Efficiency and Continuous Improvement
Improving Efficiency or implementing Continuous Improvement may seem like a “hard” skill vs. a “soft” skill, but it’s not. It all comes down to the organizational culture you’ve built and where you plan to be in the future.
I had a client say “I have equipment in my building that can run much more efficiently than it is currently. My employees are scared about losing their jobs, so I haven’t felt comfortable pushing efficiency improvements too much.” They then asked how I’d recommend they move forward in implementing improvements to their productivity.
If you don’t run the equipment to optimize efficiency, your competitors will. This can become an existential issue. Companies need to have the lowest-cost operations if they want to succeed long-term.
Continuous improvement must happen in every organization, especially manufacturers. It needs to be part of the organization’s DNA, a natural expectation for all team members.
So how can you motivate your staff to own continuous improvement?
It all comes down to your organization’s culture and cultural expectations, which can be changed over time:
- Have you shared the competitive realities in your marketplace with your entire team? Help them to understand what you are up against so that they can better understand the “why”.
- Do you have continuous improvement KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) in place? Efficiency, cost reductions, scrap, etc. may be appropriate KPI’s for your team.
- Does your entire team have skin in the game regarding company performance…..bonuses, pay increases, stock ownership, etc.?
- Do you set goals with all team members and hold them accountable for the goals that they helped set? Regular performance reviews and team discussions are vital for mutual accountability and understanding.
- Has your team seen the vision for the future of the organization, including possible growth and opportunity for them?
- Is there an “If-then” that can happen with improvements? If we make these improvements, then we can redeploy team members to this new initiative.
How have you leveraged your entire team to improve the organization?
