Tips on Helping the Company Encourage Continuous Improvement

 

All companies here in Singapore and the world aspire for only one thing – to live long. Companies have different strategies in place to ensure their longevity. In your lifetime, you see many companies rise and fall but only those who are stable and strong remained immovable. What is their secret? Many companies have embraced and adopted the concept of kaizen.

Kaizen is a Japanese management concept that seeks to improve business systems and processes for better outputs and results. In English, kaizen is called continuous improvement. The concept suggests that everyone from the CEO down to the clerk think of different ways to improve processes. The concept is slow because it only inspire small steps but these steps should be done regularly then you will notice how it can impact bigger things thereby the improvement.

The most crucial thing here is the employees should be willing to change plus the management should support the change and continue to monitor the progress. Here are some tips on helping the company encourage continuous improvement:

  1. Start with yourself: Many employees are so busy with everything that they fail to analyse and plan. It is important that you step back, read and ponder on the things around. You have to get connected with all numbers, customers, feedbacks and more. Remember that the company will improve if you improve. You have to lead by example.

 

  1. Include everyone: No matter the size of your company, it is recommended that you include everyone. Kaizen banks on the principle that everyone should participate in the process. The best thing to encourage positive result is to advise employees to submit suggestions.

  1. Defy status quo: If you just live in status quo, you are not welcoming change. Change is very important especially if it is toward improvement. Throw out old and traditional ideas. Let in new concepts and suggestions. Once you found a better way of doing something, stick with it but never stop looking for better ways to improve it.

 

  1. Keep it simple: If there is an idea, do your best to simplify it because it can make a difference. Employees sometimes need nudging to the right direction and if it is easy to implement, then there would be no problems.

 

  1. Be specific: Is this year a flop? If so, be specific with every dollar you made or lost. Giving your employees figures will let them understand that you have to improve business systems as well as processes.

The good news is that kaizen can also be applied personally.

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