Labor Standards
Doing it the right way
Fair and accurate labor standards can significantly impact the performance of workers in retail, distribution and manufacturing. The key is not only how these standards are set, but the job design that sits behind them.
Change Management
If you alter how people perform their jobs or how they are measured, there is going to be resistance, especially if it might impact their paycheck. Change management is critical to implement workforce programs successfully. More
The value of labor standards is directly related to the rigor with which they are built. Simple historical averages like units per hour are easy to implement, but don’t reflect variations in job content like distance traveled or item weight. Thus, they are less accurate and may be perceived by workers as unfair.
Time studies of your jobs will produce much more accurate standards, while engineered labor standards based on discrete movements are the most accurate. The appropriate level of rigor will vary from company to company and area to area. RedPrairie’s experienced engineering staff can help you select which method is right for you and create the associated standards.
But there is another important aspect to improving productivity – are your employees doing their jobs in the most productive way? Simply applying job standards to inefficient methods will not produce nearly as strong results. The greatest productivity increases are achieved when jobs are first restructured according to best practices to be as efficient as possible. RedPrairie’s engineers are experts in this evaluation as well.
The final piece of the productivity puzzle is training. Once you have redesigned your jobs to be efficient and set fair and accurate standards, employees and supervisors must be trained on how to use them. This can be done through a combination of classroom, online and one-on-one training. RedPrairie trainers can assist you with this.
If you are serious about improving the productivity of your workforce, then a combination of efficient job design, fair and accurate standards, and proper training will produce the best results. RedPrairie can help.