Shift work is an exercise in organization and coordination. Finding the right people to work the right shifts, and making sure their work is complementary and seamless across time frames is critical to making sure the job gets done and it gets done at the level of quality your clients expect. As a manager looking to solve potential disparities between first shift and beyond, there are a few things you should know.
Make Leadership Available at All Times
If you expect your workers to be available at all hours, you need to make sure they have the support they need when they need it. That means making some leadership available at every hour which you have a shift live. Whether it’s just being on call or having a manager on site and ready to jump in if needed, you need to make sure they are there when it counts.
Share Decisions with Them. Communicate!
Communication is so much more complicated when you are working across multiple shifts. The lag in response time can have a real impact on the work being done and the schedule as well. The only real solution is better communication. Share decisions with the team in real-time, no matter what their shift is. Make sure that any decisions which impact their work are shared within enough of a time buffer for them to ask for clarification or follow-up with any other questions so they can make sure they are on the same page as the rest of the team. Your overall work processes will be much more streamlined across shifts and frustration caused by confusion will be kept to a minimum.
Bring Perks to Tough Shifts
If you want your toughest shifts to appeal to the best talent, you need to offer perks. Whether that means a higher pay rate or surprising the team with midnight donuts, your shift workers need to know they are appreciated too. Bring the whole team together on a regular basis as well so that they can develop relationships across shifts. While they won’t be working together at the same time, they are certainly working together and those relationships matter.
Highlight Their Contributions to First-Shift Workers
Building on that need for positive cross-shift relationships, make sure you are sharing the accomplishments and value of the non-first shift team so that everyone knows how much they matter to everyone’s success. Sharing your appreciation in front of other people is a sure-fire way to make your late shift team feel like they are part of the team. Make sure that there is congruity across your timelines and you will see processes progress and quality improving as the team comes together.
Understanding the ins and outs of building a productive shift work team can be difficult, but remember that when positive relationships are nurtured and a well-balanced culture is encouraged, the team will perform better together.
Partner With a Top Staffing Agency in Middle Tennessee
If you are looking for the right workers to bring to your team, contact All-Star Personnel today to work with a top staffing agency in middle Tennessee.