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OrganicCandyAng

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Posted 29 July 2015 - 03:43 PM

We just decided we may need to plan to run a second shift of production. This means training and staffing which is scary because it's taken me 6 months to get the crew I have so well understanding what they are to do and how to do it properly. I have a lot of trust in them and they can be mostly left on their own and even with a strong language barrier, we communicate well. 

 

Any recommendations?

 

My concerns are what if none of my current staff is willing to work the second shift so it's all new people? What about my role as Dir of Ops (serving as Production Manager) how do I make up for my coverage? What if the new staff also has a strong language barrier and my bilingual people are working the first shift so I don't have a good liaison?



BrummyJim

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Posted 29 July 2015 - 04:05 PM

Part of this depends on how you plan to implement a second shift. You can either have a 6-2, 2-10 approach or go to 4 on 4 off 6-6 or similar. If you use the former and rotate 1 week early 1 week late, you'll find that most won't bother which shift they're on as they will still see their buddies at changeover and have the weekends to meet up. If you go for 4 on 4 off, there will be a lot of resistance and your existing team will try to stay together as they won't be able to meet up any more.

 

The other advantage is that you'll be creating more team leader etc. opportunities.

 

Having said that, it won't be easy.



OrganicCandyAng

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Posted 29 July 2015 - 04:27 PM

Part of this depends on how you plan to implement a second shift. You can either have a 6-2, 2-10 approach or go to 4 on 4 off 6-6 or similar. If you use the former and rotate 1 week early 1 week late, you'll find that most won't bother which shift they're on as they will still see their buddies at changeover and have the weekends to meet up. If you go for 4 on 4 off, there will be a lot of resistance and your existing team will try to stay together as they won't be able to meet up any more.

 

The other advantage is that you'll be creating more team leader etc. opportunities.

 

Having said that, it won't be easy.

 

We were going to do 7-3 3-11

 

What is what is "4 on 4 off" or 6-6?

 

I am afraid rotating won't work as most employees have children and working spouses at home so I can't expect them to just change on the weekly.



brianweber

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Posted 29 July 2015 - 05:47 PM

You do what you were hired to do. Run the company to the best of your ability. May not be a popular answer but you may have to mandate people to the 2nd shift. If you put an entirely new staff on one shift with minimal guidance you are setting yourself up for failure. Offer some incentives for people to switch shifts. As for coverage on your position, it will come down to trust. if you have trust in the majority of people on the shift or have a strong lead on the shift you should be ok. If not i would plan on spending some time there on that shift.


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OrganicCandyAng

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Posted 29 July 2015 - 06:05 PM

You do what you were hired to do. Run the company to the best of your ability. May not be a popular answer but you may have to mandate people to the 2nd shift. If you put an entirely new staff on one shift with minimal guidance you are setting yourself up for failure. Offer some incentives for people to switch shifts. As for coverage on your position, it will come down to trust. if you have trust in the majority of people on the shift or have a strong lead on the shift you should be ok. If not i would plan on spending some time there on that shift.

 

I think I will end up working the 2nd shift for some time - Many of my first shift people have families like I mentioned so they can't just switch that easily and not be home for their kids. Not to mention they car pool so that makes it tough.

 

I would feel safe with my current people being alone mostly during the day (plus there is the office staff on hand and around at that time). 



gfdoucette07

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Posted 29 July 2015 - 07:01 PM

Every plant employee has some type of family and 99% of people would prefer to work between 7-5 however like Brian pointed out if your plant runs outside that you need staff.  Your paying them to work for you they need to work when you need them.  We went to a weekly rotation so everyone gets the short end of the stick.  We run 7-3, 3-11 & 11-7, they will get used to it, I had a few people who said "I cant (won't) work that shift", those people are now working elsewhere.  You are their boss and are paid to make the company effecient not the EE's home life.  Yes there is a balance to not completly pissing everyone off however they need to undertand change in business needs

 

G



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OrganicCandyAng

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Posted 29 July 2015 - 07:13 PM

Every plant employee has some type of family and 99% of people would prefer to work between 7-5 however like Brian pointed out if your plant runs outside that you need staff.  Your paying them to work for you they need to work when you need them.  We went to a weekly rotation so everyone gets the short end of the stick.  We run 7-3, 3-11 & 11-7, they will get used to it, I had a few people who said "I cant (won't) work that shift", those people are now working elsewhere.  You are their boss and are paid to make the company effecient not the EE's home life.  Yes there is a balance to not completly pissing everyone off however they need to undertand change in business needs

 

G

 

I see what you're saying but we have a company culture that really revolves around happy employees and being a good place to work - something to consider in what you say regarding not letting that get too carried away, however I struggle being stuck between our culture and breaking that potentially losing people.

 

I also don't think I would be very well supported if I started forcing people to do things.



brianweber

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Posted 29 July 2015 - 07:35 PM

Company culture only lasts as long as you have a company. You put a bunch of green people that are unfamiliar with your processes on 1 shift and you are setting yourself up for failure. Start out asking for volunteers. Let them know that if no one volunteers you are going to have to mandate a few people in order to assist with training. Offer them a shift differential. And if your upper management is not supporting you i guess you just do what you can and if it fails or is a mess you can show them the results of no support.


Brian


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gfdoucette07

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Posted 29 July 2015 - 08:14 PM

Dont you get forced to do things all the time? I know I do.



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BrummyJim

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Posted 30 July 2015 - 07:50 AM

4 on 4 off is sometimes referred to as the Continental System. It's quite common here in the UK and you work 12 hours for 4 days and then have the next 4 days off. It's a long shift, but the benefits are the 4 days off together. Some people with a family life like it, especially if the kids are pre-school. Also, your 1 week vacation is 12 days long, which is another benefit. The downside is there's no handover, so each shift blames the other for shortcomings, and tasks are often not passed from one shift to the other.



gfdoucette07

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Posted 30 July 2015 - 01:39 PM

Brummy

 

"each shift blames the other for short comings" boy I think that is true no matter what the shift or which side of the pond we're on!

 

G



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Posted 30 July 2015 - 06:30 PM

I think that if you can spend some time working with the second shift that will be a great help. Is you company not planning on hiring someone to fill your roll on the second shift? If you can help with that selection process and make sure that that person is on the same page as you when it comes to what needs to be done that would help make your job a lot easier. Another suggestion would be to schedule simpler production to the second shift. At one place I worked the first shift was more experienced/less temps so they would handle the more complicated products and the basic ones would be relegated to the second shift to help avoid errors. One option to consider with your schedulers if feasible.

 

It is nice to hear that your company has a focus on work-life balance. It is important to have happy employees as those are the ones who take their work seriously and do a good job at the end of the day. :) A lot of talk of forcing people to work one shift and they can go someplace else. It is hard enough to keep experienced workers...glad these people aren't in my HR department!



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OrganicCandyAng

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Posted 30 July 2015 - 06:59 PM

4 on 4 off is sometimes referred to as the Continental System. It's quite common here in the UK and you work 12 hours for 4 days and then have the next 4 days off. It's a long shift, but the benefits are the 4 days off together. Some people with a family life like it, especially if the kids are pre-school. Also, your 1 week vacation is 12 days long, which is another benefit. The downside is there's no handover, so each shift blames the other for shortcomings, and tasks are often not passed from one shift to the other.

 

This is a neat concept however I don't think I can do the weekend move. I like it for future considerations however - Then does everyone get 8 hours overtime each week?



OrganicCandyAng

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Posted 30 July 2015 - 07:08 PM

I think that if you can spend some time working with the second shift that will be a great help. Is you company not planning on hiring someone to fill your roll on the second shift? If you can help with that selection process and make sure that that person is on the same page as you when it comes to what needs to be done that would help make your job a lot easier. Another suggestion would be to schedule simpler production to the second shift. At one place I worked the first shift was more experienced/less temps so they would handle the more complicated products and the basic ones would be relegated to the second shift to help avoid errors. One option to consider with your schedulers if feasible.

 

It is nice to hear that your company has a focus on work-life balance. It is important to have happy employees as those are the ones who take their work seriously and do a good job at the end of the day. :) A lot of talk of forcing people to work one shift and they can go someplace else. It is hard enough to keep experienced workers...glad these people aren't in my HR department!

 

Thank you for a solid, constructive response! I appreciate the positivity too. I truly believe that companies who are more employee's work-life balance focused are the ones going places anymore. I came here less than a year ago from a company who I had family ties to but their way of managing business was in a 'bullying' manner and the #1 reason I left was for a better culture. So it doesn't fit my values to just force people to do things if there's a better way that is a WIN for more people. I can also offer incentives for people to switch shifts which I'd rather do before forcing anyone to do anything.

 

The challenge maybe I should have mentioned is that it may be only a temporary second shift. Somewhat of a contingency plan until we solidify a potential move and expansion to the production area. So for that, no we would not hire another salary person for evenings only.  We just want to keep the line running to make up for some of the loss in finished goods as a copacker is closing it's doors on us.



trubertq

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Posted 30 July 2015 - 07:11 PM

One of my clients has 3 shifts 8 to 4.30, 4.30 to 1 am, Then Cleaners from 1pm to 7am

 

They plan their production such that as a previous poster has said, the less demanding jobs are done on the evening shift.

 

This shift actually suits some people and they request it as they're not finishing terribly late and a lot of the time the shift will finish early.

 

There are two very experienced supervisors on for the evening shift, the cleaners have their own dedicated supervisor. 

 

I think at the start they asked for volunteers from the day shift to do the evening shift to train key people, especially on CCPs etc, and once the supervisors, and line leaders were in place it runs like clockwork.

 

The shifts will always blame each other.... it's people

 

You may have to work some evening shifts until you get your key people into place but then with good planning and open communication it should be ok.

 

The aspect of work life balance is important, you may be surprised to find that some people may prefer an evening shift. Do what your gut is telling you and never mind the " hang 'em and flog 'em " merchants above, you're the one who knows and has nurtured your staff over the years. I find that if you treat people with respect they will return it without having to be flogged into submission.


I'm entitled to my opinion, even a stopped clock is right twice a day

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OrganicCandyAng

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Posted 30 July 2015 - 07:19 PM

One of my clients has 3 shifts 8 to 4.30, 4.30 to 1 am, Then Cleaners from 1pm to 7am

 

They plan their production such that as a previous poster has said, the less demanding jobs are done on the evening shift.

 

This shift actually suits some people and they request it as they're not finishing terribly late and a lot of the time the shift will finish early.

 

There are two very experienced supervisors on for the evening shift, the cleaners have their own dedicated supervisor. 

 

I think at the start they asked for volunteers from the day shift to do the evening shift to train key people, especially on CCPs etc, and once the supervisors, and line leaders were in place it runs like clockwork.

 

The shifts will always blame each other.... it's people

 

You may have to work some evening shifts until you get your key people into place but then with good planning and open communication it should be ok.

 

The aspect of work life balance is important, you may be surprised to find that some people may prefer an evening shift. Do what your gut is telling you and never mind the " hang 'em and flog 'em " merchants above, you're the one who knows and has nurtured your staff over the years. I find that if you treat people with respect they will return it without having to be flogged into submission.

 

Thank you - I have worked on the line and been the one to blame other shifts myself :)

 

The only other tough thing is that my production crew is my cleaning crew - I have only one line running at this time. So it's not a huge operation with as few as 4 people really needed at the very minimum depending on what's running - so a supervisor hire would be tough but they could also get away with a lot since there are fewer people to play tattle talil.

 

Thanks for the positive remarks



trubertq

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Posted 30 July 2015 - 07:27 PM

Don't 'hire' a supervisor, use one of your current crew if they are willing to step up to the plate!! You'll be amazed what people will do when asked especially if you've been good to them to date.


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OrganicCandyAng

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Posted 30 July 2015 - 07:33 PM

Don't 'hire' a supervisor, use one of your current crew if they are willing to step up to the plate!! You'll be amazed what people will do when asked especially if you've been good to them to date.

 

Yes, that's a consideration and I trust these guys completely - only trouble is language barrier. It really needs to be someone who is truly bilingual to be able to communicate with me seamlessly and the crew.  We do well now and get by but my trouble is giving orders and trying to be sure that I communicate the reason behind my request.

 

Overall I have an option and appreciate all the recommendations and things to think of - I am armed with a few new ideas now!



trubertq

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Posted 30 July 2015 - 07:42 PM

The best of luck , and keep us informed of how you get on. The fact that the evening shift is temporary makes it a bit easier I would have thought.


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Posted 30 July 2015 - 07:44 PM

 

The challenge maybe I should have mentioned is that it may be only a temporary second shift. Somewhat of a contingency plan until we solidify a potential move and expansion to the production area. So for that, no we would not hire another salary person for evenings only.  We just want to keep the line running to make up for some of the loss in finished goods as a copacker is closing it's doors on us.

Maybe you'll have more success at getting some volunteers if they know that it'll be temporary for now. Along the lines of what trubertq just mentioned: if you ask people to step up to the plate, you may be surprised at what you find. Also, in my experience on lines, second shift does get a premium - are you guys offering anything like that? You may find that people jump at the chance to have the opportunity to step up and prove themselves on another shift or to, at least, be able to make some extra cash (if you offer a premium) for a while. And, if you decide to make second shift permanent, those who volunteer should be offered the opportunity to stay on second or go back to first with the caveat they can go back to first as soon as they have successfully trained the new kids on second shift.

 

I very much appreciate your desire to ensure a positive culture and work-life balance - best of luck!


Once in a while you get shown the light, in the darkest of places if you look at it right. -Grateful Dead

 




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