Linden foods is a beef producing company based at two sites in Northern Ireland. On average it processes more than 80,000 cattle and 100,000 sheep a year for export to supermarkets and burger chains. Even with a strong customer base, the company faces pressure in a competitive industry. It turned to the Small Business Service Benchmarking Index to identify strengths and weaknesses beyond its bottom line.
The process highlighted its high staff turnover and absenteeism rates and consultation with staff revealed communication problems. The company invested in new communication systems, new sales and production processes, and the use of a system of scorecards that helped to give staff measurable objectives against which they could see progress being made.
THE RESULTS
Following these developments absenteeism dropped from 12% to less than 6% - and has even dipped below 2% in some weeks. Staff turnover rates among longer-serving employees fell almost at once by 11% with further improvements anticipated. Early estimates suggest that overall operating costs have already been cut by 20%.
