

Starting small is the best approach if you’re an organization new to continuous improvement. In terms of revenue, happy employees are loyal and productive employees. Executives need tell their employees why new improvements are important to the company and why they will make for a happier work environment. How it's done: Kick off your continuous improvement efforts with people in the C-suite. Support and encouragement from an organization’s leadership team is cited as the number one success factor of a continuous improvement initiative. These five steps can help you on the way to continuous improvement and employee suggestion program success, starting with a top down approach. To have a successful program, the program has to be aligned with a corporate-wide cultural shift. In fact, employee suggestion programs (ESPs) and continuous improvement go hand in hand.Ī number of organizations have attempted to start continuous improvement and employee suggestion programs, but have seen less than stellar results. Toyota went on to become the world's largest auto manufacturer while GM declared bankruptcy.Ĭollecting ideas from employees in an employee suggestion program is one of the best ways to learn what those small changes should be. Used at Toyota with great success, it was also briefly incorporated into GM production methods and delivered similar outstanding results before being scrapped. This business philosophy comes from a Japanese concept known as Kaizen. This is does not involve drastic overhauls but rather involves fixating on the small details that give your company a competitive edge. Is it possible to set up a similar culture in your company?Ĭontinuous Improvement and Employee SuggestionsĬontinuous improvement is the process of making small incremental changes to improve efficiency. One of the ways Walmart has stayed ahead of the competition is through their creation of a corporate culture supporting “continuous improvement.” Walmart is always tinkering with new ideas to foster more sales and be more efficient. Currently ranked as the largest company in the world based on revenue, it is also the world’s largest private employer with over two million employees.
