Preventing carpal tunnel and repetitive motion injuries would be a priority of a good leader. Ergonomics, posture, equipment…safety is always job one. Some injuries come about slowly rather than quickly.
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Luckily for those of us with med cards it’s not a big issue.
I haven’t done much in the way of packaging, but I’ve trimmed a good bit. Things I would’ve appreciated:
comfortable chairs
snacks/drinks
working in pods/proximity with people I get along with, most rooms you all face forward so the trim gestapo can watch more easily(despite having cameras)
prizes would be cool I guess, but comfort takes precedence. I’ve seen too many folding chairs set up for people to work 8 hour days in day in, day out
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Only hire people prescribed adderall
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This is the best comment on this thread lol
Must be able to pass background check, must have adderall prescription, must have olcc permit
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It just so happens that the only well air conditioned room in our building is the room we package in lol. everyone is a volunteer. This wasn’t by design and we’re slowly getting the rest of the building hooked in but for many of our guys and gals, the options are 91 degree grow room or 68 degree manufacturing lab. We also rotate people through jobs so they don’t spend 45 days in a row breaking up slabs
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Well, I wish that I could work for any of you guys. I would happily package as a door to get into the industry. Of course there would need to be an avenue to have forward progress within the company.
I do agree with the comfort thing. Make sure that the chairs they sit in are comfortable. Pretty much all of the stuff listed above. I personally would be happy to be hired to work for any of you legal processors, and labs.
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if I was gettin paid to package I feel like I could make it fun!
hell I make the worse jobs in the world fun if I have help and my vape pen
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Thank you everyone for your suggestions and support. This is a difficult question to ask and I do appreciate getting back actual answers that could solve problems!
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When you pay by the unit rather than hourly, your employees will always be motivated to maximize production. I realize it’s probably not feasible having this pay structure as a regular thing, but i recommend experimenting with this one day out of the week or month. Make a fun game out of it and let them figure out how to create efficient sops, whether that involves an assembly line, partnering in twos or threes, or just going solo. You’re going to want to calculate the average time to completion for a single unit of packaging and find the sweet spot for where the desired pay rate would be. Each package will require a different rate, but I’d imagine the rate falling anywhere between .15 cents to .25 cents per unit, depending on how labor intensive the process might be. You will see a significant increase in productivity, as it completely changes the dynamic of the work environment. And it keeps your employees motivated and efficient. Give them the freedom to team up and split the earnings if it works out in their favor.
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If you cant give them more pay, make their jobs easier.
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Bro, youd nail any interview 
Allowing them to team up and paying by unit is key. Alot of jobs are done faster with 2 people instead of 1, and that way u can have competitions by teams 
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Just keep in mind, scrap rate increases when employees are paid by the unit. It depends on which wooks you have doing the packaging honestly. Any manufacturer should want to be able to depend on a fixed cost per unit
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or Fun guy?
edit: oh you wanted efficient too?
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Lol funny, just today we hited a couple temps for packaging and ine of them didnt show up because “she fell and busted her teeth”, i hope thats true and not just a lame excuse. But yesh packaging sucks, just smoke one and get in the zone and just forget about everything else. Maybe some jams while packing.
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Piece rate works in small groups on products that don’t need to meet a high quality control standard. Other than that, it’s better to pay them a slightly higher hourly and to slow down a little so they do it right.
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Headphones
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I worked for a company that provided quarterly bonus based on rate of packaging. Seemed to work really well for both the company and employees
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The best way I’ve found in a situation like this, (poor morale from tedious work, with tight quotas, that others see as 'unskilled labor) is really about making sure people feel appreciated, and to show pride in your role of leading the hard, unglamorous side of things.
1- All contests, rewards, etc. occur as A TEAM. No highlighting individual performers, just push toward the team level goal and reward structure you’ve designed. If someone is consistently underperforming they just need to be let go, and generally those are the people who complain and bring down the team morale the most.
2- You need to focus on creating some kind of a ‘gritty pride’ amongst the packing staff. Maybe even something that seems as silly as tee shirts that say PACK SQUAD and some funny inside joke on the back to start the process… and then do things to treat your staff specifically when they do well. You need to be the beacon of pride for what you do and an example to the rest of the team. Packing itself doesn’t have to be fun, but working with your squad can be. Embrace the role as the backbone of your company, and SHOW APPRECIATION for your team. If they feel like they are valued by their immediate manager, and he/she takes pride in their job, the ‘culture’ will build behind that.
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When I was younger a pizza after work made me happy as fuck. It was at UPS, they got us to bust our asses, 1 person unloading a 53 foot truck in an hour for 7 or 9 an hour. I dunno how they got such a kickass workforce, if I had one ups employee…
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