Facing ingredient shortages, how will you maintain employee motivation in your food manufacturing team?

Always maintain a positive attitude towards adversity. Involve your team to understand the challenge and encourage them to contribute ideas on flipping it into an opportunity.

1) Involve team in problem solving: ask employees to suggest alternative supplier or can be asked to search potential supplier in their network. 2) communicate transparently the situation and it's duration. 3) adjustment in production plan 4) Communicate sales team about probable stock out situation 5) always keep 2 or 3 alternative supplier in addition to main supplier. 6) lead by example.

It's all about being able to pivot. If you need more certain ingredients, find other products to produce which aren't reliant on those ingredients that are running short. Better still, adopt a model of creating your own supply chain. For instance, chilli mash is currently running short in South America. Identify the root causes, find an emerging market (which doesn't have those root causes), and establish a new supply chain through that market.

I find that relentless, proactive transparency is key in these situations -go the team rather than waiting for doubts, uncertainty and negative morale to bubble up either in productivity loss, behavioral issues, or outright revolt. Leaning into Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” tells us that meeting employees’ most basic need of safety and security is critical if we want their buy-in and so it is imperative that we give them all the necessary information to make decisions that affect their families and careers. Employees who believe that their employer is doing right by them and acting with integrity in difficult times are more likely not only to stay, but also to become active contributors who help to find solutions and lead their peers.

Ante un momento de dificultad, la información debe ser transparente, que permita la postulación de ideas que puedan brindar alguna alternativa, pero es fundamental mantener el liderazgo y el enfoque garantizado que no se genere incertidumbre o preocupación.

Pivot, pivot and pivot again. During Covid the manufacturing industry was taught this invaluable lesson. Keep your options open; don't back yourself into a manufacturing hole. Find ways to produce things that are in short supply from ingredients which are in plentiful supply. Don't be afraid to try new things. Just because you lack expertise in an area doesn't mean you can't master it. Google & Chat GPT provide so much instant resource when trying to expand horizons.

En una oportunidad nos resultó útil flexibilizar los horarios para ampliar el tiempo de operación y también evitar el agotamiento del personal, por lo tanto en un momento de crisis puede ser una buena alternativa enmarcada con una buena planeación.

En los momentos de dificultad es relevante apelar a la unión del equipo, la co dependencia de los procesos manifestando el bien común de la empresa y por ende el compromiso y excelente desempe?o del personal. Claramente no es fácil pedir a tu equipo dar más en un momento de crisis pero luego de superarla, será gratificante para todo el equipo.