Employee engagement through work standards

The webinar by Prof. Dr. Christoph Roser focuses on Employee Engagement Through Work Standards. It answers the question of what employee engagement is in the first place, and distinguishing it from related concepts like employee safety, happiness, satisfaction, and wellbeing. We will look into the origins of Lean management, highlighting its roots in Toyota and the significant improvements it brought to the automotive industry. A major success story for employee engagement is the NUMMI joint venture between GM and Toyota, which transformed one of the worst-performing plants in the US into a model of productivity and quality. We can see that the key to employee engagement is focusing on safety, quality, people, and continuous improvement. However, NUMMI also holds lessons for failure when GM tried to copy this into other plants. We will see how GM messed this up afterwards trying to spread Lean practices to other plants. They lacked understanding of lean. Their improper implementation led to failures, and their lean approach fizzled out. Employee engagement suffered or was nonexistent.

So how can you increase employee engagement in your workplace? One great tool to engage employees in the workplace is through work standards. Work standards describe the best practices known so far and are crucial for improving consistency, safety, quality, productivity, and cost. Work standards are best created by the front-line operators, and enabling the operators to change their own work increases employee engagement. Involve employees in the creation of standards and ensuring that these standards are not imposed from above but developed collaboratively!

AllAboutLean.com is a comprehensive resource dedicated to lean manufacturing, lean management, and manufacturing history. The blog is written by Christoph Roser, a seasoned industry expert with over two decades of experience. It encompasses a wealth of information on lean tools, methodologies, and concepts such as Kanban, Just-in-Time, and the Toyota Production System. The content is a mix of in-depth articles, case studies, and practical tips, aimed at improving production efficiency and business processes. It serves as an educational platform for students, professionals, and anyone interested in operational excellence, providing valuable insights to streamline workflows and enhance productivity in manufacturing environments. www.allaboutlean.com

Prof. Dr. Christoph Roser is a worldwide renowned expert for lean production; Toyota, McKinsey, and Bosch Alumni, and professor for Production Management at the Karlsruhe University of applied sciences. He is interested in everything related to lean manufacturing, bottleneck detection and management, as well as historic developments of manufacturing. He blogs about his experiences and research on AllAboutLean.com and published books “Faster, Better, Cheaper” on the history of manufacturing and “All About Pull Production” going into details of kanban and other pull systems.

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

8:45 am    Check-in 

9 am         Introduction

9:05 am    Presenter presentation

9:50 am    Q&A

10 am       Webinar concludes

• Understanding employee engagement: What is employee engagement and how does it distinguish from related concepts like employee safety, happiness, satisfaction, and wellbeing?
• Successful lessons learned from Toyota at NUMMI: A major success story for employee engagement is the NUMMI joint venture between GM and Toyota, which transformed one of the worst-performing plants in the US into a model of productivity and quality. 
• Lessons learned from the failure of GM at NUMMI: GM tried to copy the Lean practices into other plants without proper understanding, leading to failures and non-existent employee engagement. 
• Increasing employee engagement through work standards: One great tool to engage employees in the workplace is through work standards. Work standards are best created by the front-line operators and enabling them to change their own work increases employee engagement.

• Managers and Supervisors: Those responsible for overseeing teams and ensuring productivity and engagement in the workplace, especially on the shop floor.
• Lean Practitioners: Professionals who are implementing or interested in Lean management practices.
• Front-line Operators: Employees who are directly involved in the creation and modification of work standards.