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Shift
Schedules and Communication
It is no secret that communication is essential to facilitate the smooth
operation of an organization - entire books have been written about it. Yet,
in almost every company that our consultants have helped, less than 50% of
the shiftworkers felt that their managers communicate well with them. Is
this because these managers are not trying to communicate? Certainly
not.
Shiftwork operations pose a new set of communication
problems that traditional communication methodologies often do not address:
• 60% or more of the time a shiftworker
is at work, top management, administrative, and human resource personnel are
not at work.
• A three-shift operation often functions
like three different plants. A "new" company starts work with every shift
- and communications are dealt with differently in each company.
• Most shiftworkers are more loyal to their
crew than they are to their company, making them less responsive to information
that comes from non-shiftworker sources.
• Each shift position is filled by three
or more individuals that must coordinate their efforts, yet they may only
see each other when shift change occurs, or not at all.
Improving management communication
While there are many facets to effective management communication in a shiftwork
operation, four of the most important things that you can do to improve communication
and the perception of the quality of that communication are to:
1) Regularly schedule line managers to work
off-shift. Part of a line manager's responsibility is to manage the personnel
keeping the operation running on weekends and nights. Most managers that
implement this solution choose a day in the week (say Tuesday) that they
will either come in to work early and go home early or come in late and
stay late. The part of their day that overlaps regular day-shift activities
is used for those types of activities, and the rest of the day is devoted
to walking the floor, or scheduling formal and informal meetings with shift
employees (either salaried or hourly) to communicate business issues. These
opportunities for direct interaction between managers and shift employees
open the door for effective communication between management and the workforce.
2) Schedule periodic (at least quarterly) meetings
with all shift personnel. These meetings formalize the communication process
between management and the workforce. They ensure that all employees are
exposed to at least the minimum information needed for them to understand
why and how the business is operating in the current economic environment.
It also provides an open channel for communication from employees to upper
management.
3) Involve shift managers in the daily decision-making
process for their areas, and expose them to the decision-making processes
used in other areas. Companies that have the most success communicating
business issues with their shiftworkers have shift managers that have ownership
for the business decisions that are made.
4) Give night and afternoon shift employees
exposure to personnel performing job functions that are best done on day
shift. Occasionally exposing shift-personnel to the difficulties of the
non-shift part of the organization helps broaden their perspective, and
often changes their perception of what it takes to make a company successful.
Other communication mechanisms
Improving management communications is the first step in a successful communication
solution for a shiftwork operation. Shift to shift, department to department,
location to location, and other communication issues must also be addressed.
Other communication mechanisms that have been used successfully include:
• Closed Circuit TV Monitors
• Intranets
• Employee Improvement Committees
• Bulletin
Boards
• Newsletters
• Union
Leadership
Shiftwork Solutions can help you find the best communication strategy for
your shiftwork operation. Contact us today. |
