Tim Cook of Apple. Elon Musk of Tesla. Mary Barra of General Motors. These are leaders of some of the highest-profile manufacturing operations in the world. What do they do to keep their companies moving forward in any economic circumstances?
These concerns have become acute lately, as the economic situation has grown cloudier in recent months. High inflation, ongoing supply chain snarls, lingering COVID concerns in different parts of the world, rising interest rates, the potential for a recession — these challenges put a premium on leadership.
No matter the size of your operation, you’ll need to maximize your resources. That means mustering all your leadership capabilities.
To do this, it’s helpful to learn from the best.
With that in mind, here are five things all great manufacturing leaders do:
Use Technology to Your Advantage
An efficient (and profitable) process often comes down to the combination between human efforts and the right machinery. Technology provides the key to efficiency at every step of the process.
This includes the activities on the manufacturing floor…but goes beyond that as well. The right tech can also bolster your operations in support areas, from HR to management to your online presence to security to accounting to inventory control to every other part of your business.
As such, look to remain on the cutting edge. Stay up to date on the latest improvements in your industry. At the same time, build tech investments into your budget, so you can continue to upgrade your infrastructure.
Build a Strong Company Culture
Culture provides the foundation for the rest of your organization. Most business leaders see it as the pivotal consideration for any business. One survey found that two-thirds of respondents (67%) listed culture above factors like strategy or operations in determining success.
But what does this mean in practice? Creating a meaningful culture involves establishing and communicating your underlying values. This, in turn, will provide a template for deciding specific policies. In this way, your culture permeates everything you do, down to the smallest details of operation.
Create a Long-Term Vision
Before getting into the nitty-gritty details of running your business, take time to determine a long-term vision. This will help in building your culture. At the same time, communicating these broader objectives will help inspire others along the way.
In many ways, this ability separates successful entrepreneurs and business leaders from those who fall short. With a strong vision and the ability to share it effectively with others, you get better at many other central tasks, like attracting investors, recruiting employees, and building a rapport with customers.
Make Team Building a Priority
Your company will only be as good as the people it employs. A strong team will determine the difference between success and failure. As such, it’s critical to find the right employees to follow through on your vision. Here are a few steps you can take to improve your team building:
- Build a strong recruiting structure
- Have a retention plan
- Promote from within
- Invest in employee development
Develop Open Communication
Once you have a winning team in place, take steps to unlock their full potential. This starts with an open communication policy. Be prepared to learn from the knowledgeable, innovative people you bring into your organization.
Include a wide variety of voices in your decision-making process. Solicit feedback and listen to the ideas that come in. This way, you’ll get better ideas and increase buy-in among your team members.
This open communication gets easier when you have the right employees in place. A top recruiter, like PrideStaff Bend, will bring you the team members you need to unlock your true potential as a leader.
Contact PrideStaff today to get started.
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