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Kaizen is a very effective way to engage employees and achieve positive business benefits quickly, as long as we do not rely on it as the only tool that we use.  In conjunction with the strategic application of Lean principles and systems, Kaizen is an important component of any business improvement initiative.

Recently I was reading the blog written by Pete Abilla at www.shmula.com and found an interesting article about the way in which effective systems are always based on a small number of “atomic” rules, and that systems often fail when they are based on many complex rules.

A common human trait we all have is to respond to a problem with even more complex systems to “fix” the already complicated processes we have previously devised.  Not only do these complex processes result in unnecessary waste but they also confuse and frustrate our people. In order to help the people in our business really engage with us in our process improvement efforts we need to start dismantling the complexity that we previously thought we needed to improve.

So let’s start with some simple rules for how we use Kaizen as a tool in our organisations. Here are the atomic rules for Kaizen from Pete Abilla:

1. Spend no Money
2. Add no People
3. Add no Space
4. Add no Steps (Touches)

In his article he goes on to explain how these “constraints” will result in “creative tension” as we strive for more creativity, elegance, respect for people and a focus on the process rather than the person in our solutions.

It will also get us thinking “we can if…….” rather than “we can’t because……”, and us help question and challenge the status quo more effectively.

It will also help us focus on solutions resulting from a series of small improvements rather than large changes that consume lots of time and resources.

And finally the atomic rules will keep us focused on achieving change using the “collective wisdom” of many people rather than a small number of “heroes”.

These are the questions used in the Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement survey tool.  Could these questions be a guide to how we should be driving high levels of engagement in our workforce?  Gallup clearly thinks so. They have engagement data gathered in 50 languages from 12.5 M respondents in 150 countries.

Employee engagement could be a very important indicator for your business. Most metrics we use in our organisations are lag indicators eg labour variance, plant downtime, LTIFR etc because by the time we know the results it is too late to change the outcome. Employee engagement is an excellent lead indicator because wherever workforce engagement levels are high we see problems turned into opportunities and improved business performance as a result.

How confident would you be asking your team members these questions?

1.      Do you know what is expected of you at work?
2.      Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
3.      At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
4.      In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5.      Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
6.      Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
7.      At work, do your opinions seem to count?
8.      Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
9.      Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
10.    Do you have a best friend at work?
11.    In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
12.    In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

A Forbes article earlier this year describes how Douglas Conant, CEO of US based Campbell Soup Co used “a concerted effort to reinvigorate the workforce” as part of a strategy to achieve a major organisational turnaround.  The company has reversed a situation in 2002 when a Gallup study showed 62% of employees consider themselves as not actively engaged in their jobs and 12 % felt they were actively disengaged.  Recently the results are very differnt with 68% of all Campbell (US) employees saying they are actively engaged and only 3% actively disengaged.  This is an engagement ratio of 23 to 1when Gallup claim that 12 to 1 is world class.

In their book Closing the Engagement Gap: How Great Companies Unlock Employee Potential for Superior Results, Julie Gebauer and Don Lowman claim that “four out of every five workers worldwide are not delivering their full potential to help their organisations succeed”.  They go on to say thet 41% of the worlds workers are merely “enrolled” meaning that they are capable and they are ready to be engaged but are not being inspired or motivated to deliver discretionary effort. 30% of the worlds employees are disenchanted and 8% are disengaged.  These numbers are the result of a study in 2007 - 2008 by Towers Perrin titled Closing the Engagement Gap: A Roadmap for Driving Superior Business Performance.

Gebauer and Lowman go on to suggest 5 keys to unlock employee potential and unearth a “hidden reservoir of energy and passion”.  Firstly, “know them” like you know your customers and you will find you can design workplace programs that enable you to win people’s hearts and minds.  Secondly “grow them“.  People will commit to employers who support learning and excellence.  Thirdly, “inspire them“.  When employees participate in meaningful work they are more inclined to do whatever it takes to ensure success.  Fourth, “involve them“.  Knowledgeable and empowered workers add more value to the organisation.  And finally fifth, “reward them“.  People give more of their time and creative effort if they believe they are appreciated and being treated right.

Conant sees Campbell Soup Co having one of its best years ever, despite the worst economy of our lifetime, simply by including a total focus on engagement is his strategy.  This strategy is not complicated.  “To win in the marketplace we must believe you must first win in the workplace. I’m obsessed with keeping employee engagement front and center and keeping up energy around it”, Conant said.