Leicester City are Premier League champions and a former reality TV star, who wants to build El Hadrian’s wall with Mexico, could be on his way to the White House.
If ever there was a time to believe that anything – including your site team winning a Manufacturing Champions Award – is possible, then it’s in 2016.
Works Management’s (WM) Manufacturing Champions Awards recognise the factory employees whose talent and tenacity helps British sites take on the world. The 2016 awards, to be held on 8 December at the Midland Hotel, Manchester, have now opened for entry. We need your help to showcase the amazing array of talent working within our factories and dispel the myth that manufacturing is dirty or dead end.
We want to hear about your star performers. From the manager whose deft leadership skills have inspired employees to go the extra mile to the shift team whose eureka moment has led to a monumental safety improvement.
Nine category prizes are up for grabs and represent the breath of skillsets that must come together to deliver manufacturing excellence. They include the Rising Star Award for apprentice, graduate or manager under the age of 25 who has already established a track record in smashing KPIs and exceeding management expectations.
There’s a Community Champion Award for the site which has gone on the frontfoot to promote manufacturing careers with local schools, colleges and community groups. Plus, 2016 sees the launch of an all new Skills Champion Award recognising the most impressive site training and development initiative and the factory employees it has enabled to flourish.
All categories are judged on an entrant’s ability to demonstrate outstanding performance, innovation, teamwork/leadership and added value to customers. These four attributes are crucial to becoming a Manufacturing Champion winner and, WM believes, cornerstones of the future success of the UK manufacturing sector.
Entry involves completing a questionnaire on behalf of yourself or your colleagues. You can enter multiple employees or teams for multiple categories. Wherever you feel someone on site has gone above and beyond for a great job, then we encourage you to put them forward.
You will need to provide KPIs to support your entry and we’d encourage you to supply as much supplementary material as possible to help convince our judges of your case. Supplementary material can include photos of line-side improvements or testimonials from colleagues and customers.
The Manufacturing Champions Awards entry deadline is 23 September. All entries will then be subject to a two-stage judging process. The first involves scrutiny by WM’s expert editorial team. Then qualifying entries will be judged by an independent panel comprising senior site leaders and industry experts who will meet at a judging day to debate the winners.
The Manufacturing Champions shortlist will be announced in November with a grand final taking place at the Midland Hotel Manchester on 8 December.
Last year’s grand final included motivational talks from former winners and business leaders on leadership, reward and recognition schemes and motivating high performance teams.
Of course, you could shrug your shoulders say: ‘we don’t do awards’ or ‘it’s always someone else who wins these kind of things’. But, you’d be missing a golden opportunity to recognise your unsung site heroes as well as promoting your plant as the home for world-class talent.
“To win was a great honour considering the magnitude of some of the other manufacturers at this prestigious event,” recalls Mick Straw, Manufacturing Leader Award winner 2015 and operations director at Hi Technology Group. “I am privileged to work in manufacturing and to meet other like-minded people was refreshing. The event is a great platform for UK manufacturing."
Ultimately, whether you win or not, getting involved is a great way to hit back at the stereotypes of manufacturing being all chimney stacks and oily rags. Colin Boughton, European operations director at Fujifilm says: “The manufacturing sector is not good at ‘banging its own drum’, as those engaged in it are invariably too busy. The Manufacturing Champions steps in and does the job for us.”
So dig out the results of your internal site recognition scheme, the accompanying KPIs and start your entry now at www.manufacturing-champions.co.uk
Works Management thanks you for your support and we look forward to welcoming you to a celebration of UK manufacturing talent in Manchester on the 8 December.
5 benefits of entering the Manufacturing Champions Awards
1)Reward your star performers on the national stage: this is an opportunity to give your high-achievers a public pat on the back and promote your business as the home of world-class talent and dynamic continuous improvement thinking.
2)Benchmarking: entering the awards scheme offers you the chance to benchmark against your peers. The awards attracts entries from leading operators across all sub sectors and you will have the chance to network with like-minded individuals and exchange best-practice ideas at the Champions grand final.
3)Champion manufacturing as a rewarding career choice:
We all know manufacturing is fast paced, challenging, varied and ultimately a feel-good place to work. But the message hasn't always reached the wider British public. Help WM showcase the exiting and dynamic achievements of manufacturing employees and set the record straight over the opportunities on offer in UK engineering.
4)PR and marketing punch: awards success can offer your business a USP as a hub for outstanding achievers and the champion of award-winning standards within your supply chain. Winners and their achievements will be profiled in WM magazine.
5)Send shopfloor morale soaring: putting a colleague or team forward for a category prize is a great way to recognise the contribution of unsung heroes. Making the shortlist offers a badge of honour, reinforces best practice and inspires others within your factory to follow in that individual or team’s footsteps. Seeing your shopfloor improvements endorsed by an external awarding body can help build momentum behind continuous improvement activity.
