Policies and procedures in the workplace are your sets of guidelines to ensure safety and constancy throughout the workflow. Everyone is aware that policies and procedures are essential, but how can you enforce them in a way that encourages everyone to want to participate. Here are a few ways to effectively implement your shipyard’s policies and procedures.
Onboarding
Enforcing policies and procedures needs to start from day one. When you bring in new employees, be sure to include training on your processes right away. The most important thing is to start your team off on the right foot, so they don’t bring any bad habits from previous positions to the table. If you start early and reinforce often, it should become second nature.
Regular Training
Reinforcement may be one of the most effective ways to ensure that your policies and procedures are being followed. That means regularly training on your processes throughout someone’s time in your company. Along with this, make sure important information is posted and regularly updated where your staff can see it.
Rewards and Recognition
Positive reinforcement has always been and will always be better than negative consequences for getting someone to do what you want. While punishment may be necessary in some cases, it’s more important to reward your staff for their positive behavior and regularly following the policies and procedures you’ve laid out.
Personal Responsibility
You also need to trust your staff that they will take this seriously and have personal responsibility for their actions. If you give your team some autonomy, you may find that you don’t need to micromanage them to follow the policies and procedures laid out for their safety and productivity.
Open Lines of Communication
At every stage, you need to be available to discuss your policies and procedures. If your team is concerned about anything in the process or has questions about how to handle any situations best, they need to know they can discuss it with you. You may even discover more efficient improvements in your policies and procedures if you can listen to your team and their needs.
Do you want to hire great people excited about working with your shipyard? Call Hutco today.
