I recently facilitated a Kaizen project for Dining Services that involved their student hiring process. A lot of good ideas and improvement plans came out of it, and the team was very excited about the opportunity to make this process more efficient. What stood out for me, however, was a new process step that we incorporated at the end of the Kaizen called “Measuring Success.”
As Lean practitioners we understand that metrics and data collection are pivotal to the success of any implementation initiative. However, sometimes we forget the benefits of putting these numbers on display for all to see; this group did not. We decided at the end of the day to put all of our success metrics with their respective goals and deadlines on a flip chart for each member of the team to display in their office. The motive behind this was to ensure that every day, with every decision they make, they are focused on reaching these goals.
I thought this was a fantastic idea and one that should be used in all of our projects in the future. A big part of Lean is engagement. Setting clear goals and expectations is a big factor in increasing employee engagement. When everyone is united and working toward a common goal, the opportunities for improvement are endless.
Nathan, I love the idea of leaving a kaizen event with something to continue the engagement and guide every-day decision-making.
Great job sounds like your on the right path! Keep it up! Let me interject some real world wisdom as food for thought. In your example “Improving the Hiring process” this is just a subset of the ultimate true goal of hiring a good employee. Rank and file employees become really frustrated with us “Lean Practitioners” whom claim victory too early then move on. Improving a process that just gets a bad result sooner is similar to improving a processes prior to a bottleneck in manufacturing. In your case I understand it was just an exercise but when you enter corporate America remember you haven’t won until the product is delivered and your true impact can be measured.