Mass Production - how do I motivate staff to get them producing at acceptable levels

Re: Mass Production

You can always fire them all and do it yourself or hire new workers!!!!

Just kidding!!!! But, like Will said, do it yourself with them to show them that it can be done. Tell them what you expect and make it reachable.

Also, don't forget that they may be doing the best they can. Maybe they can't move any faster because of age, injuries, etc. Sometimes, and I'm bad for this, we get to thinking that everyone else should be just like us. The fact is, some people can just do things faster and better. That's the nature of how things are.

That being said, take all this into account. Set goals that even the very slowest worker can reach and then offer incentives for improvement. Maybe a .25 cents and hours raise if they reach a certain goal. Like has already been said, it's much better to pay a few cents an hours more than all that overtime.

Do you have times when your employees have to find stuff to do to keep busy? If so, set a goal and then offer comp time off on slow days. A lot of companies around here do that. Some guys get almost 2 months worth of comp time in the summer months.

Good luck!

Incentives are great and have their place but don't reward for average performance. Financial incentives should only be used to reward above par performance. Nothing wrong with buying them lunch, cases of Mountain Dew, etc. when things are busy; these things will help motivate them, fuel them and remove distractions. I always discourage employees from skipping lunch because people will get irritable and their performance will suffer if they don't eat. I'll catch heck for saying this but southerners tend to move slow. You'll have to get on the line with them and set the pace to train them to move their bodies quicker. Keep chit-chat to minimum until they prove they can work and talk. Energetic music helps develop a rhythm and keep a constant pace. While cranking up the pace keep the work environment friendly and a little competition never hurts, just make sure they don't get sloppy. Don't suffer slackers, they hurt efficiency and destroy morale. If a guy (or gal) won't pick up the pace then send them packing. Just consider how you would like to be treated as an employee (not how you expect to be treated or have been treated) and you'll get there. Someone once told me, treat your employees like your best customer.

edit: one more thing, I never hire people who live with their parents; as a rule they are immature and lazy, they don't need the money.

How can I come work for you. I will do 360 every hour for 2 weeks then sit on my butt for a week and let you motivate me with more money. I can just keep that cycle up till I make more than you. Sorry, but that is all that is going to happen if you reward bad work ethic with more money. Just my 2 cents but, you might want to have a meeting and ask each person why they can't get 360pcs/hr and listen to them. Watch them work and see what the problem is. If it is a machine issue, fix it on the spot. If it is a materials issue fix it on the spot. If it is a manpower issue fix that on the spot also. You may not have to fire someone but, you can let them know that what ever they are doing is not acceptable any more. You are in business to make money, the more money you make the more secure your empleyees jobs are.

INKFREAK is absolutely correct. The only way to get the staff motivated is to jump right in there with them and set the pace. You've got to make it FUN to do the shirts, and praise people who are doing better than others. Joke and talk with them, show interest in their lives etc, and pretty soon you will have a good team who respects you and want to get the jobs out quickly.

Everyone craves praise, and it works far better than telling them that they're all useless, and that your blind grandmother could do better.

We've had production staff for 17 years now, and NOTHING beats working with them and getting a job out - it's a pain - but it lets them know that you're "one of them" so to say. Nothing peeves a worker off more than seeing his superior sit on his fat *** the whole day.

No amount of incentives are a replacement for working with them. Once you've worked with them for a few jobs and you've got them to all be part of the team, then you can generally leave them, and just join them for the odd job or two.

Re: Mass Production

When I first started I was only concerned with how many shirts we could print per hour. Our press will easily print 700 shirts per hour and we have even done around 600 in an hour before, small left chest. But I thought that since we did that many in an hour we could pull off 4500 in a day. Not even close, and we busted our butts and only got 3100 done in a little over 8 hours. We took a 30 minute lunch break and about 5 water breaks throughout the day. Looking back I don't think I could have pushed or worked any harder without having to take the next day off.

Central Texas in August (105 in the shop) was really tough but I was dissapointed. There was really nothing more we could have done and it sure as hell felt like we were moving fast.

Your shop looks similar to ours except your dryer is a bit smaller. Good luck and try not to kill yourself or your guys. Don't work them too hard or they might be worthless tomorrow.

Have they been printing long? If not they might not be able to meet your goals just yet. They may need time learn how to be able to print that many shirts in an hour.

I've been on both ends of this at different times in my life. Both Boss and labor. I once worked for a guy who thought that the more you accomplished the more he could put on you. So he was never happy with any employee even thought some of us were doing the work of 2 guys everyday. And this was in a job that if you made a mistake it could possibly mean someone losing their life in the worst case scenerio. But, the more you could accomplish the more he expected out of you. You couldn't please him. And you never seen him doing anything but go fishing or sit in the office all day.

As a Boss, you have to be able to look at your employee and set realistic goals for them to obtain. Yes, you might be able to knock out 300, 400, 500, or even more shirts an hour. But, what about all day for several days in a row. You start to get tired and production slows, just like has already been said. Take this into account.

Also, if it were me, I'd stay out on the line all day with them. Just so that they know that, yeah you the boss can do the job you are asking them to do. It may not help, but at least they can't stand around and complain about you wanting them to do something they think is impossible to do. Just working for an hour with them isn't enough to prove that point.

good luck!
Craig