I started at a new position as a manufacturing department supervisor/process engineer back in August. In 6 short months I was able to change the workplace culture, improve production output, and improved employee morale. Changing something that people have developed habits around is no small feat. I wanted to share a bit how I did this.
Workplace Culture is what I believes the environment and the behaviorism of your employees. Changing things with other people tends to start with one thing, Respect.
Respect -
Thinking back in my career, my favorite places to work were where my boss and colleagues treated each other with a level of mutual respect. I had a circumstance a few months ago where one employee was temperamental and would lash-out to others in the department. This person’s behavior would include yelling, swearing, and degrading other employees and it would ripple out to others. I gave her the opportunity to improve, but when someone is stuck in that mindset you have to let them go to take control of the workplace culture.
Stay In Touch -
My role has grown to the point where I don’t exactly have the handle on the day-to-day issues with my operators and team leaders. This is due to me working with production control, continuous improvement projects, and meeting with upper management. I set up a morning and afternoon meeting where the team leader, myself, and sometimes the operators. This way they can share with me their concerns and I can let them in the loop of what's going on throughout the company.
Acknowledgement -
Many times I've seen people go above and beyond and turn bitter because nobody gave them credit or even noticed the change. This might be a little different for us entrepreneurs because we can see things coming in the timeline of years. We live in the world of people that live the status quo, morale improves when you give them credit for doing the right things. The hard part about this is to stay attentive, take notice when things change, and find out who is behind the changes and give them the credit.
Listen -
I realize that I’m Deaf, ironically i believe this is why I’m a very good listener. Listening to my employees was critical for me to change the workplace culture so quickly. Keeping myself open to listen to employee suggestions to help improve their working situation makes me an even better manager. Most people want to improve and make their jobs easier while maintaining the quality they take pride in.
The fastest way to have your team grow whether you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, manager, etc… is to acknowledge that your job is to remove the obstacles that your employees face on a regular basis so they can do their jobs better.
Workplace Culture is what I believes the environment and the behaviorism of your employees. Changing things with other people tends to start with one thing, Respect.
Respect -
Thinking back in my career, my favorite places to work were where my boss and colleagues treated each other with a level of mutual respect. I had a circumstance a few months ago where one employee was temperamental and would lash-out to others in the department. This person’s behavior would include yelling, swearing, and degrading other employees and it would ripple out to others. I gave her the opportunity to improve, but when someone is stuck in that mindset you have to let them go to take control of the workplace culture.
Stay In Touch -
My role has grown to the point where I don’t exactly have the handle on the day-to-day issues with my operators and team leaders. This is due to me working with production control, continuous improvement projects, and meeting with upper management. I set up a morning and afternoon meeting where the team leader, myself, and sometimes the operators. This way they can share with me their concerns and I can let them in the loop of what's going on throughout the company.
Acknowledgement -
Many times I've seen people go above and beyond and turn bitter because nobody gave them credit or even noticed the change. This might be a little different for us entrepreneurs because we can see things coming in the timeline of years. We live in the world of people that live the status quo, morale improves when you give them credit for doing the right things. The hard part about this is to stay attentive, take notice when things change, and find out who is behind the changes and give them the credit.
Listen -
I realize that I’m Deaf, ironically i believe this is why I’m a very good listener. Listening to my employees was critical for me to change the workplace culture so quickly. Keeping myself open to listen to employee suggestions to help improve their working situation makes me an even better manager. Most people want to improve and make their jobs easier while maintaining the quality they take pride in.
The fastest way to have your team grow whether you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, manager, etc… is to acknowledge that your job is to remove the obstacles that your employees face on a regular basis so they can do their jobs better.
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