Smart Business Magazine, June 2016

12 Smart Business Akron Canton June 2016 Show your appreciation Work hard to recognize what your people do for your business Employees are the most important asset of any company The largest single expense item on your income statement is probably their compensation So treat them as the most important asset in the building Manufacturing today has made it even harder to find qualified operators than in the past Here is what we do at VMS to make our staff feel like they are part of a dynamic growing company with the opportunity for growth Welcome aboard The first day they arrive we welcome them with in depth training rather than throwing them on a press or at a desk and saying go get it done The VMS University training can last as long as three weeks before we expect positive productivity We introduce them to every department to let them know where to find answers and feel like part of a bigger team They have business cards with their name and title And when they get home a welcome to VMS package is waiting for them and their family to enjoy We want their family to feel invested in their spouses or parents job Take pride in your facility Is your facility a clean bright well conditioned environment No one wants to work in a dirty dark sweatbox or freezer Take pride in where you work and the staff will take pride in it too Customers will notice it and suppliers will recognize you as a leader and a company to send referrals Every person who has toured our facility comments on the positive welcoming and helpful staff they meet Recognize great ideas Give your manufacturing staff incentives to pay themselves if they improve the bottom line Too often the profit sharing commissions or bonuses go to management and salespeople Establish key metrics that are measureable Use them as goals to beat If scrap is reduced share that savings with the employees that create the savings If on time delivery is improving share some of the timesaving thats been added to the bottom line No industrial accidents share the savings Productivity improvements from manufacturing share the savings You get the idea Find your own measureable incentives to improve your bottom line and get your manufacturing staff working on the program Everyone likes to have goals contribute to the overall team and be a winner Your staff today can be made up of many generations and each has their own hot buttons that drive them Learn how to communicate to each one and find sources to learn communication skills between generations I encourage all managers to invest in training mentoring coaching and encouraging your largest company investment your people The investment will provide large dividends in the future of your company I believe if you ask small to midsized manufacturing companies what their major issue is today they will say finding and retaining good employees Im not going to address the finding part of this problem The retention part however should be even more important once you have good staff on board DOLF KAHLE CEO Visual Marking Systems Inc Dolf has spent the past 32 years building VMS into one of the premier graphic providers nationwide for the OEM product identification decals labels overlays vehicle graphics transportation and Point of Sale markets 330 425 7100 rkahle@ vmsinc com www vmsinc com www linkedin com in dolfkahle http on fb me 1RqEdxh @ VMSTwinsburg DOLF KAHLE SHOW TELL www instagram com vmsbodyart