5 supply chain training tips

When you run a logistics operation, it's vital to ensure you have proper structures in place to continually train your staff. After all, the supply chain is evolving rapidly, so you would be wise to make sure your team's skills do the same.

If you're not certain how to set up a proper and effective training program within your warehouse, the following tips should help you develop a strong, responsive workforce that helps guarantee your long-term success as an organization:

1) Thoroughly assess your needs

No one knows your organization better than you do, so it should be relatively easy to determine areas where training may be needed to truly maximize your facility's efficiency, according to Inbound Logistics. Take a look at all the data your operation produces and see where inconsistencies or kinks in the system tend to arise. Then, work on identifying the cause of those issues. If you can do so successfully, you may find aspects of your work where training would be quite helpful.

2) Keep your efforts carefully focused

Once you know where you should start your training sessions, it's important to keep the efforts relatively centered around those hurdles - at least initially, Inbound Logistics added. That way, you know that every hour spent on training is going to directly improve your overall operations. On the other hand, if you take a more scattershot approach, you may not get the full benefit of your training efforts.

3) Put the right managers in charge

Generally speaking, employees like training sessions that not only inform, but also motivate, according to Global Training Center. For that reason, it's a good idea to make sure your training sessions are run by managers who have a good track record of whipping up engagement while also encouraging and teaching workers the right way to do things. You likely know who your "people person" managers are already, and putting them in charge of these efforts is always smart.

4) Make sure everyone who needs the information is involved

While you may want to laser-focus your training sessions at the workers who need these specific skills, it might be wise to broaden your view, according to Tortal Training. Making sure not only those workers, but also the people who support and work with them on a daily basis, get the knowledge you want to impart could help boost understanding and efficiency throughout your whole operation.

5) Track results

Once a training session has been completed, keep a close eye on the metrics you used to determine where to start in the first place, Tortal Training said. You may find that they improve sharply, but whether they do so enough to truly bolster your standing in the industry is something you will have to keep a close watch over - on an ongoing basis. Proper training is an effort that should never stop in your organization, and if you have the right strategy to react, improve, then react again, you'll be setting yourself up for serious success.