/U/Productivity

One: Inefficient

Time spent manually counting stock and entering data into the spreadsheets is slow. Not only are mistakes easy to make but they are hard to find. There is the ongoing chance of duplication or lost data. If two or more people are editing the same workbook there is potential for disaster where one lot of the data inputted is saved over the other.

Compatibility issues also occur, with users operating from different locations and using assorted software versions that cause discrepancies of data and the need to recount stock, which is both unproductive and time consuming.

Two: Inaccurate

The reality with manual spreadsheets is that they will always be out-of-date and out-of-sync with actual inventory counts. The ability to duplicate spreadsheets potentially means not all users are working from the same document or even the same version of Excel.

Transferring data manually, by the process of copying and pasting from one spreadsheet to another may leave you susceptible to mistakes occurring where pre-set formulas do not carry over.

Three: Gremlins

We are not talking the Warner Bros variety of gremlin that shouldn’t be fed after midnight or exposed to bright light. These are the various blips in the spreadsheets that don’t allow two documents with the same name to be opened – regardless of being saved in separate folders, or the inability to seamlessly integrate with its office-mate Microsoft Word.

Excel also has issues with modulo operations, where instead of answers, the program returns error warnings in cases of excessively large numeric results.

Four: Risky

Incomplete spreadsheets or hidden cells not appearing in printed reports could have you relying on dubious calculations. Leading to reordering errors which result in inventory shortages or overstocking.

The failure to investigate underlying assumptions based on obliviousness to errors, the overall inefficiency of spreadsheets as a business tool, and the various bugs in the program pose the risk of using unreliable data for business forecast decisions.

Five: They don’t provide real-time data

Excel templates cannot provide multi-user access enabling employees to view the same up-to-date information from anywhere, at any time, in real-time. Not only do they mean you need to scroll through rows and columns of spreadsheet material but you can forget the idea of at-a-glance facts and figures.

The evolution away from Excel

Just as businesses need to evolve to remain competitive, so must the tools employed to improve business efficiencies and competitive advantage.

Leveraging technology will help, and for each reason spreadsheets are outdated, the opposite applies to software management systems. Software provides functionality to improve efficiencies, reduce waste and avoid the risks associated with off-line spreadsheets.

Low Inventory Levels

Inventory is only received from a supplier at the exact time it is needed for production or sale. This means orders are placed in smaller batches, on a more frequent basis. With JIT, inventory levels are kept low which keeps on-site inventory at a minimum.

Elimination of Waste

Eliminating waste in manufacturing operations leads to a reduction in overall costs. With a JIT inventory system there is not a need for excessive production resources. In addition, overproduction is not an issue as each production process is streamlined and forecasted to produce exact numbers. Precise inventory management leads to low inventory levels; therefore, excessive inventory is eliminated. Lastly, minimizing the initial capital investment spent on inventory prevents overstocked items and increased holding costs, and allows a business to run leaner to reduce waste. Large inventories demand an unnecessarily high capital investment. As these factors culminate, waste is eliminated.

Efficient Operations

Efficiency is key to successful JIT inventory. The ‘just-in-case’ method of inventory is where a reserve amount of inventory is kept in a warehouse, just in case it is needed. This is not nearly as efficient as it means extra stock has been delivered weeks or months in advance and held in a warehouse. Keeping extra stock on hand would lead to additional stock-takes and more moving and handling of the stock will occur, which also allows for more errors. Supply operations in JIT inventory sees materials arrive as needed. Performance and stock inadequacies can be identified on the spot, rather than at a much later time when the stock would be used in a ‘just-in-case’ scenario.

Automatic Purchasing

An automated purchasing method streamlines the purchasing process. Automation can effectively and efficiently source, order and plan for the delivery of materials. An advanced inventory management system is imperative for the JIT system to work as an automated inventory management system can identify current inventory and production levels, as well as identify the time needed for ordering and receiving materials. Also, a cloud-based inventory system would allow for up-to-date information about the company and supplier stocks. It is vital to have the right computerized systems in order to communicate and coordinate aspects of a JIT system.

Strong Networks

In order to implement a JIT inventory system, the business must have dependable relationships with their suppliers. A strong network of suppliers will allow the JIT inventory system to flourish. Communicating information about the logistics of the supply, including quantity, timing and product detail, is vital to this process. If the business can reach out and depend on a strong network of suppliers, chances are the suppliers will be more willing to adapt and help when situations change. In addition, the relationships built with suppliers can often lead to the formation of long-term contracts.

JIT inventory is a very effective and efficient way of developing and growing a business through strong inventory management processes. These highlights are simply a few of the key features of this innovative system.

Many new customers we meet often focus on the operational side of the business when trying to pre-empt these factors – like recording and capturing time sheets and having an availability of short term staff on standby. This can certainly help with the day to day running of your business. To be truly effective, however, these systems need to be incorporated into a carefully considered staff rostering plan.

An effective rostering plan should do a number of things. It should help you to organise enough staff for each shift; account for employee leave; prevent staff burnout; have transparency about the performance of your staff; and see staff costs. It needs to consider all outcomes, and have contingencies in place when the proverbial hits.

When it comes to creating an effective rostering plan, the question every manager must consider is: how? Too many businesses get caught up in the what and the why, without considering how they are going to implement change.

Just like in real-life, it’s the how that can undo even the most well intentioned plans. It’s why so many of us fall off a healthy eating plan – it’s all well and good knowing that you want to lose weight (what) because you want to be fitter for summer (why), but how you go about it is the most important part.

Having a solid rostering plan could massively increase the chances of success for your business. So, do you have a rostering plan? And if so, is it a good one? And if not, we can certainly recommend one.

Sometimes it’s because they refuse to let go of their primitive tools – paper-based timetables, rosters and worksheets, or whiteboards – rather than invest in transparent, up-to-the-second and easy-to-use cloud-based technology. Sometimes the job of handling work and leave schedules isn’t seen as a priority or is given to someone who doesn’t fully understand the demands of the business or the relative merits of individual staff members.

Storm Electrical has 12 staff to service residential, commercial and industrial customers in south-eastern Queensland. Director Neil Dixon says the family-owned and run business prides itself on delivering friendly, on-time and professional service, which is why he says accurate job scheduling is crucial.

Getting it right, Dixon says, comes down to knowing your staff and practical knowledge. “It’s a learning curve that you only get through experience,” he says. “It’s about adapting to the circumstances. We just try to take the situations as they come and plan as best we can.”

Dixon says a number of factors decide which electrician is best suited to each job. “There are a variety of ways [to work it out],” he says. “It’s often next the cab off the rank but ideally it’s who is most suited to the particular type and scope of work.”

He prefers to give his staff at least a week’s notice for upcoming jobs. “That seems to work well for them,” he says.

Here are seven things that business managers can do straight away to improve employee morale and performance, reduce stress and help serve their customers better.

1. Assign the right worker for the job

Allocating a job to the best available employee might be the single most important thing managers do. This can be a difficult task when some staff are on leave or sick, but capable and reliable staff will ensure the job gets done quickly and effectively, and increase the chance a one-off client will turn into a regular customer. Giving specific work to staff who lack experience or whose technical skills are underdeveloped might give your business a bad name and potentially damage workplace morale.

2. Get to know the team

More than just knowing what professional talents your employees bring to work, it’s important to get a sense of who they are and what interests them. As well as making for a happier workplace, it will help build team spirit. It’s vital for staff wellbeing that managers have a sense of when and how staff prefer to work, and that their wishes will be accommodated whenever possible. Knowing the way individuals tick may also help determine who are likely to work well together, especially when they’re out in the field in front of your customers.

3. Build a flexible roster

Of all of the things that motivate a workforce, offering individuals flexibility is one of the most important. Allowing staff to leave early for family reasons, or rostering them off on specific days are not likely to hurt the business but will encourage employees to be more reliable and perform even better when they are at work. Just as important is having a repeatable and logical way for all staff to apply for leave, especially for annual holidays. A cloud-based document system, even Google Docs, will help keep everyone aware of who will and won’t be available.

4. Give plenty of notice

Posting rosters and job schedules at the last moment might give the manager more flexibility to accommodate late work but it does nothing to help staff plan their lives away from work. Managers should ideally give employees at least one week’s notice of their upcoming shifts. But there should always be a plan B …

5. Have a contingency plan

Things change all of the time; it’s the nature of business. How managers deal with change will be a measure of how effective they are at running the business and the staff roster. It’s important to have the tools to communicate changes quickly (see point 7) but also be conscious of the various skills your employees have – one of them might need to step into someone else’s shoes without affecting business performance or customer relationships.

6. Plan for the worst … and the best

Just as managers need to allow for illness or family dramas, they need to be able to ensure enough staff are rostered on when the telephone is running hot. This might be for certain hours, days or months, or around certain events, such as Easter or Christmas. For businesses that depend on seasonal work, there could be nothing worse than having to turn down jobs simply because not enough service staff are available. Again, clear-thinking managers will plan well in advance by creating a sharable document that indicates when the workload is expected to be particularly hectic, and they will communicate this to staff ahead of time.

7. Invest in the right technology

Mobile workforce management software, such as GeoOp, allows everyone in the business to see what is happening with every job, every customer and every staff member in real time. When the inevitable happens, and jobs are cancelled, postponed or switched around, managers can alert all employees of the changes straight to their mobile devices, with revised job and customer details available immediately.

Old-fashioned paper-based systems made it too easy for information to be misunderstood or job orders misplaced. Even worse were staff rosters on a whiteboard or pinned to a wall. Unless all staff were in the office at the right time, how could they know that the roster or schedule has changed, and how it affected them? Modern, reliable cloud-based systems go a long way to minimise business mistakes and serious misunderstandings with employees and customers.

Over in the US, February 2nd is officially Groundhog Day. Where, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, a groundhog named Phil determines if winter will continue for six more weeks or if spring will arrive early. This is all based on whether the groundhog sees his shadow.

While this is hardly pertinent for us in Australia, the 1993 Hollywood film starring Bill Murray has deeper relevance for everyone. Murray, of course, plays a super bored, super arrogant weatherman who ends up stuck in Punxsutawney, reliving February 2nd ad nauseum. That is, until he changes his ways, by way of self-awareness and self-growth.

So, in honour of Groundhog Day, the film, and all the business owners and managers out there who feel stuck in your own Groundhog Day, here are 4 easy ways to re-energise your business and escape from the drudgery of doing the same things over and over again.

Change the way you manage HR

As an owner or manager of a small business, the time you, or one of your employees spends on routine HR paperwork can be considerable. It’s a full-time job staying up-to-date with workplace regulations, and tracking and reporting on the required data in the right way.

Using manual systems, everything from recruitment to onboarding, day-to-day people management takes a huge amount time. And all of this comes with a lengthy paper trail.

Changing to HR automation can help you dramatically reduce the time you spend on HR tasks, freeing up admin staff to work on value-creating or income generating initiatives instead. Of course, by streamlining business processes, you make your business more efficient too.

Change the way you create rosters

Having a structured and well-organised roster is critical to any successful business, particularly when you’re managing a mix of casual, part-time and full-time shift workers.

But in 2017, you need to forget about confining your roster to a spreadsheet and pinning it up in the staff lunchroom. Instead of manually writing up rosters and spending countless hours making updates to accommodate staff flexibility requests, you can automate it all online.

Using more effective methods to create and share rosters enables your business to be more efficient, while providing staff with better information. You’ll also gain valuable insights into their performance on the job. Something you certainly can’t get out of your spreadsheet!

Change the way you process payroll

If you’re still using a manual payroll system, it can be hard to know that you’re paying your employees correctly, accounting for any applicable penalty rates, overtime or leave requests.

In fact, it’s all too common for employers to underpay employees or breach award conditions simply because they were not aware of the entitlements. Yet ignorance never serves as a good defence in these types of cases.

Plus, manual systems are prone to human error. Manually reconciling time and attendance records, calculating pays, taxes, superannuation, and having it all double-checked is certainly not the best use of your time when there are purpose-built programs to do it for you. Error free.

Change the way you keep records

In Australia, you must keep detailed time and wages records for seven years. This includes everything from employee details, such as their name and commencement date, to pay rates, and hours of work, including any penalty rates or loading paid for overtime.

While you can keep all this information in manila folders in a bank of filing cabinets, changing to an automated system gives you much more control. This includes a full audit trail, allowing you to easily check that you are keeping appropriate records and complying with all relevant government regulations.

Plus, with all your HR documents at your fingertips in the cloud, you’ll always be able to put your hands on the right HR records when you really need them.

Make the change

On this Groundhog Day, re-energise your business by escaping from the drudgery of manual processes.

Of course, you can’t beat Employment Hero for automating your HR, payroll and record keeping. Rather than using manual processes and spreadsheets to manage employee data and HR tasks, you can use our all-in-one HR, Payroll and Benefits platform. It not only saves you time and money, but it also helps you minimise risk.

So, on this Groundhog Day, make a change for the better by starting a trial of Employment Hero.