Trending Now

GT Podcast – Episode 129 – The Port Authority of NY…

New Articles

5 KEY FACTORS TO IMPROVE WAREHOUSE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

warehouse
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Warehousing

5 KEY FACTORS TO IMPROVE WAREHOUSE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

Leave a comment

The global e-commerce industry could grow up to $2.7 trillion by the end of 2021. Jobs must be filled, and warehouse operations will likely accelerate at an unprecedented pace. Yes, robotics and automation technology can improve the efficiency of the workforce, but the people working in these warehouses still represent the backbone of the industry. 

The five factors that follow are vitally important if you wish to improve your management scheme and enhance morale in the workplace. Do not be afraid to make changes—even if you manage a “well-oiled” machine. Society is changing by the second, and making progress at work requires a few changes from time to time.

Focus on Employee Engagement and Retention

Given the recent boom in demand for warehousing, attracting and retaining talent has become increasingly more difficult. What’s more, this comes down to a lot more factors than simply salary and benefits.  

The more intangible factors include recognition, personal development and opportunities. Or in other words, engagement. An emerging trend in this field is the gamification of warehouse work. Similar to fitness tracker apps, these digital platforms have goals and milestones for employees to achieve. Once achieved, they’re rewarded with both virtual recognition, such as topping a leader board or gaining badges, as well as more tangible perks such as reserved parking spaces and gift cards. 

The idea is to provide positive reinforcement to workers, so instead of doing the minimum required for their paycheck, they go the extra mile and earn lots of small perks along the way.

Aside from the more fun and inventive engagement tactics such as gamification, managers shouldn’t forget the basics. Being present on the warehouse floor for a portion of each shift pattern, and taking a bit of time to check in with staff, is still one of the best ways to build rapport. This also helps nip in the bud any issues that workers may have, before potentially becoming a bigger problem. 

Forming Strategic Partnerships with Staffing Agencies

As warehousing demands continue to increase and seasonality continues to drive peaks, forming strategic partnerships with staffing agencies is becoming more crucial. A good agency that you have a long-term and trusted relationship with can be relied upon to provide quality hires as you ramp up to manage increases in order cycles. 

The more agencies you partner with, the more you’re spreading your risk. Think about an extreme but possible staffing scenario, where order volumes spike to the near physical capacity of the facility. How many additional hires would you need to manage this? How many hires could each of the staffing agencies you partner with be able to provide within a few weeks to a few months? 

This is also where building strategic relationships with the staffing agencies you work with are crucial, so you have confidence that they’ll prioritize your needs above other operators that are also trying to staff for seasonal peaks. 

When it comes to striking the optimal balance between permanent, directly employed workers, and agency temps, the 80/20 rule is a good one to work to. This ensures that the majority of the workforce are committed permanent members of staff “in it for the long haul,” while the remaining 20 percent allows you to easily scale up or down with seasonality. 

Implement COVID-19 Screening and Security

With all warehouse operators having spent the past 12 months getting their premises COVID-19 secure, now is a great time to think about your screening regimen and any improvements you should make.

A debate you may be having right now is what the best type of screening process is for your operations, especially seeing as experts expect COVID-19 to continue having an impact on our daily lives for the whole of 2022.  

There are two broad options available here: symptom screening or virus testing. Symptom screening is the far more affordable option compared to testing and has the least impact on your employee scheduling. App-based screening platforms enable employees to self-screen for symptoms before they leave their homes for the start of each shift. This can also be supplemented by temperature checks on arrival. 

Virus testing, on the other hand, will detect asymptomatic cases and early infections, but the costs can be prohibitive for many warehouse operators. And of course, you need to plan regular testing around shift patterns and consider what the pay implications are of asking employees to report to work 30 minutes before their shift starts to receive an on-site rapid test.

It’s little surprise then that screening employees for COVID-19 symptoms is a more practical solution for many warehouse operators, who are looking for a cost-effective way to protect staff while also lowering a business’s risk of litigation and, potentially, its insurance premiums.  

Reassess Demand and Reoptimize Processes 

Demand for specific goods has shifted enormously over the past 12 months, which has had a big impact on warehouse product velocity. So, the products that were moved most frequently in the recent past may no longer be the case. Therefore, operators need to ensure they’re regularly reassessing their velocity slotting, at a much greater frequency than perhaps they were pre-pandemic, given how volatile demand has been for certain products since. 

As demand levels shift, distribution centers must become a lot more agile, quickly reassigning priority shelving and circulation flows, and relaying this information to employees as part of the process. Employees will then have an easier job on their hands hitting targets if products are being more frequently reassigned to shelving based on up-to-date movement flows.  

Invest in Enhanced Labor Management Systems

With the high demand for warehouse staff pushing up wages, especially with the likes of Amazon paying above average and inflating wages in the areas where they’re based, cost savings will become more crucial than ever throughout 2021. To this end, many operators are focusing on enhanced labor management systems (LMS) to deliver much of these savings.

With the ethos shifting from using these systems to identify underperformers, to instead uncover ways to optimize the workforce, an intelligently deployed LMS can help distribution centers to achieve more with less.

A big focus now with LMS is measuring and comparing the performance metrics across different facilities within the same organization. A few years ago, this would have been prohibitively expensive for many, but thanks to cloud computing and SaaS pay-as-you-go models, this is now easily affordable. And once you can measure something, you can improve it, such as focusing efforts on underperforming facilities.  

But of course, it’s not just at the macro level that LMS are increasingly being used to measure performance; the focus is also on the level of the employee. AI is helping managers to demand forecast in real-time better than ever before, based on pick counts and other KPIs during each shift. So, 2021 could be the year that we start to see fewer managers moving staff around on the fly and instead begin to rely on predictive modeling.    

Ultimately, the past 12 months were focused on survival and rapid-adaption for many businesses. Now we’ve made it through the tough part, it’s time to take a pause, take stock, reassess processes, and then begin optimizing for the new normal. And focusing much of that attention on workforce management improvements is a great investment for any distribution center.

________________________________________________________________

Adam Day is president & CEO of Time Rack, a time & attendance, payroll integration, and HR SaaS platform that provides warehouse time & attendance systems and HR administration services that create work-life harmony. Visit timerack.com to learn more.

culture
Archives, Commentary, Global Trade Daily

Did Your Employees Grow Apart In A Difficult 2020? 5 Tips For A Better Culture.

Leave a comment

Given the uncertainty businesses face in 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, company leaders are looking at every phase of their operation to determine ways they can improve.

Company culture is one area commanding attention. As the virus caused business limitations and forced many companies to go fully remote in 2020, workplace culture was challenged in new ways. This was a reminder to company leaders to make this a priority, forcing them to find ways to strengthen it in the new year, says Mark McClain, CEO and co-founder of SailPoint and the ForbesBooks author of Joy and Success at Work: Building Organizations that Don’t Suck (the Life Out of People).

“More and more, companies are starting to understand that they need to show employees that they value them as whole people,” McClain says.

“If you respect them, value them and treat them as professionals, they will go through walls for you. If you don’t, if you create an environment where the very thought of coming to work creates anxiety, then they are going to look for employment elsewhere.”

Issues within the workplace culture can fester and eventually lead to toxic relationships, lower productivity, and higher turnover. McClain says that as companies try to balance remote working with a return to the office, it’s critical that culture problems be diagnosed and dealt with.

“But too often,” he says, “leaders don’t have the time to dig into the root problems or don’t know how to really reach their people and devise solutions.”

McClain offers these tips for management to build a better workplace culture in 2021:

Make the health and well-being of your employees the first priority. “Putting your employees first makes them far more likely to be good producers for your company,” McClain says. “With the ongoing pandemic and 2021 bringing much uncertainty, it’s the right time to review workplace safety, collect employees’ thoughts on working remotely vs. coming back to the office, look at internal communications, and analyze management practices to make sure you’re addressing employees’ needs and concerns. Circulate employee surveys to get helpful feedback.”

Hire people who are culture fits. “Some people are very capable, but they happen to be jerks,” McClain says. “No matter how smart such a person might be, the negatives will eventually outweigh the positives. At the same time, you don’t want to hire people who are really nice but not terribly competent.”

Beware of fake culture. Some companies create what McClain calls “pseudo cultures,” which he describes as “thinly veiled come-ons where companies offer massages, free beer or other perks to attract employees.” Eventually, people figure out that a cool employee lounge with a ping-pong table does not make for a successful company. “Real organizational cultures are reflections of how companies treat people and create useful products,” he says.

Increase employee engagement. McClain says leaders should go the extra steps to get to know their employees – a big help in keeping them engaged. “It can be tougher initially to spot people who are not fully engaged,” he says. “The gut feeling leaders need in that regard develops over time with the determination to know your people as individuals. Not all managers are willing to do that, and that’s a mistake. Showing genuine concern can uncover issues that can steer the employee to the help they need.”

Promote a work-life balance. “It’s nice to have ultra-motivated climbers, and it’s essential for a forward-moving company to demand a lot of its people,” McClain says. “But not at the expense of burning them out, messing up their health and hurting their family relationships. That’s going to hurt the company in the long run as well.”

“Nurturing your internal culture,” McClain says, “enables people and business to thrive. It’s never been more important than now after a year of chaos and with more uncertainty ahead.”

__________________________________________________________________

Mark McClain (www.markmcclain.me), ForbesBooks author of Joy and Success at Work: Building Organizations that Don’t Suck (the Life Out of People), is CEO of SailPoint, a leader in the enterprise identity management market. McClain has led the company from its beginnings in 2005, when it started as a three-person team, to today where SailPoint has grown to more than 1,200 employees who serve customers in 35 countries.

talent acquisition
Archives, Global Trade Daily, News

What’s Next For You? How Knowledge Management is Transforming Talent Management in Global Markets

Leave a comment

Knowledge management seeks to apply organizational knowledge in order to satisfy and exceed employee’s expectations. All executives need to be aware of how to better control knowledge management which coincides with talent management and to do this, they should understand the strong correlation between two important factors. The focus of this article is based upon the critical role of knowledge management which allows a rich basis for understanding the mechanisms by which talent management is influenced.

6 Key Practices to Integrate Talent Management and Knowledge Management

Since executives are constantly dealing with employee development, talent management is something they pay a great deal of attention to. Of course, this is not new but worth mentioning. A mistake in this area may be vital to the organizations and executives must choose their practices wisely. This article addresses these knowledge management practices in depth to set the record straight upon the importance of talent management.

1. Prioritize Candidate Experience

Knowledge is a collection of meaningful experiences. The key take-away for executives is that prioritizing candidate experience can enable organizations to solve problems and create value through improved performance and it is this point that will narrow the gaps of success and failure leading to more successful decision-making.

2. Tailor Talent Acquisition Strategy to Business Goals

Executives must determine their business goals for the next three years and develop a talent acquisition strategy that focuses on planning the work and technically supporting newly-hired employees to achieve the business goals. A talent acquisition strategy helps companies to achieve their business goals that reflect excellence and some kind of higher-order effectiveness. This is where executives can attempt to achieve business goals—stemming from a talent acquisition strategy across pivotal areas on the organization.

3. Educate the Hiring Manager

Hiring managers can become familiar with employee recruitment practices through education. Education is more active, broad, flexible, experimental, synthetic, and strategic compared to training. Why is this, you may ask? Because education is a process that leads to acquiring new insights and knowledge, and potentially to correct sub-optimal or ineffective actions and behaviors that cause companies to spiral out of control.

4. Enhance Training Efficiency

Executives must provide work-related training programs for newly-hired employees when beginning onboarding and must be aware of their training efficiency programs. As executive trainers, I agree with Jennifer Rowley who suggests training courses as an effective way to share knowledge. Most importantly, applying knowledge aimed at providing better decision-making and work-related practices and creating new knowledge through innovation. Knowledge has to be measured in some way, many trainers talk about return-on-investment of training which is hard to measure, training satisfaction measurement by participants and their desire to apply it to the workplace is an excellent barometer of learning new skills or building upon old ones. The key point in the training is the knowledge use coupled with testing and re-testing to ensure that the knowledge is actually helping the organization grow professionally for employees and profitably for all stakeholders.

 5. Write No Strict Job Descriptions

When newly-hired employees come on board, they are given job descriptions. But how can executives write no strict job descriptions? The answer to this question lies in an executive’s demonstration to motivate employees to approach organizational problems in a more novel approach. In doing this, executives can inspire employees to rethink problems and challenge their current personal attitudes and values. Most importantly, executives can transform organizations by attempting to change the basic values, beliefs, and attitudes of employees so that they are willing to perform beyond their previous or originally level specified by the organization in their job description.

6. Be More Flexible

Flexibility in the workplace may enable executives to improve departmental and managerial interactions and develop relationships among managers, business units, and departments. Through flexibility in the workplace, executives can also shift the power of decision-making to the lower levels and inspire newly-hired employees to create new ideas and implement them, which can in turn propel interdepartmental communications and improve knowledge exchange.

In Conclusion

This article can offer several implications for practice. First, this article highlights that there is a strong correlation between knowledge management and talent management within organizations. Importantly, this approach advances the current business literature on talent management by offering novel insights into how knowledge management affects talent identification, satisfaction and retention. This article suggests new insights to identify knowledge management as a primary driver of effective talent management for companies. Therefore, I suggest that executives embrace knowledge management. My primary focus is on one factor (talent management) but there are many more important components of the managerial function that can be enhanced when knowledge management is embraced. The key here is that there are positive effects of knowledge management on talent management.

______________________________________________________

Rowley, J. (2001). Knowledge management in pursuit of learning: the learning with knowledge cycle. Journal of Information Science, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 227-237.

post-covid-19
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily

The Logistics Industry in a Post-COVID-19 World

Leave a comment

The COVID-19 pandemic is slowly passing. However, we still have a long way to go before we can say we are safe from it. Nevertheless, these past few months were difficult, and it is safe to say that some lives were affected in such a way that they will be different forever. The same can be said for many industries that had to – and still have to – struggle with the pandemic in order to stay in business. My guess is that the logistics industry in the post-COVID-19 world will look a bit different than it used to.

Inventory levels

All companies that had low inventory levels suffered major setbacks. Being left without goods and without means of getting new supplies shipped is a disaster for any company.

With that being said, one of the first changes that must be implemented is that inventory levels are always high. Companies will have to factor in any possibility to protect their business if a similar situation arises in the future.

What about the supply chains?

During the pandemic, it was shown that one of the major disadvantages of stretched supply chains is that they can easily break at any point. You never know when the logistics department will fail to deliver, and your entire business is affected by it.

As a solution to this problem, companies will have to invest their resources into shortening the supply chain and making sure that the merchandise is transported from one end to the other in the shortest period of time.

Managing the workforce during high demand

We have witnessed how high demand for a certain product can create holes in the market if there is no possibility of restocking. For a short period of time, it was virtually impossible in some countries to get your hands on a bag of flour or toilet paper. When panic spreads, people often act without thinking.

The logistics industry in a post-COVID-19 world will have to invest in workforce management training during high demand season.

Many smaller companies will disappear

The COVID-19 situation caused many smaller logistics companies to bankrupt. Since only the larger companies that have higher inventory levels and better overall performance survived, they will invest in purchasing bankrupt businesses in order to expand.

This will lead to a change in the market, and competition will be lower as well. Since there will be a smaller number of logistics companies on the market, there is a possibility for a monopoly to develop. When only a few people share a greater concentration of power, they set the rules to favor them. This will result in surviving companies developing a competitive advantage in the global market.

There will be less money for the development department

One of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic was the financial loss that many companies suffered. People got fired, and paychecks were substantially reduced in order to keep the business running.

I am not sure if this will affect future salaries, but I can safely say that companies will try to keep more money in the system. The department of development, research, and innovation might not get the same amount of funding as in the past.

This step will help logistics companies to have a solid amount of cash to keep the business running if a similar situation occurs in the future.

How will these changes affect the prices in the logistics industry in post-Covid-19 world?

As I stated above, some of the major changes that will happen in the logistics industry in a post-COVID-19 world are shortening of the supply chain, securing higher inventory levels, and investing in workforce management to deal with challenging situations. Furthermore, larger companies may hold a monopoly on the market.

All of these steps require a lot of money. For that to happen, the prices will have to go up. It is unclear about the percentage, but it will happen.

What can you do as an owner of a small logistics company?

Owners of small logistics companies will have to find a way to keep up with this situation or perish from the market. If you are among them, here is a little advice on how to prevent this from happening to your business.

Make partnerships

This might be a decisive move, but making a partnership with other companies in the same situation can increase your overall strength on the market.

Try moving your business elsewhere

Looking for a fresh market without large competition might be a smart move. Many companies may decide to move to a smaller area, or even to a different country, in order to increase their business. A company might make the transition less painful.

Big changes are coming!

As we can see, big changes are coming in the logistics industry in the post-COVID-19 world. As always, when an economic crisis occurs, only the stronger ones will swim out on the surface. Nevertheless, that does not mean that others will lose their plays on the market. Informing yourself in advance will help you prepare for the upcoming changes, and maybe even save your business! With that in mind, spend your time on research that will help you keep your business running. Stay safe and good luck!

_______________________________________________________

John Palmer is an economic expert with over two decades of experience. Working as a freelance blogger, John uses the opportunity to reach out to a wide group of people and educate them on how to manage their business in a challenging situation. However, he does branch out into other areas, as he also writes for moving companies such as Easy Move KW. Some of his other interests include business startups, management, and business continuity.

workforce
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Trucking

Handling Workforce Management Challenges in a Logistics Company During High Demand

Leave a comment

The ongoing COVID-19 global crisis has caused a spike in demand for online shopping due to the stay-at-home orders that have been instituted by many countries all across the world. Most of the hauling necessary to get these ecommerce products to their intended recipients is being done by truck drivers. This means there’s more work than ever for the logistics industry but more tired workers too.

Keeping fleets properly organized and scheduling the right number of employees to manage all the necessary deliveries is the top workforce management challenge in a logistics company during such a period of high demand. It can be both difficult and stressful to match employees’ availability to demand.

Managers have to be able to track employees’ stress profiles for effective scheduling and also have to be ready to deal with unplanned changes to schedules as drivers could need to swap a shift with a colleague or fall sick (not just from coronavirus, but other ailments too). Companies should have the right tools in place to keep up with unforeseen shifts in demand and update their schedules accordingly.

Communication is important

Efficient, effective communication is absolutely vital to any workforce, but it is particularly crucial for teams that are as remote as those in the logistics industry, especially during this time. It’s important for managers to prioritize communication during this crisis because if communication falters, work progress not only suffers, but truck drivers are also extremely vulnerable to feeling both overwhelmed by the news and isolated from the team and company. This can have adverse effects on employee morale.

Work on employee morale

Speaking of employee morale, that’s another pressing workforce management challenge for logistics companies during this time. If we who are at home are struggling with motivation and mental health, you can imagine how heavy it must be for truck drivers who are out there all alone on the roads driving through deserted cities, staying away from their families as the world goes through such a scary time.

Keep in mind that they are scared to go home because they might accidentally infect their families and have to eat alone due to strict social distancing rules at restaurants. Maintaining high morale in the face of such extreme loneliness can’t be easy, both for the truckers and for their managers. Companies should leverage instant messaging apps to keep in touch with staff and use video sharing/conferencing tools more than ever to make both team updates and employee appreciation more personal.

We have all come to realize just how important truck drivers are to our way of life; that they have always been providing a service that is absolutely crucial to our supply chains and are continuing to do so even with their well-being at high risk. They are driving into places that others are fleeing from to deliver consumer goods to retailers and medical supplies to hospitals. Companies should make sure they are being compensated like the essential employees they are with significant salary raises and bonuses.

Keep your employees safe

Furthermore, employee morale during such a time is greatly tied to a sense of personal safety. Most truck drivers are middle-aged and/or older men who are more likely to suffer immunodeficiency from chronic illnesses such as pneumonia that make them more vulnerable to succumbing to the coronavirus.

Logistics companies should, therefore, make sure their drivers are sufficiently supplied with the necessary protection at all times – from face masks to gloves to hand sanitizer. Trucks should also be thoroughly disinfected as frequently as possible. When it comes to morale during such a time, it’s extremely crucial for employees to feel that their employers are doing their absolute best to keep them protect them.

Managing employees and hiring new ones to help

Managing the multiple locations and mobile employees that characterize the logistics industry was already challenging enough before the pandemic hit and even more now, in this time of high demand. There’s high potential for confusion around tracking hours accurately for payroll. Managers should be able to track employee hours from any location and capture accurate timesheets using geo-location.

Lastly, with the increased demand, many logistics companies are facing a higher need to acquire and onboard fresh talent but unfortunately, even before COVID-19, hiring and retention was already a major issue for the logistics industry according to recent PwC research. The survey found that transportation and logistics companies are lagging behind other sectors in terms of recruiting and hiring. SMEs in particular are not regarded as the preferred employers of the future.

Job seekers still don’t see transportation and logistics as a desirable industry. Logistics is one of those industries that most people looking for jobs, especially for fresh graduates, simply don’t find very appealing. This has to change if the industry is to keep up with this recent spike in demand. Companies have to make it appealing for fresh graduates, as well as people who have been laid off by other industries, by highlighting the potential for career growth.

_____________________________________________________________

Derek Jones  (VP Enterprise Strategy, Americas)

Derek spearheads key initiatives at Deputy, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, timesheets and communication. With a focus on Healthcare, Derek helps business owners and workforce leaders simplify employment law compliance, keep labor cost in line and build award-winning workplaces. Derek has over 16 years’ experience in delivering data-driven sales and marketing strategies to SaaS companies like MarketSource and Griswold Home Care.

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Software

TimeControl 8 Raises the Bar in Automated Time Management

Leave a comment

Managers of medium and large-sized businesses now have the option to utilize a one-of-a-kind time management and resource technology launched by global time management leader, HMS Software. An automated time sheet system called “TimeControl 8” provides a seamless, integrated solutions platform for managers to more efficiently keep tabs on their workforce.

Prior to the launch of TimeControl 8, HMS Software released TimeControl’s first mobile app specifically designed for supervisors and workers to further support efficient management in time tracking operations. Beyond time tracking, TimeControl 8 offers project tracking, human resource tracking, and research tax credit tracking. On a more granular level, information released by HMS Software confirmed the following features are also available:

-“Links to the widely-popular JIRA tool, used for bug tracking, issue tracking and project management. According to Vandersluis, the integration between these two products holds the potential for a revolution in how time is accounted for in software development projects.

-Dynamic data analysis for management of all timesheet data. Instant graphics in numerous formats enable rapid decision-making based on an easy-to-view big picture of where time is being spent.

-A unique resource planning feature that allows managers to not only track actual time reporting data, but also to make plans directly in the system of where future resources are required for maximum efficiency.

-A completely rewritten front-end interface that delivers a new standard in web and mobile designs, providing simplified, at-a-glance overviews of time-tracking data collection.

-Integration with the ARES Prism G2 cost control system — a popular construction project management solution — enabling PRISM cost elements to be tracked by TimeControl, and TimeControl hours and costs to be captured by PRISM for analysis and reporting.”

“Since the release of our first mobile product two years ago, we have received an overwhelming number of requests from clients worldwide for software that enables managers to make enterprise-wide time management decisions on a mobile interface,” said HMS Software President Chris Vandersluis.

“TimeControl 8 uniquely gives supervisors real-time access to key data at their fingertips, enabling them to increase productivity by making accelerated, data-driven decisions anytime and anywhere, using a dynamic and modern interface,” he concludes.

Source: GBPR