When you run a warehouse, you want to have the most efficient and organized warehouse that you can manage. This isn’t just about the people in the office, the people on the floor are the ones that are driving the business. So it makes sense that you want to upskill your staff and get the best out of the whole process.
So there are a few steps that you can take in order to get your warehouse staff as useful as possible.
Assesment
You need to know who needs which training, and where they are in the process. Essential skills typically come with certification, which is going to cost some money. But when your whole team performs to a higher standard, then the work can be completed more quickly. Meaning a more significant bottom line. Look at the jobs that are done, and see where the gaps are in skills and speed. There will be skill sets and competencies that you will need to assess. Take it group by group and start building a picture of where you can improve the processes.
Training
You’ll need to consider what training really needs to happen. You can’t expect pickers and packers to be able to drive a forklift without a forklift course or forklift-truck-drivers to operate more safely without a lot of practice and know-how. The consideration here is how much training can you do in-house and what needs to be outsourced. Getting the right certification not only pays for you as a company in the long-run, but it also looks better for clients considering partnering with your warehouse. You’ll need to develop your own range of training material and combine that with other certifications.
Programs and Courses
You can run safety courses and training in-house. This is especially important if you take a lot of new staff on, or when you are in the growth period. So everyone starts on the right page. Do this in groups, so that the material that you are delivering is directly relating to what they do. Hire trainers to provide the content and use the feedback from the staff to make sure that it is used to improve the next set of training – and give them what they need too.
Scheduling
It is crucial that you maximize the number of people who can attend the training at a single time, and that you can get everything delivered as quickly as possible. You will need to work with whoever creates the work rota, or when you are putting it together, create a space for people to attend the training.
Implementation
If you are changing how things are done, you should make sure the tools are already accessible to the staff. Not only that, but you should be sure to follow up with the trainees after a short while. Paying attention to the workloads and speed to see if the training has had the impact that you desired is also going to be something you want to do. There will likely be tweaks and changes you might need to make to the training, and the follow-up and implementation period will be where those become obvious.
Remember that while you might be of the ethos that if you train staff and they leave you’ve lost money, it is more detrimental to your business to skip the training. Well trained and happy employees are productive and will improve how your business runs.
