A case study Problem This food processing company was experiencing severe problems with employee turnover. The underlying cause of this turnover problem was excessive overtime. Located in a small town with several other labor-intensive companies, the company constantly competes for labor, often operating with less than a full complement of personnel. This staffing shortfall was … Continue reading “Reducing Employee Turnover”

How to be thorough when assessing the true cost of paid sick leave

The health and well-being of the employees is the companies’ top priority. As news about the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to develop, giving employees more paid sick time gets in the focus. Although Congress has just passed (March 18, 2020) a major package including an expansion of paid sick days and emergency paid leave for a … Continue reading “How to be thorough when assessing the true cost of paid sick leave”

Best Practices in Shift Work Operations (Part 2 of 10)

Operators and Sanitors should be the same people.  The sanitation process associate with all food manufacturing processes is often a time-thief.  It takes away from valuable production time. Many such operations will have a separate sanitation crew that specializes in sanitation but is not skilled or staffed to run the lines.  This has two negative … Continue reading “Best Practices in Shift Work Operations (Part 2 of 10)”

Best Practices in Shiftwork Operations (part 1 of 10)

Whenever we meet with a leadership team at a facility, the question always comes up, “What are other sites doing that works?” The second most asked question is, “What are other sites doing that doesn’t work?” Operations managers want to hear the answers with regards to other operations while Human Resource managers want the answers … Continue reading “Best Practices in Shiftwork Operations (part 1 of 10)”

5 Things Human Resource Managers Need to Know About Shift Work

Let’s start with this: my intent with this post is NOT to tell H.R. how to do their job. Rather, I want to round up some of the most important aspects of shift work that seem obvious but are easily overlooked. So, let’s get to the list… #1: Beware of the lone messenger.  No one … Continue reading “5 Things Human Resource Managers Need to Know About Shift Work”

What does the New Year Bring to a Tight Labor Market?

During our 30+years of cross-industry experience we have found that once unemployment drops below 6%, companies find it hard to staff adequately to meet production demands.  At the current 3.6% unemployment rate [1] a labor shortage is the single biggest production problem many companies are facing. For as many as eleven states, unemployment falls to … Continue reading “What does the New Year Bring to a Tight Labor Market?”

Have you Made Your Business Resolutions Yet?

If you want happier employees this year, you may consider doing some things differently than last year. Otherwise, if you do what you did, you’ll get what you got. Employee engagement, better-work life balance, and improved communication might be at the top of the wish list. But what comes after establishing these resolutions? How to … Continue reading “Have you Made Your Business Resolutions Yet?”

12 unexpected insights ―When it comes to shiftwork, do you know what you don’t know?

All companies are unique. We found this to be true while working with hundreds of organizations across multiple industries. However, commonalities do exist. The following 12 insights tend to be universally true in a broad sense. Interestingly, some of these insights may run counter to your intuition. There are always variances, exceptions to the rule; … Continue reading “12 unexpected insights ―When it comes to shiftwork, do you know what you don’t know?”

12 most frequently asked questions from business leaders before undergoing a schedule change

Once Operations and Human Resource Managers realize that some pain points may have a common root-cause, they may put their heads together and come to an agreement – their shift schedule may be causing many of their biggest problems.  Some proactive steps must be taken. As an exploration gets underway, questions arise from seemingly every … Continue reading “12 most frequently asked questions from business leaders before undergoing a schedule change”

Why Your 12-hour Schedule is More Attractive than You Think

If you are a Human Resources Manager, then you are well aware of the difficulty in finding quality employees in today’s tight labor market.  You and everyone else in your local area are competing for an ever-shrinking pool of potential employees.  You have a 12-hour schedule and, at first glance, this seems to be putting … Continue reading “Why Your 12-hour Schedule is More Attractive than You Think”