Logistics Cost Containment through Leadership and Employee Engagement
In my many years of experience dealing with and managing many people , I have realized that the money is an important motivator, but not the most, as a matter of fact its quite the least. Communication, respect, and employee engagement are factors that are far too important for an employee to remain connected. Companies provide small doses of this motivation at different intervals, a CEO speech, few gifts, lunches and dinner. But real long term engagement can only be driven by tangible change that employees can see in their daily work life. In fact, you can achieve logistics cost containment, all through an increase in leadership and employee engagement.
I have always found 3 different types of employees, all 3 need being handled differently (and the more you know how to best use your resources, the more you can realize logistic cost containment by getting more output from your current employees):
An employee who has the potential, but are not self-driven and need regular doses of motivation that will improve his / her performance. These type of employees need periodic doses of motivation, discipline and respect. They can produce desired results. They will reach the goal you want them to reach. One thing they need always is respect for what they can do.
An employee who has less or poor potential. These are the people should be placed wherever they do a better job and the job that suits them best. There is no point investing time and effort on them. Include them in jobs that are more routine and automated otherwise they will bring your cost of operations up . What they need is respect for the maintaining and being able to run a routine, boring and monotonous jobs.
And the 3rd type is the one that is self-directed, passionate about what they do and seek motivation by being able to challenge thinking, ask questions and have differences. These people are generally very productive, very efficient and effective and take pride in what they do. These types of employees can also be difficult to handle. These are the best people. Difficult to handle sometimes. Will always challenge strategy and provide solutions. Caution, handle with care type. They are self motivated, if not motivated they are completely ineffective and begin to feel betrayed. Capable of handling any challenge, they must form the core group. There is no harm if other employees see it that way, since they also recognize these strengths in this core group. Capable of bringing efficiencies and effectiveness to your operations, these are the people who will make us successful. They will always be short in supply, hold on to them tight so you don’t loose them or you don’t bring their motivation down. They must always be present in all major activities, all major projects and decision making. The doors must always be open for them. They always need respect for what they contribute and success that they bring to organization.
Bottom Line for Engaged Employees to Achieve Logistics Cost Containment
Under all circumstances all employees, irrespective of race and color need respect for different reasons. When your culture gets away from you out of disrespect for employees, your bottom line will suffer.
Once we lose out on motivation and trust, it will take time, effort to bring it up, therefore causing turnover and customer churn, putting undue burden on the organization, and thus increasing logistics cost.
Once we loose efficiency and profit, its not recoverable very easily, it will take more investment to return to the realized logistics cost containment you’ve seen in the past.
The Type 3 employee is an essential type. Don’t fear to work with this type of employee, out of the ease of working with them. Manage them well and they will turn over better logistics cost containment.
Type 1 is an important employee. It is OK to have someone that is reliable and does what the job specifies. Consistency is a HUGE factor in achieving logistics cost containment.
Employee Type 2 needs looking after in terms of placement. They normally form a large pool of employees and are capable of making a negative contribution in a big way. It is vital to reinforce the company mission and create a culture where this employee feels heard. Otherwise, they can have an undesired affect of harm towards logistics cost containment.
Do you feel consistency, innovation, and fostering employee engagement is vital to controlling logistics cost within your organization?
A Message from Cerasis, a GlobalTranz Company, regarding COVID-19