Productivity
Objectives
- Follow safety practices
- Conserve materials
- Keep work area neat and clean
- Follow directions/procedures
Lecture
Follow Safety Practices
An important part of work ethics is following established safety practices. At our technical institute, each classroom or lab has safety procedures. The same will be true on the job. Each department in each company will have a set of safety guidelines to which employees should adhere.
These rules are not designed to punish the student or employee, but rather to protect them. Safety is always important and is everyone's responsibility. The failure to follow safety rules can result in a lost-time accident or even death.
When a company experiences a “lost-time accident” due to the minor injury of an employee, everyone is affected. Efficiency and profits will go down with each minute lost. Co-workers will see an immediate effect if they are paid on a group incentive plan and a team member is injured. The effect may not always be as direct and may not always be as evident, but the fact remains that everyone suffers with injury.
Following safety rules will not totally eliminate “lost-time accidents,” but their numbers will be cut down.
Conserves Material
It's not your money that is going down the drain if you make a mistake and have to scrap part of the material, is it? Think again—in the long term it may actually be your money or at least the continuation of your current paycheck.
One might say, “How will my employer ever miss the 500 sheets of paper and 100 staples that I wasted by duplicating the wrong information? That's not a lot of materials when you consider what we use every day!” Well, what would happen if your company has 100 employees and each one made a similar mistake? Or, what if we were talking about expensive chemicals instead of paper and staples?
Always use only the materials necessary to adequately complete you task. Treat the materials as if you were paying for them yourself. One of the best ways to cut down on scrap is to do the job right the first time and to always be conscientious. Scrap costs your company or your school money and decreases the profit margin. A decreased profit margin has a direct effect on employees because with less to go around, less will be given back to the employees.
Keeps Work Area Neat and Clean
As mentioned above, safety is everyone's job. So is housekeeping. Most technical institutes and employers employ a custodian or maintenance worker that will handle the heavy cleaning. However, each student and each employee is responsible for maintaining his or her own workspace. You nay initially feel that with your busy schedule you do not have time to straighten up every day, but the fact is that you don't have time not to.
It only takes a few minutes each day if done correctly. We should not leave our workplace until our work areas are clear, all trash has been discarded, and our chairs and equipment are properly put away. Since you can never be sure who will walk into you work area, it is necessary to always keep it presentable.
Part of housekeeping is organizing and filing. If your information is filed in an orderly manner, you will not have to waste your valuable time looking for things that you misplace and will therefore be more productive and efficient in the long run.
Follows Directions/Procedures
It is important to read directions and procedures carefully before beginning a new task. It is equally important to consistently follow established procedures for the routine, mundane tasks that we perform each day.
The failure to follow directions can be disastrous. It can mean getting a bad mark on a test or it can mean the loss of a job.
Directions are developed by experts and are designed for our safety and expedience of work. Don't ever feel that you don't have to adhere to the prescribed steps and that you can do things your way.
Presentation
Activities
All activities may not be required. Your instructor will let you know which should be completed.
Activity 1 Take This Job
Activity 2 Productivity
Activity 3 Importance of Productivity
|
