TULSA, Okla. — Over the years, laundry facilities go through seasons when it comes to employees. People come and go in our industry — some move on to other professions, while others may move into management.
One of the most satisfying aspects of working in management is when a new “rock star” emerges in your organization. Often, these employees aren’t even on your radar as high performers. Some of the hardest workers in an organization go unnoticed. They simply come in, perform the tasks assigned to them, and don’t make waves; they just work. But they can rise to the occasion when given a chance.
Recently, we installed an automatic wrapper in one of our facilities. The operator whose task it was to wrap our linen seemed to be a hard-working employee, but I had never personally worked around her. We have several spots for her to move to in the facility, so she certainly would be staying with us.
When we installed the machine, she immediately took an interest in it. Even though there was a language barrier between the employee and me, she quickly took control of the machine and started working with other areas on how the linen should be placed on the conveyor belt. Within a few days, you could see the pride she had in this machine. Even though she had moved on to running a different machine, she was still monitoring how the wrapper was working and making small adjustments as needed. She alerted others when something wasn’t quite right.
Before installation, I had been wondering exactly how we were going to monitor the process. Would this be a supervisor’s task to keep an eye on it? Would we have maintenance incorporate it into their routine? No, a completely unknown employee would take control of it and teach others what to do.
Our jobs as managers are to allow employees to grow. Too many times, I have seen managers who would have stopped this employee from growing. She would have been met with “this is not your job,” or we would have a supervisor take over the role she had developed. By allowing this employee to grow with our new process, we eliminated a full-time employee job, improved our flow through the laundry, and created a better employee along the way. All the things we hope to accomplish when a new machine is installed.
I have seen this scenario play out many times over the years. We’ve had employees that we thought would be extremely hard to replace, but then when they leave, a new employee steps in and knocks it out of the ballpark. Don’t get me wrong, keeping existing employees is the ideal situation. However, turnover happens. Laundry is hard work, and employees may not want to perform those tasks forever.
For this reason, we should always train all our employees. We can accomplish this by providing employee training opportunities and allowing staff to participate in production summits, even if they are not in management roles. Offering these options often reveals unexpected interest from emerging talent.
Our goal should be to create a workplace that encourages employees to stay, while fully supporting those who choose to move on. Just keep an eye out for the next rock star who will appear. I imagine they are working in your facility already.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
