{"id":2457,"date":"2014-04-28T09:41:56","date_gmt":"2014-04-28T08:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjbealehrconsult.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2457"},"modified":"2014-04-28T09:41:56","modified_gmt":"2014-04-28T08:41:56","slug":"kaizen-the-art-of-employee-involvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sjbealehrconsult.co.uk\/blog\/kaizen-the-art-of-employee-involvement\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaizen – The Art of Employee Involvement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"continuous\"<\/a>

Source: Free Digital Images<\/p><\/div>\n

I recently watched Digby Jones – The New Troubleshooter a programme on BBC2 that involves a management consultant giving advice to small businesses on how to improve their processes and ultimately their profits. \u00a0This week he focused on a small manufacturing organisation, Ebac\u00a0http:\/\/www.ebac.com\/<\/a> in the North East which has made water coolers and dehumidifiers for years. \u00a0In an effort to grow the business through diversification the MD, Pamela Petty, had purchased Norfrost a failing company that had been very successful in the 1980s. \u00a0Lord Jones introduced her to Kaizen – the art of employee involvement. \u00a0These are the principles on which Nissan works producing over 500,000 vehicles every year bringing high profits to that company.<\/p>\n

Kaizen involves all levels of employees in business decisions.\u00a0Employees who feel as though their opinions and ideas are important are typically happier, more productive employees than those who are not. \u00a0Therefore it makes sense to involve employees in decision-making. \u00a0Employee involvement can help competitiveness and therefore job security so it is in employees’ best interests.<\/p>\n

With employee involvement comes empowerment. \u00a0With management demonstrating to employees that their opinion counts, it shows that employees are respected. \u00a0Empowered employees are more confident and happy to contribute more.<\/p>\n

Employee involvement encourages buy in. \u00a0This can be invaluable when difficult changes are planned. \u00a0When being asked for their opinion, employees’ dissent may evaporate away to a certain extent and pave the way for successful change thereby reduced conflict. \u00a0Not getting buy in can increase low morale and ultimately affect profits.<\/p>\n

Employees may bring to the table lots of fresh ideas. \u00a0Problems can be solved and profitable ideas can be uncovered. \u00a0The old adage “two heads are better than one” can often mean something. \u00a0Employees who do work day to day will have a better understanding of works and what doesn’t and can add insight to management perspective. \u00a0Top down decision making may not always be the best way forward.<\/p>\n

Employees who are involved feel they are a valued part of the team. \u00a0The will take ownership of new initiatives if they have contributed and commitment is much stronger. \u00a0Employees’ skills and experience can be used to great advantage.<\/p>\n

There are several ways in which employees can be involved. Email can be used instead of face to face whereby key questions and issues are raised with employees by senior management. \u00a0Face to face is quite common whereby meetings and focus groups can be set up for discussions. \u00a0Suggestion schemes are where ideas are put to management. \u00a0Project teams can be set up to discuss work organisation.<\/p>\n

In addition, a company may set up an employee forum, regular union\/management meetings or a works council.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently watched Digby Jones – The New Troubleshooter a programme on BBC2 that involves a management consultant giving advice to small businesses on how to improve their processes and ultimately their profits. \u00a0This week he focused on a small manufacturing organisation, Ebac\u00a0http:\/\/www.ebac.com\/ in the North East which has made water coolers and dehumidifiers for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[500],"tags":[588,502,501],"class_list":["post-2457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-employee-involvement","tag-employee-involvement","tag-japanese-continuous-improvement","tag-kaizen"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nKaizen - The Art of Employee Involvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kaizen - The Art of Employee Involvement\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sjbealehrconsult.co.uk\/blog\/kaizen-the-art-of-employee-involvement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kaizen - 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