In this article, Evren Ozkaya explores labor tracking technologies and how they can improve production.  Factories around the world are experiencing one of two emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are either experiencing demand surge (e.g., personal protection equipment – PPE, hand sanitizers, essential pharmaceuticals) or demand loss (e.g., automotive, oil & gas products, non-essential consumer goods). In either case, factories need to respond fast & effectively to the change in demand/supply balance by increasing their capacities to meet the…

John Sturdivant shares the unfortunate costs of lost revenue due to the post-lunch slump. You’ve probably joked about a post-lunch food coma, but it’s really not funny when you realize it might be costing your team $75k per year, or more if you’re a larger enterprise. We looked at a sample of ~20k data points from maintenance professionals using WorkforceAlpha’s Performance Ticker. What we found isn’t surprising, but the true cost of it is! One of the key drivers of…

Caroline Taich shares a useful post with tactics that can help identify unique strengths. In this blog, we have been exploring the McKinsey model for change. Last week I wrote about conviction as a driver of change.  This week I’m thinking about the skills you need for change.  Here is a big one – the ability to see your unique strengths. This came up during the wonderful opportunity I had to learn from Councilman Matt Zone.  Councilman Zone serves Ward…

  Dan Markovitz explains why training without a goal is a waste of time.    “Just in case 2020 wasn’t challenging enough for you, here’s a brilliant example of how to waste time, money, and credibility in 2021. The HR department at a company approached me recently about teaching employees process mapping. This company recognizes the utility of process mapping in continuous improvement and decided that a class would be a good place to start.  Sounds sensible. But with all…

  Bernie Heine provides a few cost-effective ways to boost employee engagement, productivity, and loyalty. Showing gratitude to employees is essential, and a good and easy way to do it is with employee incentives that don’t cost money. A good business leader should reward the employees when they deserve it. However, the reason why they often shy away from it is that it costs money. While one could argue that losing valuable employees is more expensive, there’s a middle ground….