IBEX

Continuous improvements contribute to business, personal and professional growth.

Kaizen, writes Steve Hudgik of Graphic Products, is a system that involves every single employee in an organization from the maintenance staff all the way up to the top brass. It's a solutions-based system that encourages suggestions, big or small, that will contribute to improvements in any number of areas of a business. With kaizen in place, suggestions are encouraged every day, in every way and need to be acted on immediately.

The key contributor to successful implementation of kaizen is communication. Letting people know you've received their suggestions and why you are or aren't acting on it. Same-day responses to the suggestions encourages people to continue to identify areas they feel need improvements while fostering an environment of trust among employees and managers.

Contrary to major over-hauls of management or changes to capital and infrastructure, kaizen is about the continued, small and incremental improvements that all add up to major benefits, writes Hudgik. And people who work for companies who have adopted the kaizen philosophy "generally find work to be easier and more enjoyable--resulting in higher employee morale and job satisfaction, and lower turn-over."

Other benefits* of kaizen include:

• waste reduction in areas such as inventory, waiting times, transportation, worker motion, employee skills, over production, excess quality and in processes;
• improved space utilization, product quality, use of capital, communications, production capacity and employee retention;

• immediate results: instead of focusing on large, capital intensive improvements, kaizen focuses on creative investments that continually solve large numbers of small problems. The real power of kaizen is in the on-going process of continually making small improvements that improve processes and reduce waste.

*files from graphicproducts.com.

While IBEX hasn't yet adopted the kaizen philosophy as a formal business practice, we have implemented specific changes that have contributed to improved efficiencies, reduced waste and a measured increase in employee morale and corporate culture.

As is common in many offices, the layout of the IBEX Herdquarters is an open-office concept. Recent renovations to the modular office design have allowed for improved efficiencies for the Alpine Crew (payroll specialists) to work together in proximity to each other in an effort to support each other with workloads and processes. The change has brought with it reduced processing times for clients' payrolls, which were already in line with other local and national payroll providers.

The IBEX Herddle is another practice that has contributed to increased productivity and employee morale. Implemented just over a year ago, the Herddle is held daily at 10:12, when the Herd gathers in the open area of the office to discuss company news and items of importance, share metrics with people from different departments and to discuss the "Top 1", which is the number-one task each person would like to get accomplished for the day. Herddle is an effective way to communicate with people in different departments, while ending each Herddle with the IBEX cheer, "Go IBEX", contributes to a positive Herd (team) environment.

Our Climbing Higher meetings have resulted in perhaps the most tangible improvements in waste reduction and financial savings. The purpose of Climbing Higher is to track performance against written goals and is an opportunity for everyone to get involved in the financial picture. Because profit sharing is another important element of the culture, staff can help identify cost savings and submit ideas on how to increase efficiencies in the workplace.

Office design, communication and a dynamic corporate culture are just some of the ways kaizen contributes to a more efficient workplace and increased employee morale.For more information about kaizen, visit these resources:

Benefits of Kaizen

Case Study: Mathers Controls

Kaizen Quick Start Guide

What is 5S?