Your business is constantly in a flux of change. It is either moving forward or backward. Companies who try to implement big changes every few years usually find that they are moving backward. Meanwhile, many very successful businesses are making small changes every day. The principle of making small business changes is called the Kaizen approach.
What is Kaizen?
Before really being able to figure out how to use Kaizen in a workplace the fundamentals need to be laid out. Kaizen experts explain, “Kaizen can be defined as the philosophy and practice of continuous improvement. The approach is tailored to be is a workplace methodology. It refers to the practice of looking for ways to improve work processes on a regular basis. The practice involves small, incremental changes rather than large changes. With Kaizen, all people within the organization look for possible improvement opportunities, not just managers or executives.” While that sums up the idea very well, implementing it has many benefits to businesses. Continuous improvement means constantly making things better than they were before. This is the key takeaway from the Kaizen approach.
Implementation
Slow gradual improvement comes when all employees are continually looking for ways to improve their area of expertise. Business success experts explain, “key employees are then chosen to create quality circles to make changes affecting the entire company. After all, when employees are on board, you can then start to look for problems within the organization.” Brainstorm ideas to make the business better without shooting down anyone's ideas. Do not delay implementation. Instead, try it in a little area. If it works, expand it. If it fails, then move on to another idea. Continual feedback is received from the ground up. Once an idea is implemented, then the process begins again. In some cases, this can be done on a daily or weekly basis.
Advantages
There are several advantages to implementing the Kaizen approach. All employees are rewarded under the approach. This often makes it so that good employees are more reluctant to leave. Many companies, including Toyota, find this approach increases accuracy on assembly lines, allowing them to sell a more reliable product. Employees may also come up with ideas to improve safety. This would mean you pay fewer insurance claims.
Cautions
While most companies who change to the Kaizen approach find that they love it, there are some things you need to be aware of when implementing Kaizen. These quality and innovation specialists explain, “everyone must be given time to learn the system or they will feel like it is just another demand that is being placed on their time. After the system is implemented, then it is important to continually monitor changes. If no monitoring takes place, your employees may slip into familiar behavior patterns. You must listen to workers across the entire workforce as many great ideas will come from those working with the process every day.
There are many reasons to implement the Kaizen approach in your business. Start the process today and watch your business thrive.
If you’re looking for new and better ways to improve your business, one of the best ways is by improving your business’ insurance coverage.
Please reach out to us below if your business needs a fresh set of eyes on any of your commercial insurance policies