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Increasing employees "drive" and "enthusiasm" to work

Martin.C

Plastic
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Location
Wollongong, NSW, Australia
what do you all do in regards to incentives to get a crew moving faster and more productive.

i was contemplating adding a job completion bonus/incentive scheme but am worried about people going too fast and compromising quality.

what is everyone's thoughts/what incentives do you have where you work?

Cheers
Marty
 
Might want to read up on Herzberg's satisfiers and dissatisfiers.

Seems you need to pay enough money to attract good employees, but once they're there things like the intrinsic satisfaction of the work and the quality of immediate supervision are more important to assure good performance.

I'd start with crew leadership -- someone who leads well by example. Give him/her some discretion in rewarding good performance in small ways -- a round of beers after, flex time, or whatever best acknowledges individual and team effort well done. If you can elevate the meaning of the work -- even if just by making something like customer satisfaction important -- that's another step. There's a huge literature on this sort of thing - if this is important to your success might want to read up or take a class or two. Must be a hundred small things you can do. Have to work late or weekends to finish a day early? Maybe send a gift certificate for dinner to the spouses or girlfriends as a thanks etc. etc.
 
Might want to read up on Herzberg's satisfiers and dissatisfiers.

Seems you need to pay enough money to attract good employees, but once they're there things like the intrinsic satisfaction of the work and the quality of immediate supervision are more important to assure good performance.

I'd start with crew leadership -- someone who leads well by example. Give him/her some discretion in rewarding good performance in small ways -- a round of beers after, flex time, or whatever best acknowledges individual and team effort well done. If you can elevate the meaning of the work -- even if just by making something like customer satisfaction important -- that's another step. There's a huge literature on this sort of thing - if this is important to your success might want to read up or take a class or two. Must be a hundred small things you can do. Have to work late or weekends to finish a day early? Maybe send a gift certificate for dinner to the spouses or girlfriends as a thanks etc. etc.

I appreciate your response, some of the things in there can definitely get the ball rolling. the leadership thing is hard for us as the people we have inherently end up with ego/power trips if we give them titles like Team Leader etc they are good at what they do just not good a leading.
 
A made good quality production bonus of $50 (or so)every other week will make all workers think about making good numbers...Yes the shop need not know the numbers but they should be honest based.Perhaps it be 5% or even 10% if that makes sense to the owner.
 
I don't think that handing out random bonuses is the answer. If you give a bonus, show examples of what employees did to deserve a bonus. If you don't give a bonus, explain to the employee's what happened that caused you not to give a bonus that week. Try to get the employees involved more and the shop will be a lot easier to manage.
 
If you wanted to give a bonus for completing by a deadline, that's fine, but a quality mandate must be there too... If someone were getting paid on piecework, they wouldn't get paid for scrap parts, only good parts... Same for your bonus program.



Regarding leadership, read the book "Extreme Ownership". It's written by two former US Navy Seals, but much of the book is about "owning" your failures regardless of your position within the company. There is a section about egos, and how they get in the way of taking ownership & responsibility. I would definitely recommend it for yourself, and also for anyone else in your company.
 
Money is not the answer for everyone-- although for some it is.

We've done $25 to $100 week production bonus which is contingent on meeting the production goal and having worked 45 hours for the week or more. The surprise is how many guys will miss on the hours and the bonus even as we are hitting the shipments.

Flexibility on work hours is a driver. Money doesn't take the place of genuine praise and comradely within the shop.

If there are poor performers, negative doom and gloom fellows and/or drama magnets among the group-- they can bring a whole group down.
 
A good old fashioned firing can work wonders.

Not that I'm hard ass or want treat people badly or ever want to have to fire again, but the day after, there's no chit chat and the place is humming. And if you got someone doggin't it, for sure its bringing down the others.

On a more professional management level, you get the behaviour that you measure and reward.....start looking at metrics you use and pay attention to and a reward system (btw firing is just a negative reward lol)
 
I know money doesn't work, it gets people in the door, but when you pay them more, what they really want is time

Kick a little butt to get the job done and give them a day of with pay, don't tell them you will, just kick their butts to get the work out on thursday and walk in on friday and tell them to go home.
 
Interesting problem,
And it is a problem. Money won't solve it either. What needs to happen? You need to challenge the crew mentally. You have to convince them that increasing out-put is impossible.

If they have any speck of competitive spirit, they will prove you wrong.
 
Money is not the answer for everyone-- although for some it is.

We've done $25 to $100 week production bonus which is contingent on meeting the production goal and having worked 45 hours for the week or more. The surprise is how many guys will miss on the hours and the bonus even as we are hitting the shipments.

What if they improved productivity 30%, but only worked 35 hours? No bonus because he was too efficient?
 
the leadership thing is hard for us as the people we have inherently end up with ego/power trips if we give them titles like Team Leader etc they are good at what they do just not good a leading.

If you can't lead your supervisors, if you can't motivate your supervisers....

Then the problem is you. The people at the top need to be replaced.

I'm not sure how you can expect the lowest on the totem pole to be happy and productive, when you aren't, and apparently won't, put good leadership in place.
 
A good old fashioned firing can work wonders.

Not that I'm hard ass or want treat people badly or ever want to have to fire again, but the day after, there's no chit chat and the place is humming. And if you got someone doggin't it, for sure its bringing down the others.

On a more professional management level, you get the behaviour that you measure and reward.....start looking at metrics you use and pay attention to and a reward system (btw firing is just a negative reward lol)

There is 1 maybe 2 of our 12 man crew who i wold like to dismiss but finding skilled machinists in Australia is a nightmare!
 
If you can't lead your supervisors, if you can't motivate your supervisers....

Then the problem is you. The people at the top need to be replaced.

I'm not sure how you can expect the lowest on the totem pole to be happy and productive, when you aren't, and apparently won't, put good leadership in place.

I do appreciate your point. I would tend to agree with you if there was as severe problem with the level the team is producing at. I am not trying to correct a lazy or complacent group of guys, i am just trying to throw around some ideas on how we may be able to achieve the extra 10% with the people we have.

Our current management structure is Employees -> Owner/Manager. In the past when we have had Team Leader/Foreman positions they have not being allowed an opportunity to thrive and become a major asset and as a byproduct they have become lazy and corrupted. the issue i am face with at the moment is, with the staff i have currently, there is no one reliable and trustworthy enough to fill the positions.
 
Martin,Im in Oz too,and I know the feeling.new guy starts ,immediately gets a couple of the union types telling him to slow down...or else.The problem being then anyone good generally leaves straight away,and you are left with the duds.....I gave up and closed manufacturing,became an importer instead....Lucky that all the trade qualified went to the mines for higher pay,so i wasnt hit with redundencies.Then I went to work for an old friend.He was a nut.....fired people for no reason,he was feeling good,feeling bad,they upset him.....and copped the $4000 odd wrongfull dismissal payout. every time.He claimed sacking without reason kept everyone else on their toes.Then I retired,and its boring,but less stressful.
 
Our current management structure is Employees -> Owner/Manager. In the past when we have had Team Leader/Foreman positions they have not being allowed an opportunity to thrive and become a major asset and as a byproduct they have become lazy and corrupted.

"Team Leader", "Foreman", "Leadman", these phrases exemplify a failed model of the past. Turning your best producing employee into a "High Paid Clip Board Jockey" is a huge error.

Continue on your current track, you don't need a babysitter.
 
...when we have had Team Leader/Foreman positions they have not being allowed an opportunity to thrive and become a major asset and as a byproduct they have become lazy and corrupted.

"Allowed an opportunity to thrive" sounds like they were offered a "challenge." Both are euphemisms for extra responsibility, which can get old. Especially if the leader is expected to outproduce those who report to him.

...with the staff i have currently, there is no one reliable and trustworthy enough to fill the positions.

That doesn't sound promising. The fact that you describe them as unreliable and untrustworthy tells me they cannot be motivated to higher productivity no matter what you try. Increasing their pay as an inducement won't work; you'll just be rewarding their current performance level. Making them work harder than they have become accustomed to will be regarded as unfair—after all, their output was OK up 'til now.

I side with those who say, fire the worst one(s) and let everybody get the message. Fire those who don't. It wouldn't be the first time a company has had to clean house in order to turn things around.
 








 
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