Effective Employee Management Using The Henry Ford Approach

By Author: Robin Cook
Total Articles: 12
Comment this article

In the early 20th century, Henry Ford revolutionized the way the world organizes itself with his innovative production method known as the “assembly line.” Instead of having one or just a few employees work on a product from beginning to end, an assembly line moves work from one worker to another until the product is finished. Ford’s assembly line was designed to manage manufacturing processes, but it can be applied to almost any kind of production. A restaurant, for instance, is a great example where we can see Ford’s assembly line in action. Tasks are delegated among hosts, servers, bartenders, cooks, and dishwashers who are all “experts” in their disciplines, in order to increase production and efficiency. The assembly line can be seen in virtually every industry: coffee shops, clothing stores and fashion design just to name a few.

Jack of all trades, master of none – sound familiar?

Many online businesses start small – workforces of one, two, maybe three people. Responsibilities are not set in stone, it’s never really explicit what one’s position is and everyone is in ...
... for the greater cause: the initial success of the business. While this scenario works, and in most cases is essential in a start- up’s early times – once a small venture matures into a full-fledged business, many changes need to be made. More specifically – the Jack of all trades approach needs to go out the window – it simply will not suffice as the business continues to grow and will eventually prove to be counter-productive to its further success. Enter, the assembly line.

What are some benefits of Henry Ford’s assembly line?

Along with efficiency, the assembly line offers increased accountability, quality control and error prevention, as well as opportunities for more effective administration. Having a clear birds-eye-view of your workforce is paramount when it comes to managing a successful online business.

Knowing who to point the finger at is in some cases half the battle. Many businesses are plagued with an inefficient and error-prone production line without even knowing where to address the issue let alone remedy it. With a proper assembly line in place, discrepancies can easily be traced back to their point of origin as each worker is responsible for the completion of one task in the assembly process. Not only will this scenario provide a great amount of insight into where problems arise from but it simultaneously provides an inherent level of accountability on the worker’s end. This helps with quality control and error prevention as employees are more directly correlated with their outputs and thus are more likely to be mindful of their actions moving forward. With the help of an assembly line, employees clearly understand what is expected of them and know how their performance will be measured.

In addition to accountability and error prevention, the assembly line permits an easier training process for new employees. By dividing responsibilities among workers, both production and human resource related managerial tasks can be carried out faster, easier and with much greater insight.

How does all of this relate to Kyozou?

Applying the main ideas of the assembly line, Kyozou is an ecommerce management tool designed to make your business run more efficiently. Offering online businesses more than just enterprise software, eBay auction software, eBay automation software or eBay inventory management software, Kyozou is a complete solution forall of your ecommerce needs. By using Kyozou, business owners can manage their employees by organizing access permissions, roles and responsibilities, etc. Kyozou also features multi- user access and production monitors so business owners can oversee their employees’ performance.

Using Kyozou’s eBay auction management software and auction or ebay tools, much like the assembly line, enables business owners and employees to increase productivity and profitability. To find out more, visit http://www.kyozou.com/ today!