 Engaging people within the enterprise is the key to sustainable improvement  |
Learning and Productivity works with Enterprises to achieve long term sustainable change. The three main approaches are the Enterprise Review which is often the first step in bringing cultural change to an Enterprise, Visual Business Planning which takes a new 'visual' approach to developing a Business Plan and the Simulate>Lean>Apply program which brings together Continuous Improvement and Respect for People in achieving long term productivity improvement.
ENTERPRISE REVIEW
The main purpose of an Enterprise Review is to develop an Enterprise Improvement Plan. This plan is derived from the key improvement issues facing any enterprise.
Enterprises that aspire to be world class focus on planned, long term, sustainable processes for improvement and change. It is an enterprise-wide, continuous improvement approach. The express aim of the Enterprise Improvement Process is to enable achievement of internationally competitive levels of performance in the shortest possible time.
The Enterprise Review Program is often the first step toward on-going enterprise improvement.
Some of the comments received from participants of the Enterprise Review process include:
- The process creates enthusiasm among employees who for the first time have been involved in a decision making process and been able to express issues and opportunities for improvement
- The leadership team of enterprises are drawn together by one common plan and re-energised to improve the performance of their business
- As a result of the high degree of ownership, companies are undertaking the implementation of a lot of their goals and progressing with their plan of improvement
- The voice of the customer is clearly having the most profound effect on the participants
VISUAL BUSINESS PLANNING
Recognising Business Planning is an iterative process and that often business plans are not read or well communicated to people within the enterprise Learning and Productivity have developed a new approach.
The plan is constructed using a wall surface with A3 and A4 sheets building the plan and creating a visual map of the current situation, the future desired state and the strategies and actions to take the business forward.
The Visual approach demystifies Business Planning and provides a clear understanding of a planning framework and on-going planning process with practical tools and techniques. In addition the 'three perspectives model' is explained covering key aspects of developing a business planning process as well as the A3 'Plan4Action' sheet and a simple action plan for yourself and the business.
On completion, leadership are able to effectively describe the plan to team members, using the summary sheets developed as part of the process.
SIMULATE>LEArN>APPLY
For many enterprises their approach to the seeking the benefits of Lean which are well known, has been through the teaching of tools and techniques alone. They have typically only focused on one of the pillars of Lean which is �Continuous Improvement� . It is necessary to also focus on �Respect for People�. But how do you do combine both?
One approach, which is proving to be very successful, is by taking a step by step approach, over 10 short sessions which is underpinned by a SIMULATE > LEArN > APPLY approach.
Participants not only learn the tools and techniques of lean through simulation learning in a class room and then apply these learnings in the workplace but they are also introduced to the reason why improvement is important and the role of values and behaviours inside the enterprise.
The facilitator works with your team leaders to develop a series of two hour workshops to ensure they are appropriate for your enterprise and then shows them how to engage with the people in the workplace to develop an on-going continuous improvement mind-set.