As experts in the manufacturing industry, Plant Services understands the need for clear and real time communication between managers and production workers.
Real time communication can help with managing crisis, weather alerts, employee morale, and productivity, and because of BYOD, improving it generally does not require a big investment. There is no reason to ignore the benefit that an employee communication app can bring to a manufacturing plant.
Red e App CEO Jonathan Erwin was recently featured on Plant Services, an MRO (maintain, repair, replace, retrofit, overhaul and operations) publication, to give some benefits of using a mobile messaging platform to deliver critical information to a non-desk workforce.
1. Communicate NOW
Every person who manages and leads a team of employees knows the fear of needing to communicate in real-time during a crisis or emergency. For plant managers, if employee safety is your top priority, then you have to have a mobile communication plan that delivers critical information immediately, such as:
- The production line just went offline
- A snow storm just dropped a foot of snow an hour before the plant is going to change shifts
- A fire was reported in the back room of the warehouse
- Three volunteers are requested for the next shift
2. Communicate EFFECTIVELY
Crisis scenarios demand a fast and immediate communication channel. When an emergency happens, it’s not the time to sift through piles of paper on your desk to find the employee contact list. We all know, the moment you need to locate that coffee-stained Excel spreadsheet, you can never find it.
Instead of having to individually call hundreds of employees – and most likely get their voicemail – mobile communication allows a manager to message all of his/her employees without ever having to dial a phone number.
3. Communicate with EVERYONE
Another challenge for plant managers is communicating with multiple work shifts. In fact, many employees on 3rd shift may go months without ever seeing the main plant manager. All-hands meetings are a start, but again, for a large plant, there will always be employees who are not there that day to hear the message.
What if a manager could send a message about the amazing production numbers for the last quarter to every employee, even when they are not physically present at the plant? And what if that communication could also contain pictures and a PDF along with the visual avatar of the plant leader? Mobile communication can be far more engaging than the traditional means of communicating announcements and achievements.
Employee morale is an under appreciated element of the workplace. Employees love positive feedback from management that they rarely see, and want to be recognized when they do something well. Managers can now engage employees by sending recognition notifications and productions updates. These types of messages have proven to improve morale and retention: employees are proud of the work they do, making them more likely to work towards a higher goal in the future.
Read the article from Plant Services for numbers 4 and 5.
Communication on the plant floor can be improved with these tips in conjunction with a mobile messaging platform. Manufacturing leaders and managers are well-versed in WHAT engages their non-desk workforce. Enterprise mobile-messaging platforms now provide you with the HOW.
Ryson Walden
Marketing Coordinator
