When you’re tasked with running a warehouse or other similar physical operation, you have to have a good eye for bits and pieces of a business process, and for how to fit them all together for peak productivity. That includes knowing when you need to scale up in terms of managing warehouse employees.

A Cluttered Warehouse – or Process Bottlenecks

One of the best and most evident ways to tell that you need more workers is when things start piling up in a warehouse. You might have too much inventory coming in, and not being properly stored correctly because there aren’t enough available people to manage that. You might have a mess in truck bays or other situations where wooden pallets are just sitting around. You’ll easily be able to pick up the hint that the warehouse is understaffed.

Errors in Labeling or Deliveries

Another good way to tell you need more people is when you start to notice mistakes being made in the warehouse handling chain. Assuming that you hired knowledgeable and competent people to begin with, these warning signs often point to a situation of understaffing. The staff is so overworked that they don’t take the time to check and double-check labels or deliveries, and that’s when you see these problems start to arise.

Holes in the Schedule

Here’s another telltale sign that you haven’t really put sufficient staffing in place for a warehouse operation — or any other kind of business process, for that matter.

You might notice this first when you look on paper at a projected work schedule. You might see the shifts being crossed out, the pencil scrawls in the margins as managers frantically try to figure out who will be doing their jobs on a particular shift.

In other cases, you get this warning sign verbally. Mike tells you that Steve is going to have to come in because Alan had to take a family day — but then he later tells you that Steve was unable to work half of a shift because of the hours he racked up, and so Phil has to come in and work on his off day — you get the picture. In many cases of understaffing, the schedule simply becomes a big mess. There’s not enough support in terms of having a team of people who you can call on as backup — and the business suffers as a result.

A Ghost Town

You can often see the results of understaffing when you walk through warehouse. It’s not a vibrant, busy place. It looks like a ghost town — there aren’t many people around. You’re operating on a skeleton staff because you don’t have enough people on the roster, and people keep leaving because they hate the workplace environment, partially because is understaffed. It’s a vicious circle that is hard to get out of.

About Full Steam Staffing

Full Steam Staffing is a full-service employment agency focused on providing clerical and light industrial staffing solutions to manufacturers, distribution centers and other organizations that need qualified, reliable workers. If you are looking for a new job in Modesto, California, browse our available opportunities or contact our team today!