Training for warehouse workers should include more than just the necessary skills to operate particular machinery/warehouse equipment or implement a procedure. The curriculum should also be designed to inspire employees and help them understand that their efforts contribute and are necessary to the company’s success.
This article will show you what to include in your warehouse workers’ training to keep your employees inspired and invigorated, benefiting themselves and your company.
Importance of Training for Warehouse Workers
Training for warehouse workers should be an opportunity to inspire your employees to be more committed to the company, which is possible as long as you offer them something more than just a pat on the back.
This is to prevent a high turnover in a warehouse. It should come as no surprise that warehouse work can be repetitive, and monotony can settle in when a task becomes repetitive. When employees start experiencing redundancy in their work area, it will be harder to convince them to stay, making the training for warehouse workers all the more necessary.
Your Training for Warehouse Workers Should Include These Five Tips
1. Show Your Employees There is Career Growth
Training for warehouse workers must include the bigger picture of their careers. Most employees want career growth, and sometimes monetary compensation is not enough to make a person consider staying in a company, especially if their daily routine seems monotonous. Most people want to move from entry-level to mid-level or managerial.
Your training for warehouse workers must include a process that helps entry-level employees develop the necessary skills or traits to qualify them for a higher position. Giving your employees a chance to grow will help them look forward to something and not be disillusioned by the idea of doing the same tasks for the rest of their lives.
2. Use Team Building to Build Relationships
Training for warehouse workers should also include team building because it fosters good relationships between employees and managers. Maintaining good working relationships in your warehouse is essential because these facilities depend heavily on labor. If you have a high turnover rate, this could severely hamper your warehouse operations. One of the most common reasons employees leave their jobs is that they do not get along with their fellow employees or managers.
Training for warehouse workers through team building can help your employees build camaraderie with each other, and your managers could even find problem spots in some of your employees. Team building exercises are also designed to indicate which employees are good at following instructions.
One worthy example of training for warehouse workers that assesses the ability of employees and even managers to comply with company rules is the “Set-Up” Game. Here’s how it works:
- Set aside a spot in the warehouse and place a mock workstation there.
- Display items in the mock workstation or arrange something that would breach company rules, like an improper-stashed power tool or a checklist with several empty tick boxes.
- Task your employees to work together as teams or individuals and have them spot as many breaches as possible.
- Reward the team with a higher score and use this to teach employees about company rules.
3. Teach Employees Ownership
Training for warehouse workers should also include teaching employees about ownership. Ownership means taking the initiative, and it could be helpful for a warehouse to have employees with this trait.
Warehouse workers often stick to their tasks and rarely venture outside because doing so doesn’t necessarily lead to extra pay. However, taking the initiative to handle tasks beyond their purview could help the company be more productive. For this reason, managers should include training their warehouse workers for ownership to keep operations running without fail.
You could also use your training for warehouse workers to educate them about proactively preventing crises. Use this opportunity to teach them to immediately handle any situation that could disrupt your operations, such as failure to comply with safety precautions.
4. Inspire Creativity
Also, in your training for warehouse workers, include exercises that increase creativity because this can help reinvigorate their minds and make them more productive. A rigid and structured work area, like a warehouse storage facility, can lead to a monotonous routine. This can be draining for any person since humans aren’t designed to work like robots.
On the day of the training for warehouse workers, you can use the marshmallow challenge or the river crossing challenge to help them be more creative and resourceful. The marshmallow challenge requires players to build the tallest free-standing structure using only a limited number of sticks, and the marshmallow should be placed on top and not fall off. The river crossing challenge requires players to solve an imaginary puzzle wherein a boatman has to carry a fox, a chicken, and a bag of corn across a river. The player who comes up with the least amount of times the boatman crosses the river wins.
5. Empower Them to Make Decisions
Lastly, it is essential to include in your training an opportunity to empower warehouse workers to make decisions. Employees feel undervalued when they think they don’t have a say in anything that happens in their workplace. One of the primary reasons some employees leave their jobs is that they do not feel their opinions matter.
Employees who are given a chance to make crucial decisions for the company are much more likely to stay loyal and be productive. By empowering them to make decisions, warehouse workers would feel more appreciated and important. They believe their choices somehow steer the company in the right direction, which most employees want to feel.
Summary
Training for warehouse workers should be more than just teaching the appropriate skills for handling tasks within the facility. They need to be inspired and challenged if you wish to have loyal employees in your company. Using the tips discussed, your training for warehouse workers will be more than just a teaching module. Your training module will be an inspiring and enlightening experience. It can help you and your employees become a tighter and more productive unit.
If you want to learn about warehouse technology and optimizing warehouse processes, follow us on LinkedIn, YouTube, X, or Facebook. If you have other inquiries or suggestions, please contact us here. We’ll be happy to hear from you.
