CHICAGO — Manufacturers continually strive to do more with less, and that includes using fewer employees to get the same, or more, amount of work done.
Not just done, but done in a timely manner with high-quality results.
For laundry operations, that means using as few employees as possible to get soiled linens washed, dried and packaged properly and on time, and shipped back to the end-users or clients.
It may sound like the end result would be employees working their fingers to the bone and burning out, but that’s not the case. The idea is to have employees and equipment functioning at highly effective levels.
Graham Skinner, RLLD, general manager of laundry services, Mission Hospital, Asheville, N.C., relates this to the concept of running a “lean” operation.
“When I think of ‘lean’ in manufacturing, and especially in laundry, it is more of a mindset and process that has to be embraced at all levels of an organization,” Skinner says. “As far as equipment, any equipment from any manufacturer can be made to operate in more of a lean manner. It’s more about how it ties into the adjacent equipment as it pertains to scheduling, output, staffing and demand. It all starts with training of management and front-line staff. Everyone has to be on board.”
So how can a laundry manager help his or her employees process textiles and linens at the highest level? That state of effectiveness can be reached through analysis, training and using the right equipment.
EMPLOYEE TALENTS
So, how does a laundry manager aid employees to do their best, most efficient work? One method is to find the talents and skills of each employee and place him or her in a position to make the best use of those talents.
Keith Pooler, vice president of Sacramento (Calif.) Laundry Co. Inc., recommends standard periodic reviews and team meetings to help employee evaluations and improvement.
Terry Mason, regional manager, Faultless Healthcare Linen, St. Louis, makes a similar recommendation.
“We do development plans on all employees so we can assess their level of knowledge, and we continue to evaluate and train and help them grow into bigger positions, if that is their goal,” Mason says. “We utilize outside professional sources, as well as established inside training programs.”
Discovery of employee talents doesn’t have to only take place after a job candidate is hired. There are steps laundry managers can take during the hiring process to uncover these talents and strengths.
“When determining employee talents, past experience is usually the best predictor of future performance,” says Pooler. “If a candidate has a consistent employment record, you will probably hire a pretty consistent employee.”
Mason suggests using a professional human resources person so that production staff isn’t spending time filling positions.
“Professionals understand what to look for, and they are not as challenged on time,” he says.
After an employee’s talents and skills are discovered, there are several methods to train up and enhance those skills. As Mason mentioned, laundries can create inside training programs or use outside sources.
Skinner notes that there are a number of other tools like 5S (sort, straighten, shine, standardize and sustain) that can be used to improve workstation efficiency, cleanliness and staff satisfaction.
“Kazan events are effective in essentially forming a ‘hit team’ to fix a problem in a short amount of time that provide almost instant payback, if done correctly,” he says.
The training and “instant payback” often lead to employees taking on new roles in the plant, and managers need to be prepared for this in order to maintain output and to create a lean operation. Job shifts are a pretty common occurrence in the laundry industry, Pooler notes.
“One way to avoid the problems that come with change is to constantly and consistently be cross-training,” he says.
“Change is always difficult, and some [employees] have a harder time than others with change,” adds Mason. “However, if you have handled the evaluations properly, there should be no surprise to the employee that another position is in everyone’s best interest, and they may actually be relieved.”
While maximizing the talents of individual employees can help a laundry operate in a more efficient and cost-effective manner, managers and operators can engage the entire workforce to elevate the level of production as a whole.
Creating a “company culture” for the entire staff is probably the hardest but most important thing one can do for his/her company in order to maximize the efforts of employees, Pooler says.
“Most of our employees are humble workers who want to support a company, but they lack the education or insight to always do what’s right for the company,” Pooler says. “We can train our employees how to operate a piece of equipment and produce linen at a certain rate, but we also have to educate our employees to the ‘why’ they are doing what they are doing.”
According to Pooler, if a manager can get every employee to understand “why” the laundry services the customers the way it does, then the company can “create” an employee who will act and make the right choice or decision when needed.
“Our goal is to provide training and educate our employees about what we do so they can do what is best for the company,” he adds.
Check back Tuesday for the conclusion. Read Part 1 here.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].