The Importance of Monitoring Top Performers
By Chris Hagle
August 16th | 3 min read
Why Supply Chain Leaders Should Prioritize Their Warehouse Workforce : Insights from Chris Hagle
In today’s tight labor market, taking care of employees is of utmost importance. Ensuring that all employees are performing well, and meeting company expectations is critical to customer satisfaction and overall health and well-being of your corporate culture.
Warehouse managers often overlook top performers, instead focusing on employees who may be struggling. In the daily battle of warehouse priorities, managers tend to prioritize productivity over other factors when evaluating employees., making underperforming workers easy targets to achieve higher overall productivity metrics. However, this approach neglects the potential for nurturing and enhancing the talents of top performers.
5 Reasons Why Monitoring Top Performers is Critical
Whether it is through complacency, assumption of autonomy, or fear of favoritism, warehouse leaders need to observe their top performers for the following reasons:
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Safety Standards
In many distribution and manufacturing settings, safety is paramount. Top performers often adhere to safety standards rigorously, setting an example for others. Emphasizing their methods can lead to a safer workplace overall. However, there could be instances where employees are cutting corners in order to achieve a higher productivity. This would your chance to correct that behavior and install safe processes in your warehouse workforce before a serious incident takes place.
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Best Practices Identification
By observing top performers, management can identify the best practices and procedures that lead to superior results. Once these are identified, they can be standardized and taught to other employees, increasing the overall productivity and efficiency of the operation.
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Motivation
Recognizing and highlighting top performers can serve as a motivational tool for the entire workforce. When employees see that their hard work and innovation is recognized and rewarded, it can inspire others to enhance their performance. According to a Great Place to Work study, 69% of employees would bring extra effort to the work floor with a simple “thank you” from high-level executives.
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Quality Control
High performers tend to produce work of consistent quality. Understanding their methods can provide insights into how to improve the overall quality of products across the board. Similarly, to Safety, employees may be sacrificing quality to ensure they meet productivity metrics. This could lead to increased returns or customer dissatisfaction, and observations will be the ability to correct that behavior.
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Cultural Fit
Beyond just performance metrics, understanding why certain individuals perform at a high level can also provide insights into the company culture and values that support such performance. This can be vital for HR and recruiting to ensure they’re bringing in individuals who align with the company’s values and culture.
In summary, observing top performers provides a rich source of data and insights that can be used to improve processes, train employees, and enhance the overall effectiveness and efficiency of your supply chain center. By prioritizing the observation and recognition of top performers, companies can create a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.
The insights shared in Chris Hagle’s “Pallets of Wisdom” blog serve as a valuable guide for supply chain leaders, offering important takeaways to unlock the potential of your warehouse workforce. Armed with these insights, supply chain leaders can optimize productivity, efficiency, and employee motivation, ultimately driving success in their supply chain operations.
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