How good are they at the tasks that I have assigned them?
- Can they work independently?
- Are they new to this task?
You need to become much more specific in giving directions. That will help them become successful in that task over time.
Remember, it is not just whether the person is a good person. It is related to the task you have assigned them and how confident and capable they are at that task.
Solution #3: Practice a Different Approach Roughly 60% of leaders only use one style and never use any other approach.
Even if you could add one more style into your mix, adding one more skill set to your repertoire as a leader can be effective. Maybe you start to be a little more directive with newer employees or people new to the task and become more supportive of the experienced ones, practicing a different approach and just being more conscious of the situational leadership approach that you are using.
Elevate Your Leadership Skills a Step Further After you have figured out this concept of situational leadership as a plant manager, or a leader at any level in the organization, you might want to work on some of the other leadership skills. That will make you the kind of boss any employee wants to be loyal to, work for, and do their best.
Our Front Line Leadership Program is three days or six half-days of content that you can mix and match as you need to. This can be delivered on-site using conventional classroom training. If it works out better logistically or because of COVID restrictions, you can use our tremendous high-tech multi-camera virtual training studio.
No matter your preference, it all starts with a conversation. You can do so by visiting our website at uniquedevelopment.com. Once we talk about your situation and the solution that will fit, I think you will see us as a resource that can work alongside you over time to build a rock-solid, confident, capable, and consistent leadership team.
We can start by taking a look at the confidence levels of the front line leaders responsible for interacting with most of the people in your organization.
The Falsehood of Confident Manufacturing Leaders Being Universal Something that is untrue but commonly believed is that anyone in leadership must be confident in their abilities to support and develop their employees.
However, here's what we know for sure: According to Gartner, 45% of managers do not feel confident in their ability to develop the skills employees need today.
Think about that. We think everybody has what they need – that they are good to go. But many leaders themselves do not actually feel that level of confidence.
Engaging Confident Manufacturing Leaders for High Performance We once worked with an organization whose manufacturing logistics leaders lacked in three key areas:
- Confidence levels were not high when it came to employee interaction.
- Leadership capabilities also did not have much competency or consistency.
- They created pockets of both good and weak leadership.
As a result, employees saw these inconsistencies and became doubtful of their own leadership.
Using front line leadership training, however, we increased their leaders' confidence, competencies, and consistency. This created higher performance within the organization. That confidence level comes from knowing that you are doing the right things and doing them well consistently.
Tips on Creating Confident Manufacturing Leaders Here are a few tips for how you can increase and create confident manufacturing leaders: Tip Number One: Provide Training If you are not investing in the leaders, who drive the performance of most of your employees, the question is, "Why not?" They should deliver, and they should receive some training, and it should be delivered well.
Tip Number Two: Build New Habits We have noticed in our training is that people seem to enjoy building new habits.
Their feedback told us that they:
- Find it useful
- Look forward to it
- Recommend it
- Come back and attend it again
The difference is that training is only effective if it results in an increase or application of those skills to drive up performance.
Let us apply this to one of our programs: We recently introduced the Leader Behavior Builder. This program allows participants in our training to set a commitment.
From here, the system reminds them or nudges them for a 30-day period so they can track how well they are doing at building that new leadership habit.
All we need to do is build those new habits.
Tip Number Three: Build on Your Gains Leadership development and training should not be a one-and-done.
Even if you do it well with an organization like ours, you will probably be like most of our clients: You start with a project and build on it because your feedback has been positive.
You also start seeing a difference in the leadership capabilities of your team. That is going to reflect in your operating performance. When you experience that kind of outcome you will want to build on and add to it.
Building on the gains through additional training sessions can give your leaders a chance to share their successes on how they are growing with one another.
How Front Line Leadership Can Build Success If your goal is to build on your leaders' confidence, we recommend checking out our Front Line Leadership training program. You can do that by visiting our website at uniquedevelopment.com. This is where you can see topics that form the core of our program.
It is a three-day or six half-day program. It can be delivered all at once, however, we recommend spreading it out a bit into chunks and phases so that people have a chance to develop a true mastery of these leadership skills and capabilities.
You can also connect with us on one of the many social media channels.
And once we have that conversation, you will find us to be a tremendous partner and resource in your ongoing leadership development.
One conversation can create the difference between a mediocre, less engaging organization and one that is high-performing and highly engaging.
What is the importance of on-the-job training for front line leaders?
How do we break down such a concept? First, we must understand the importance of on-the-job training and how to use it to develop the competencies and confidence needed in front line workers.
What Is On-the-Job Training? Some people think that if you watch several standard generic training videos, that they will be just as good as on-the-job training. Of course, that is not true. Employees learn 70% of the skills they need on the job. So, 70% of the skills they need will be on-the-job learning.
One of our clients recognized this as a challenge. First, operations leadership addressed the training and development department and said, "Hey, we need way more on-the-job training for our people. We need it faster. We need it to be effective because we need these employees to be capable and fill in for people who may have moved on in the organization."
In response, the client hired us to redo their on-the-job training. They did this so their trainers could become more effective at work. What they found, however, was some of the supposedly experienced operators did not even want to become trainers. They did not want to be responsible for that person’s effectiveness in their job.
All we did was help by coming alongside and supporting them to become more confident as trainers and as individuals learning to be successful and effective when training employees on the job. Tips on Improving the Effectiveness of On-the-Job Training Processes We have already established that on-the-job training is important. Yet, it never hurts to be prepared for any possible outcome.
Here are a few tips on improving the effectiveness of your training processes:
Tip Number One: Select the Best Trainers We ask the following in our training program: What have you found that makes a difference between good trainers on the job and those who are less effective?
The answer usually comes down to a few characteristics. Patience and the willingness to be patient with people are two key elements. There is also the ability to explain things instead of just pushing them aside. Finally, there is the ability to support, coach, and encourage people. The truth is, when you are learning new skills, it takes a little while to get the hang of it.
All you must do as a leader is to select the trainers with those characteristics. Tip Number Two: Use an Effective Training Method One of the tips that gets talked about a lot in our client base these days is the Training Within Industry (TWI) method.
The TWI method says that you need to break down jobs into various components. In doing so, you often realize that you cannot absorb all the information in one shot.
Repeating and learn certain information you can help increase your confidence and capabilities quickly and effectively. You need to acquire the high-level information you need. You can always choose to go into more detail afterwards. Tip Number Three: Measure the Training Effectiveness Some organizations believe that if they train their employees and sign off on doing so, they have done all they can. Yet, it should be someone else who is measuring whether training is effective. It should probably be the supervisor to which the employee reports. You could also always ask employees how well-trained they think they are. Additionally, you can survey employees in the workplace to rate the effectiveness of the person or the people who offered that training.
This should not be a "gotcha" moment, either. It is meant to create a feedback loop to what would have made the training even more effective. If you can master this idea of on-the-job training in your facility and connect it to the effectiveness of your front line leaders, you will now have this skill engine that can create a bench strength. This will also create more highly-engaged workers and increase their loyalty to your organization because you are willing to invest in them to make them confident and capable in their positions.
Expanding the Idea of Front Line Leadership Training Once you have figured out how to do on-the-job training more effectively, you might decide there are other leadership skills you need to work on.
Today is your lucky day! We happen to have a comprehensive front line leadership program that is delivered either over three full days or six half days. You can have that done in-person for your organization and have it tailored to what you need. You can also have your selected program tailored and delivered using our virtual state-of-the art multi-camera virtual training studio. We offer all kinds of options, just to help when logistics and shift scheduling makes it difficult to pull everyone together and get them off the floor at the same time.
No matter which method works out for you better, it all starts with a conversation. You can visit us on our website at uniquedevelopment.com. Go there, reach out, and we will have the conversation you need for your leadership success.
We will help build you up into the leader you need to be in today's competitive environment.
How can we go about creating loyal employees in manufacturing?
The first step we can take is to talk about loyalty. Ask yourself: Is there such a thing as loyalty in the workplace?
The Truth About the Current State of Employee Loyalty One of the falsehoods is that management teams are starting to buy into (but should not) is that younger generations - like millennials and Gen Z - have no sense of loyalty to any given employer. There is this idea that they will go work for anybody - that if they do not like you today, they will find a job elsewhere tomorrow.
For example, 44% of employees who thought their company was horrible at delivering, maintaining, and incorporating feedback into improving the workplace were planning to leave the organization. Compare that to only 28% who said that the organization did a good job of providing and acting on feedback.
This data tells us that rather than blaming the employees for their lack of loyalty, there is a lot more going on. The Link Between Employee Turnover and Loyalty There is a concept in our training where we talk about self-fulfilling prophecies. For example, let's pretend I am the leader or company in this scenario. The self-fulfilling prophecy says that whatever I feel about the team is reflected in the way I treat them; my team's true feelings are reflected in how they treat me.
If you believe in self-fulfilling prophecies, the test is: Would you say there is a mixed bag of performance across your organization, departments, and shifts?
Most of the time, the answer is yes.
In this case, you might want to think about the mindsets those leaders follow and how it shapes the way employees absorb information. Creating Loyal Employees Through “Investments” We worked on a case where a client company felt they could do nothing about a supposed lack of loyalty from their employee base.
The truth is the team members did not feel the organization was loyal to them; they felt that management saw them as numbers. The turnover rate was already high at this point. Management was getting tired of having to constantly onboard and retain people.
We remedied this by suggesting that the organization show its loyalty to the team.
They have since started investing in the humanities, training team leaders to build more positive attitudes with team members, increasing engagement, and providing more training and development for their employees.
Employees reciprocated this kindness. For example, they showed up more. They also displayed more punctuality. Naturally, the turnover rate decreased. Tips for Creating Loyal Employees in Manufacturing Now that we have discussed the role of loyalty in job turnover rates, let us talk about a few tips for creating loyal employees in manufacturing: Tip Number 1: Treat People with Respect When you talk down to people or make them feel that they are insignificant, there will be this sense that they will rebel against you or the organization. Yet, if you treat people with respect, they are going to say, "Hey, this place gives me a fair shake. They treat me respectfully, and I feel good about working here." Tip Number 2: Ask for Input and Act on It When you ask team members for ideas and solutions to problems, they get invested in the solution. As a result, they become genuinely invested in and loyal to their organization.
That does not mean that you must incorporate bad ideas. Ask for input from others and try to incorporate that into your action plan. Employees will see that you care about what they have to say if you do so. It will make them loyal to the organization and you as the leader. Tip Number 3: Create a Positive Environment If people are going to get bummed out and respond negatively about where they are working now, then maybe they should take a job elsewhere and see if it is any better.
How does this relate to loyalty? Simply put, do not be negative, be positive. Say, "I do not think I will find a better deal than what I have here.” That is upbeat!
They are not just cranky and negative all of the time. So, when you create a positive environment, people may think, "Hey, I want to be a part of this. I want to stay a part of this and be a part of that success." How Creating Loyal Employees in Manufacturing Affects Leadership Skills Once you have learned more about creating loyal employees in manufacturing, you might be wondering what comes next. Naturally, you will end up realizing that there are many other skills that front line leaders need to be more effective.
That is where our Front Line Leadership program comes in! We have a great three-day program that is available in English, French, and Spanish.
We help build great leadership teams in your organizations.
Better yet, we can help you do so either on-site or with our state-of-the-art virtual training studio! Whether you are visiting in person or using our multi-camera studio, with engaging leadership training.
It is the kind of training that gets implemented and makes a lasting change in your organization.
It all starts with a conversation. You can get started by going to our website at uniquedevelopment.com or by reaching out to us through one of our social media channels.
Once we have that conversation, it does not matter how we connect. What matters is how we start working and partnering with leaders to create high-performing organizations that people love.
How can we go about engaging logistics supervisors to apply training?
We need to examine how these supervisors can be engaged to do so in order to fully know the answer.
Combating the Falsehood of Training Ineffectuality A falsehood I think we must address is that people do not want to be trained. In other words, there's this idea that training itself is not particularly helpful. When you look at the facts, only 34% of employees are satisfied with their job-specific training. 41% of them consider it to be very important.
In the past, we worked with a client who experienced a discrepancy in culture surveys within their organization. Specifically, one of the questions asked was whether they received the kind of support they needed for training and how they could grow their careers.
The scores came back abysmally low. In other words, employees did not feel that they were receiving any investment in their skills, abilities, and career development. Specifically, those surveyed felt that the current training offered in their workplace was either too rushed or inadequate compared to the types of training they had been offered before.
What did we do? Simply put, we helped them create a practical training plan so that employees could see all the ways the organization was willing to invest in them to be more confident and capable. Naturally, the cultural score increased in the next round of the survey.
Overall, hiring a logistics executive to train in the workplace cannot be completely useless. The truth of the matter proves quite the opposite. The only thing left to ask is how we get these supervisors engaged in the first place? Tips on Engaging Logistics Supervisors to Apply Training As previously mentioned, we need to understand how to best engage logistics supervisors to apply training in their departments. Fortunately, I have several tips on how to do so: Tip Number 1: Assess Skill Levels It is one thing for the employees to feel that they are not getting the development they would like. However, there are gaps in your organization that heavily affect your productivity, bench strength, and job performance. Why not do a quick assessment of the landscape? Ask yourself: Where do you need people to receive additional training? Tip Number 2: Provide Great Training One of the reasons organizations want logistics executives to provide training to frontline leaders is because they have a way of interacting with leaders—especially those with whom BS detectors may be more familiar than others. On your shop floor, the same thing goes; employees are looking for a trainer that is both supportive and helpful in their explanations so they can increase and improve their job skills.
Tip Number 3: Measure Performance Improvement Remember that this is not just a feel-good exercise to get your culture scores to go up. It is just one way to improve organizational performance. You should see increases in productivity, quality, and in safety if you invest in applying the training to people on the shop floor. Engaging Leadership Training for Logistics Supervisors Once you have engaged your logistic supervisors to apply training in their departments and the organization, you will likely want to look at some of the other leadership skills that will make them better leaders in the future.
Luckily, that is where our Front Line Leadership Training Program comes in. It is a three-day program offered in English, French, and Spanish; you can apply it to many parts of your organization at once. Additionally, we can do that in-person, on-demand or through our virtual training studio live using the virtual environment.
All of it begins with a conversation. You can start that conversation with us on our website at uniquedevelopment.com. Let us help you talk about ways we can work with your organization – both in the short and long-term.
Let us help you develop executives and leaders who can drive organizational excellence.
Why should your frontline leaders need to care about employee performance? It might seem like a “no-brainer” that frontline leaders should do so.
The problem is that they may not understand how dramatically they influence that performance.
Who Is Employee Performance’s Biggest Influencer? Many companies believe that you must have a good employee to perform well.
In fact, according to a Gallup report, companies with highly engaged employees are 21% more profitable and 17% more productive. So, a highly engaged workforce is not based on the employees themselves, as much as it is based on the leadership structure that supports them.
Managing Leadership’s Effects on Employee Performance We once had a client speak very negatively about their employees. They would even make derogatory comments about them in a management meeting. This has led to a lot of hatred among very authoritarian leaders, who were very authoritarian to the bottom.
This situation created an environment where the employees began to perform the bare minimum in their performance. In turn, this reinforced the belief that management had, "See, I told you, these guys do not want to work."
What they did not realize was that they were the ones causing the problem in the first place.
In this specific case, can you notice any linkage between the effectiveness of the leaders at different sites, shifts, and departments?
If so, you can easily see that the leader is influencing the performance of that work group.
Changing Frontline Leadership to Improve Employee Performance Luckily for frontline leaders, there are a few ways you can help them care more about employee performance and make positive improvements.
Tip Number One: Evaluate Leadership Effectiveness Evaluate the effectiveness of your current frontline leadership. Ask:
- Who would you like to lead the way?
- Who might need to change something or increase their strength in these areas?
Tip Number Two: Communicate Expectations Specifically, what are the expectations of a leader in terms of managing performance and communicating to frontline team members what winning looks like?
Consequently, the organization will become like a team that has no goal and no understanding of what it takes to win the "game."
It is vital that you communicate your expectations.
Tip Number Three: Coach Behaviors that Generate Results Instead of assuming that employees do not care to do so, leaders need to help employees understand what it takes to move from one level of performance to another.
Simply put, all employees want to win. And people pay attention when you tell them that they would be more productive in their position by taking certain actions. We are all interested in mastering our assigned jobs. We gain a sense of pride from garnering feedback and increasing our performance levels. In turn, an improved performance leads to more loyalty from the employees to the organization. How Performance Affects Future Leadership Changes We have already spoken a lot about what we can do to improve employee performance through frontline leadership. Once we address the issue head-on and our frontline leaders realize the importance of managing employee performance properly - we often start to realize that there are more leadership skills we can work on going forward.
These skills include communication, motivation, engagement, or simply the ability to hold someone accountable. These are just some of the topics offered in our Front Line Leadership Training Program.
Available on-site, in-person or (if it works better for your organization) through our state-of-the-art virtual training studio.
No matter what, it all starts with a conversation. This can be initiated by clicking on our website at uniquedevelopment.com. You can also connect with us through our LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Once you have that conversation, you will see what kind of solution can help move your organization towards being highly engaging and high performing.
How do the supervisors in a distribution centre affect an organization’s workplace culture? To understand the answer, we must first look at whether it is the employees or supervisors (or perhaps even both) who define this culture. Misconceptions About Workplace Culture Influences A common myth that leaders buy into is workplace culture emerges solely from […]
There are two concerns when it comes to manufacturing staff turnover. What is the true cost? What can you do to reduce it? Turnover is going to be expected in manufacturing, and the reason for that is the work itself can be quite challenging or difficult. We have noticed that there is wage compression, meaning […]
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Could the rising number of HR complaints be tied to a lack of leadership training? How Do You Reduce HR Complaints Within Your Plant? HR professionals are noticing more complaints. Usually those complaints are tied to the behaviors of the leaders that they have in the organization. The story we tell ourselves is that “If […]
Are you ensuring success when promoting from within your warehouse? Internal Promotions And Expectations One of the biggest myths when we are promoting from within is that everyone knows what is going to be required of them. It is best if you can promote from within, we strongly encourage this as it creates this sense […]
Why is team building and development vital for the success of a warehouse? Let us take a look at the topic of team building and development. Are Team Building Exercises Just An Excuse To Get Out Of Working? Some of you might already be thinking, “Oh my gosh, do we really need to spend […]
What are the key skills logistics supervisors need to be successful? Do I Need “People Skills” As A Leader? The biggest myth in a logistics or warehouse operation is that frontline leaders only need to know technical skills to be proficient and do not need to worry about people skills. The fact is, that warehouse […]
How can you create an environment where young employees engage? We need to look at this belief or bias that we have about young workers, and how we can get the most from them while creating an environment where they will engage in the work. Prepare For the Future By 2028, we are going to […]
What does a logistics supervisor’s industry leadership training look like? Let us take a look at what those logistics and distribution leaders really need and some of the reasons why companies are hesitant to set them up for success. Three Myths Companies Tell Themselves When Training Leaders Myth Number One: A Lack of Resources Many […]
Reducing Turnover In Distribution How do you go about reducing turnover in distribution? Let’s look at how we can reduce turnover and increase our employee engagement. Generation X, Y, and Millennials Lack Work Ethics? First of all, let us bust a myth! There is a stigma that people tend to believe that Generation X, Y, […]
How can your leaders focus on crucial leadership skills to drive the outcomes that you are looking for? A study by the consultancy, Woohoo, of 700 people found that close to 40% of “bad days” could be directly tied to a lack of support that team members felt from their boss. Think about that. If […]
Provide Your Supervisors in Distribution and Production a Roadmap for Leadership Support Before we explore the topic of what is missing in your leadership support, we have two questions for you: What leadership support is needed by distribution and production supervisors? How you can make sure that your leaders are equipped with the skills […]
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How can you improve the morale in your production facility or your warehouse? There is a myth we should address, and that is warehouses and factories are not the most motivating or highest morale environments. We have seen examples where there can be high morale (even in a fairly gritty environment). This generally relies on […]
If you work in HR in manufacturing, how can you provide the support your manufacturing leaders need? As the HR team, you can provide the kind of support your supervisors need to be successful. HR teams can really struggle with how to provide the support that their supervisors need while building the trust between the […]
How can you reduce the friction between departments and lower the walls of those silos internally? In an organization, we can easily build up friction between different departments. It could be: the front office and the production floor, engineering and operations, or your purchasing department and production department. Walls Within Departments The reason walls get […]
Do you know what your blind spots are as a leader? What do you not know or perceive about yourself? Watch Out for Blind Spots A blind spot for a leader is something that others perceive and can see in you, but you cannot see it yourself. The problem is those blind spots deteriorate the […]
How should you deal with the troublemakers and disruptors on your team? Let us look at those difficult people and situations that you can have on your team. Should You Ignore or Address Difficulties? Most supervisors and frontline leaders will only have one or two people that really give them a lot of grief on […]
How can you cross off more items on your to-do list? Even professionals that teach a lot of good leadership practices still struggle with crossing items off of their own to-do lists. To-Do List Secret: Grammar is Key The biggest tip is that you need to make sure that any item on your to-do list […]
How can you build a confident team? You can build the confidence levels of your team members. If you can help them feel more capable and consistent, then you can inspire them to deliver performance and results for the expectations that you have. Building Self-Assurance During Uncertain Times There is this sense of confidence that […]
It is uncomfortable when an employee comes to your office and says, “Either you do this or I am quitting.” What do you do when an employee presents you with an ultimatum? Do you give in to the ultimatum? Do you turn it down flatly? Ultimatum Etiquette Here are a few suggestions when you are […]
We know that technology is evolving. However, is it possible that artificial intelligence is demotivating and disengaging your team? Technology in the Workplace Fredrick Taylor, decades ago, came up with a scientific method of management. In his theory, he states, “If engineers could design the work to be perfect using the principles of industrial engineering, […]
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What is the biggest part of a leader’s job that might not even be on their job description? Let’s look at key job responsibilities that you as a leader, need that are as important as the results that you are expected to generate. Most supervisors clearly understand what they have to generate in terms of […]
Most organizations have an element of sludge. These are the processes and procedures that bog people down, like trying to walk through quicksand. Today, I want to talk about sludge, but not like sludge as in bad people on your team. Sludge slows your team down and prevents them from driving the results that you […]
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Santa is working on wish lists and things that people want from him this Christmas. That got me thinking, what is it that employees want from their supervisors this holiday season? And not only then, but a gift that keeps on giving throughout the year. I think there are three things that are on most […]
How can you make a difference to your team in difficult working conditions? Today, we are going to explore how you as the leader can make a big difference in whether your team wants to push through difficult times, or give up. You have likely heard the expression, “People do not quit bad jobs, they […]
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How do you make the shift from being a buddy to being a supervisor? Today, I am going to talk about a follow-up to a previous Leader Feeder called A Supervisor’s Growth Journey, that explored the leadership progression model. I got a lot of feedback from viewers saying that, in their opinion, their frontline leaders […]
How can you give thanks to your team? As our friends in the United States celebrate their Thanksgiving later this week, I thought it would be great to talk about simply giving thanks to your team. I think we can go further than simply saying thanks. To do this, I would like to share a […]
How can you use the BEER method to deliver corrective feedback? I want to talk about the enticement of using beer to correct unacceptable behavior and performance. Before you get too excited, I am not talking about the frosty beverage that you might use on a warm summer’s day. I am actually talking about a […]
How do you master being self-aware as a leader? When I am asked, “What is it that truly differentiates the average leader from the exceptional one?” Great leaders are self-aware. If you are self-aware, you do not need other people to give you feedback for you to know and to assess how well you are […]
How does writing things down show that you care? Many supervisors embrace the suggestion that we have in our Front Line Leadership Program to circulate proactively amongst the people of their shift, asking if they have what they need for that day’s work. The issue then becomes how good is your memory when people do […]
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How can you achieve greater value from your leadership development efforts? There is so much that is possible through the development of leaders. Take a look at the iceberg diagram below. When you see what is above the water, it is a small portion of the whole mass and we need to look deeper because […]
How can you move from being a hero to creating other heroes? Today, I want to share with you a well-known Hollywood method for writing most action movie scripts and romantic comedies. You can also use this as part of your journey to making other people heroes in your organization. A hero’s journey is the […]
What is a supervisor’s growth journey? Let us examine our progression of a leader framework so as a leader, you can determine where you fit on this pyramid. If you are the manager, HR manager, or a team, you can examine it and see where your leaders fit on this pyramid, and how you can […]
Do you tell your team what to do, or do you ask them questions so they take greater ownership? The power of asking questions is quite profound. Ask, don’t tell. In fact, if I asked you, “Who is the best leader you have ever worked for and what made them great?” What is already happening […]
How do you as a supervisor filter information? Part of your job is to filter information between management and the front line. It is one of the challenging parts of being a leader, but it also is a key part of your job. If you do it really well, you will make sure that the […]
What if your leadership team was a competitive advantage for you to attract and retain talent? During the recruiting process you likely spend a lot of time telling a story about your company and how great it is to work there. But if one of the new employees comes in and they work for a […]
It’s September and the kids are going back to school. Should you go back to school as a supervisor? Instead of being known as the average supervisor, aspire to be something greater. This can be achieved by going “back to school” and challenging some of the things that you have believed to be true in […]
How can you as a supervisor be seen as a hero by your team? It might seem strange to be referred to as a hero, but in a way, it is the same way that a child looks up to their parent as a hero. The parent makes things happen, gives them what they need […]
Are your dreams as an HR professional still alive and sparking curiosity, or have you become negative and cynical in your role? People usually become HR professionals for a variety of reasons. The first one being you want to make a difference. You probably like people. Perhaps you wanted to attract or make an amazing […]
Are you an ambassador? As a front-line leader, your role is to be an ambassador. You need to take management’s initiatives and points of view and transmit that to your team. You also need to take any issues, suggestions, and ideas from your team and lift them up and transmit them to managers. How can […]
When you hear that something is a no-brainer, does that mean it really is a no-brainer? Often, there are things that you think will be easy to implement as a leader, and they turn out to be far more challenging than you thought. Keep a radar out for certain phrases when implementing these changes. When […]
How accountable is your team? Do they act like owners or renters? Many people likely treat stuff that you rent just as well as stuff that they own, however, there are many situations where the opposite is true. Think about rental cars, for example, people are more likely to treat a rental car worse than […]
Should you strive to be the perfect leader? One question that we ask in our Frontline Leadership class is, “If you think back to all the leaders for whom you have worked, what percentage of them were good leaders and what percentage were not good?” Usually, it turns out to be a coin toss, you […]
What’s the difference between being driven and being abrasive? You have likely met people who are very ambitious, and you may be one of them. However, there is a fine line between being driven and being abrasive. If you end up crossing this line from being passionate and driven to being abrasive, it prevents people […]
Who should own continuous improvement? This might go for other departments and functions within your organization. Let us examine a different question. Who owns your health? The doctor, or you? In reality, it is your health. You have to take primary responsibility for it, even if your doctor is your consultant or advisor to help […]
How do you deal with employees who have short fuses? You likely know someone who has a short fuse. They end up blowing up over small issues, or they overreact to an announcement that you make in your workgroup. How can you as a leader not allow that to aggravate you, and how do you […]
Congratulations, you just got promoted to be the supervisor of your work team, but how are you going to be successful in that new role? There are several challenges that face every new supervisor. Leading your former coworkers is one of them. After all, you used to work alongside them and commiserated with them, but […]
How can you use a shift start meeting to get your day off to a great start? Shift start meetings or toolbox meetings are a great opportunity for you to get the shift off to a good start and get your team members ready to contribute and achieve their goals. You’ve likely seen both less […]
Why should you focus your team on collaboration and not on competition? Some leaders believe that employees will perform better if they have rivalries with other teams. They will have things like crew of the month or employee of the month, really thinking that if they are competing against each other, it will bring out […]
How can you focus your team on winning the day? Most companies want to win, and most team members want to win – but they don’t have a clear idea of what winning each day means. They are just going through the methods and processes without knowing that what they do is making a significant difference […]
How do you resolve a conflict or a disagreement between two of your team members? Today, people have shorter fuses due to the underlying worry and anxiety that comes along with the COVID-19 situation. If people on your team are losing it too easily, it is probably because of that underlying anxiety. When two employees […]
What do the people you interact with on a regular basis need from you, and how can you strengthen those relationships? If you can build strong relationships with everyone you interact with, it will make it a lot easier to get things done. You will be able to get things you need more quickly and […]
When restrictions are reduced, will companies go back to in-person meetings and training sessions? Or will it stay virtual? Let’s examine the trend of e-books. In the e-book industry, they predicted that everyone would be reading them. But what happened? They certainly grew, but at the end of the day, they only represent a third […]
How should you shift your leadership approach to match what your team members need? Situational leadership is an adaptive leadership style. It encourages leaders to take stock of their team members, weigh the many variables in their workplace. And then they can choose the leadership style that best fits their goals and circumstances. Managers who […]
What is the full potential of your operation? Focus your team on their potential and set goals high enough for yourself, and your team. By setting high targets, you can motivate your team to excel beyond what they think possible. Here are three tips to help focus your team on their potential: 1. Identify the […]
How can you drive up results by focusing on your people? Interpersonal skills are an important quality that all successful leaders must have. This poses a big challenge for you as a front-line leader because chances are you were promoted based on your technical skills, not necessarily your interpersonal skills. Work on harnessing those personal […]