It is not surprising that Lean and continuous improvement requires a lot of work. Before starting a continuous improvement program it is important to understand the benefits of it. Knowing the benefits of the process can provoke action, allow for proper allocation of resources, and inspire everyone to put in the hard work necessary to pull off a successful program. Here are 5 benefits of applying continuous improvement.
A Gallup poll of US workers in 2015 showed that 32% of employees were engaged in their job. The poll also showed that the majority (50.8%) of employees were “not engaged” and 17% of employees were “actively disengaged”. The numbers show a vast opportunity for improvement as there are many financial as well as social benefits to having employees care about their work. A study by Towers Perrin in 2009 showed that companies with highly engaged employees earned 19.2% more operating income than their baseline peers.
A Lean and continuous improvement program hits directly at this problem. At its core, continuous improvement is designed to empower employees to solve problems that bugs them and gradually improve the efficiency of their work processes. Lean lets employees know that their ideas are important. When an employee makes a suggestion for improvement, the idea can be carefully tested; and if successful implemented company-wide. This changes the employee’s role and responsibilities from being a passive actor to being an active participant of the business processes.
Turnover in organizations is very expensive. In addition to severance, the company must pay for recruiting, hiring, and training someone new to do the job. In many jobs, it can take severals years of on-the-job training for an employee to gain the necessary experience to excel at his job. A continuous improvement culture has been shown to boost employee engagement and reduce turnover rates. Employees who actively participate in the betterment of the company gain a sense of pride and accomplishment. This leads to a greater sense of belonging and fewer reasons to leave the organization.
Continuous improvement drives both the improvement of processes and products. Companies that actively look for ways to enhance their business will invariably increase the value of their products and services. This will lead to more sophisticated and overall more economically competitive offerings.
Customer service starts with understanding what the customer finds value and working to deliver that value. Lean and continuous improvement provides a framework for identifying customer values and for minimizing waste in the value delivery process. Organizations that apply Lean are better able to align their products and services to latent customer values. This will lead to products and services that “anticipate” the needs of customers even before they know the need themselves.
Customer service starts with understanding what the customer finds value and working to deliver that value. Lean and continuous improvement provides a framework for identifying customer values and for minimizing waste in the value delivery process. Organizations that apply Lean are better able to align their products and services to latent customer values. This will lead to products and services that “anticipate” the needs of customers even before they know the need themselves.
In the modern workplace, knowledge and technology quickly becomes obsolete over time. If you are doing business in the same way that you did 5 or 10 years ago, your company will quickly go out of business. A continuous improvement culture is one that challenges employees and managers to go beyond their comfort zone. The only way to improve upon existing processes is to try something new. That something new can be scary at first and be beyond the current competencies of the organization. Continuous improvement gives organizations a framework for reaching the next level of excellence. An organization that practices continuous improvement is never satisfied with their current accomplishments. There is always something to be changed and improved upon.
In the long run, the only way to maintain and sustain a continuous improvement culture is to focus on developing new competencies. By applying continuous improvement, organizations can challenge their employees to improve their skills and knowledge. This will ultimately allow the company to stay one step ahead of its competitors.
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