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We can look at how Toyota engages front-line workers in process improvement and the challenges for other companies that want to adopt their approach. Based on the organizations I’ve seen, I’m pretty pessimistic that most can do what Toyota does. Yet, I have seen companies such as Kellogg’s, Starbucks, and Chevron succeed with alternative approaches to Toyota’s.
How did they do it? There are three elements which are critical to any process improvement initiative, irrespective of the overall approach.
1. Set aside time for workers to identify improvements.In a previous post, I cited Google’s “20% time” policy, where software developers spend 20% of their jobs on projects they dream up. Atlassian, an Australian software company, has a similar policy. It also encourages their developers to identify software fixes and new products. Once a quarter, on a Thursday afternoon, Atlassian has “FedEx Days” (you have to deliver results overnight) — a fun meeting with beer and cake. For the next 24 hours software developers can work on anything they want, any way they want, with anyone they want, as long as they share their results with the company. The developers have three minutes to present their ideas, and developers and managers choose the best. Co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes admits it’s hard to quantify results from these initiatives. But he’s convinced it’s paid off in product innovations, internal improvements, and satisfied customers.
Lantech, a manufacturer of shrink-wrapping equipment, has “daily huddles” for three levels of managers at each of its plants to promptly surface quality problems and give workers everything they need to fix them. Front-line workers meet with supervisors and review how the previous day went and what they need to do a good job. They resolve any issues that they can right there and then. Any that need resources or extend outside their area are reviewed in a similar meeting of supervisors with the next higher level of managers. The pattern is repeated as managers meet with top management. Lantech CEO Jim Lancaster believes the daily huddles have generated more bottom-line benefits than a major and very successful Lean transformation several years earlier. Why? Because the huddles nip small problems in the bud and sustain performance levels.
2. Provide management processes for implementing ideas.
For many years the Latin American operations of breakfast cereal maker Kellogg’s relied on functional managers and consultants to drive improvements that would reduce costs and optimize manufacturing capacity. But when a recession and increasing competition hit in 2010, middle managers decided they wanted a more sustainable way to cut costs — they wanted cost reduction as a byproduct (not the focus) of process improvement. So they launched “K-Lean,” a cultural change effort, using an approach (from Competitive Capabilities International) to deliver Lean tools to front-line workers. Kellogg’s internal instructors trained more than 2,000 workers. Workers now discuss quality deviations with their supervisors in daily huddles (as at Lantech) and at shift handovers, where they deliver plans for reducing quality problems. Having the front line identify work improvements secures their commitment to implement them. The results are substantial: more than 500 ideas in less than three months at one plant. Kellogg’s has built internal capabilities to embrace change and transform the culture in the factory.
Starbucks has thrived by creating a singular and memorable experience for coffee lovers around the world. To achieve consistent and reliable service for customers, the company has its baristas follow standard work procedures. It develops beverage routines — standard work procedures for each drink — at pilot sites and teaches “best practice” routines across its 17,000 stores and 200,000 workers. But it also wants to capture those workers’ ideas for improvement. So it has also rolled out problem-solving methods to each store so that it can make local improvements on uniquely local issues. The results? Customer satisfaction and productivity shot up, coffee waste went down, and employees feel encouraged to suggest better ways of operating.
3. Introduce software tools for sharing process improvement ideas.
North Shore Pediatric Therapy, a Chicago-based clinic with 45 employees in three locations, implemented an online collaboration tool (OnTheSystem.com) so that frontline employees could share their ideas for improving efficiency, quality and client satisfaction directly to process teams, creating a self-sustaining continuous improvement cycle. The process teams turn the suggestions into online projects that resolve the issues. Since implementing the software tool in January 2010, process teams have completed 46 process projects, 82 smaller improvement assignments, and resolved 63 issues reported by frontline employees. Engaging the frontline in work improvement has boosted revenue 15 percent and reduced costs 15 percent. But according to CEO Dr. David Michael, the greatest benefit has been the creation of an innovative, client-focused, and employee-driven company.
Similarly, oil giant Chevron uses a software application (“Nimbus Control“) to maintain a central repository of standard work procedures. According to a recent article, ownership of procedures is dispersed across the enterprise, and some of the units in the company with more focus on process improvement have implemented a management process to address improvements that employees propose daily.
I remember where I worked at (in one of my previous employers) they had made it mandatory that every employee in the company must submit 3 ideas at least in a year and the one who submits the most ideas and implements them in their workspace receives an incentive for the same.
However, each and every full-time employee definitely had to submit 3 ideas at least and work upon implementing the same. I really thought this was quite effective and people actually engaged in the activities and moreever they everyday at least thought how they could improve or make their job more easier and submitted the same to the management as an idea which counted and with the approval after analyzing the same, it would be implemented or improvised upon. This incentive based scheme really had a special effect in engagement of the floor employees.
