How to Make Sheet Metal Workers More Engaged in Their Work
Sheet metal fabrication can become repetitive and boring if deliberate measures are not taken to make the work more engaging. This article discusses some measures that you can institute in order to make your sheet metal workers to be more engaged at the workplace.
Set Up Peer Audits
A good way to increase employee engagement on the fabrication shop floor is to institute a system in which employees audit one another. For instance, different welders can audit one another in order to identify areas in which more time can be saved during the fabrication of different products. Such an approach will make the sheet metal workers to be more engaged in the process of improving the productivity of the fabrication shop.
Adjust the Maintenance System
Some fabrication shops have a separate team of employees that are responsible for ensuring that all the machines and the equipment are well maintained. Such a system may limit the extent to which employees feel that they are responsible for the proper functioning of the equipment that they use on a daily basis. You can increase their level of engagement by taking the employees for refresher courses on how to maintain their equipment. In this way, the responsibility to conduct routine maintenance will fall on the employee who uses that specific piece of equipment. The net result of this shift is that workers may feel a deeper sense of responsibility towards the smooth running of operations instead of just paying attention to clocking the requisite number of hours each day.
Change How Meetings Are Managed
Employee engagement at the fabrication shop can also be increased by holding brief meetings each day. In those meetings, the challenges or targets of the day should be shared. Employees can then contribute suggestions on how the challenges or targets of the day can be handled most effectively. You can also consider rotating who leads those brief meetings. This method will nurture greater levels of engagement among the employees because decisions will have been made collectively. This is unlike the resistance that may result when targets or solutions are handed down by management without consulting or involving the line workers.
Implementing the suggestions above may seem like a big strain on your time and other resources. However, the gains you make, such as the reduction in the need to micromanage the fabrication shop, will be worth more than the input you invested in making your employees to be more engaged at the workplace. Get guidance from professionals in case you feel that you are not sure about additional measures that you can initiate in order to make your sheet metal workers more engaged at your fabrication shop.
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