Downtime is a word many employers dread. Here’s the thing. Some built-in downtime is a good thing for your team. It keeps them from being overworked and burned out on the job. But too much downtime is not a great thing for your business and can lead to missed details and paying for extra hours. There may also be instances where downtime is caused by circumstances that may have been preventable. So how do you meet in the middle and have a balance that works for you and your employee? Here are some ideas that can work for everyone.
Improve communication.
Overall improvements in your communication between leaders and employees will go a long way to improve your company’s efficiency. This should be done from the top down so everyone understands their role in the company as well as individual projects. Effective meetings, one on one conversations, and general communication are all integral components.
Set specific goals.
In order to reduce productivity downtimes, make sure everyone knows what the long-term goals are for their work and what happens when they achieve it. By setting specific goals, both short and long-term, you encourage your team to work hard to meet those. Once they do, they can be set up with additional projects or goals or given time off to help them recharge and get ready for the next project.
Update your technology.
Some downtime occurs when older, out of date technology is non-operational. While waiting for a repair, what are your employees doing? Are they finding other projects to work on or are they simply waiting? The best way to avoid these situations is to be sure that your technology is up to date and in good repair.
Enforce vacation policies.
By preventing downtime on the job and expecting your employees to stay productive is a noble goal, but only if it is paired with a healthy time off policy. The human brain, and body for highly physical positions, needs a break. US worker have a vacation time problem in that they don’t often take all that’s allotted. To prevent burn out and improve downtime, make sure your enforcing vacation policies in your shipyard.
Work with a leader in shipyard staffing.
How does your shipyard handle downtime? Contact the team at Hutco to see how we can help today.
