Sleep, DC Managers, Employee Engagement, Productivity…whats the link?
The Employee
It’s early in the morning or the start of your shift and you spot your supervisor eyeballing you heading your way….. and you notice there’s something NQR (not quite right) about him.
…and it’s happenin’ a lot lately.
Puffy face, bags under the eyes,
Caffeine jitters in the hands,
…and then he opens his mouth and lets rip with a public shaming that only your old trade school teacher could give, when he sprung you using the nail gun as a magnum .45 like ole Clint Eastwood.
I mean I’m only allowed to go so fast on the factory floor in this dodgy old forklift…and my pallet rate clearance is well up…what’s he goin on about….ahhhh stuff him….what’s up his A#*@! ….I’ll show him…!
And the spiral down begins.
Cranky supervisor pays out on employee…
Employee gets pissed off because they know they’re a good worker….
Who now loses respect for that supervisor….
Their productivity falls…
Accidents increase…
And they just don’t give a toss about the company anymore.
Not something you want really!
To watch Video version of this post please click on the link http://productiveminds.com.au/2015/10/managers
Research
A recent article in the Academy of Management Journal (amj.aom.org 3/11/14) published a study that looked at the relationship between workplace Leaders sleep quantity and quality, and their levels of abusive supervision with their subordinates.
One of their interest areas was how their subordinates reacted to their irritable and abusive behaviour.
What do you think they found….hmmmmn?
Worker engagement with the workplace diminished.
Engagement to me indicates that an employee regardless of position, from a casual picker and packer to a Manager responsible for hundreds of staff, will consistently and “happily” perform their tasks and meet their targets.
Simple.
If they are “really engaged” with your company, then you will find that people will “go the extra mile” when needed.
Such as filling a last minute special order at 4.55pm on a Friday night, and do it without any bitching or moaning!
The Manager
So if you are a senior manager or owner and have noticed
- a tired looking DC manager or supervisor,
- your staff are looking pissed off or scared
- the workplace is not running like its usual well oil machine,
Then something’s happening!
Poor sleep has many causes and the simplest way to find out is to tactfully… ask them what’s going on, and what they, and you can do about it.
Because their tiredness will affect your bottom line in a whole lot of ways you don’t want to even know about.
So next time you see that supervisor or manager and say “good night”, pray to your Gods that they do!
Cheerio, and see you tomorrow!
Chris Richardson
