The document discusses several strategies for developing an effective warehouse workforce, including: 1. Ensuring worker safety and ergonomics to minimize hazards and injuries. 2. Developing optimal staffing models, work standards, and incentives to improve productivity while avoiding bottlenecks. 3. Maintaining a manager to operator ratio of 12-20 employees per supervisor for effective oversight. 4. Holding employees accountable to production standards while paying competitively to attract and retain top performers.

1. Workforce Development

2. Warehouse Workforce Design and Development
Retention as it relates to safety and ergonomics:
People want to feel safe in their work environment
Job tasks need to be configured in a way that minimize potential hazards
and injury
Staffing, work standards and incentives:
Develop staffing models that eliminate bottlenecks
Develop attainable production standards
Provide incentives to encourage employees to shoot beyond the
minimum standard

3. Manager-Operator Ratio:
Employees per supervisor is a critical ratio. Too many and the
supervisor looses effectiveness, too few and supervision becomes
expensive.
12-20 employees per supervisor is a manageable target
Production Standards
Holding people to the standards and paying just above market rates
results in greater individual productivity and lower headcount,
resulting in large cost savings.
Weed out under/non-performers
Competitive pay leads to better and more productive candidates

4. ½ x 2 x 3 Theory:
Pay top half of the workforce twice as much and you will accomplish
three times as much work as was previously being accomplished.
Cross Training
Cross trng

5. Developing Your Workforce Through Cross Training
What is Cross Training?
Training employees to do other people’s work or training employees on other
tasks/job functions
Why Cross Train?
Greatly increase flexibility and responsiveness
More capable of meeting spikes in volume/demand
Improved capability to cover shortages created by absenteeism
Increases the employee’s skill set and enhances their knowledge base
Gives employees a sense they are developing their career
Increased ability to identify problems within the process

6. Deterrents
There is no good time to cross train, yet any time is a good time to cross train!
“The Leaky Roof “
Cost
Temporary reduction in productivity
Cross Training Program Essentials
Determine which functions or activities will benefit the most from developing
a pool of cross trained employees.
Determine how many people you need cross trained and in which activities
Eligibility: Establish who is eligible to cross train. Do not waste time and
resources on those employees who are close to termination.
Determine the criteria to consider someone “cross trained”
Define what it means to be “proficient”
Quality
Productivity
Process knowledge

7. Establish production and quality performance milestones
Establish observation, testing, and evaluation mechanisms
Institute refresher training so employees don’t get rusty
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