A new supervisor’s job is to become acclimated with the duties of the warehouse as quickly as possible. What happens after that? An effective supervisor will earn the trust and respect of his or her employees. Supervising a warehouse isn’t always an easy job, but there are some things you can do to become an effective supervisor. Consider these five tips.
1. Hire the Right Employees
The biggest way you can impact a warehouse as a supervisor is to hire the right employees. You should be in involved in every step of the process from reviewing applications, to phone interviews, to real interviews, and everything else. Use your judgment to determine if a worker’s potential outweighs his or her current skills and experience.
2. Evaluate Employees Often
A warehouse environment allows you to keep a close eye on the progress of each of your employees. Be sure to evaluate their abilities often and give praise where due. Don’t just evaluate your employees for the sake of finding out who deserves a raise. Frequent evaluations will tell the employees that you care about the job they are doing and that their jobs are important to the company. Take care not to seem like you are micromanaging their contributions to the company but rather giving advice and providing support where needed.
3. Require Safety Meetings
Many dangers lurk in a warehouse environment. Safety should be your biggest priority. You must ensure that the employees are safe during their shifts, and you also need to make sure that the warehouse itself is safe even when people aren’t working in it. Identify safety hazards and work to eliminate them as quickly as possible. Hold meetings each month to tell the employees how to be safe on their jobs. Make sure everyone knows the expectations of safety at your warehouse.
4. Regularly Inspect Storage Areas
You need to inspect your stored merchandise regularly. Your job as a supervisor is to ensure that the merchandise stays free from damage or loss. If something is missing, it will be up to you to find or explain why it needs to be replaced. Look for damages as well as misplaced items. Your employees might mistakenly store something where it doesn’t belong. You never know what you may find during your inspections, but record your findings as well as the dates and times of inspections.
5. Communicate Well With Other Managers
As a warehouse supervisor, you will need to keep in close contact with vendors, purchasing managers, and inventory managers. Be sure to keep them informed of the daily activities inside your warehouse. You could use meetings to suggest workers for promotions, discuss new ideas for the warehouse, talk about safety concerns and more. Quality communication with other managers will help your specific warehouse duties go more smoothly. You can be a great warehouse supervisor and a great leader for that matter. Follow these tips as well as your own judgments to get your work done in a way that promotes growth in your warehouse. Practice safety habits and enforce them. Inspect your inventory regularly. Communicate well with other managers. Hire the right employees, and evaluate them often. You’ll be a successful supervisor in no time.
Information Credit: Arpac Storage Systems Corp (A Coquitlam Forklift Company)