Lean philosophy may have its roots in manufacturing, but today its principles go way beyond the shop floor. Many successful organizations are implementing lean practices across different areas of their operations to improve quality and productivity through cost and waste removal.
Lean is a customer driven approach that translates extremely well to retail environments. Clearly, retail knows customers. Lean organizations create value by eliminating waste—if it doesn’t add value to the customer, you strive to eliminate it.
One way Lean principles can be effectively applied to retail environments is through the implementation of Lean Labor Management.
These four Lean strategies work as building blocks for effective Lean Labor Management.
Apply lean thinking, culture and process improvement
A lean culture uses the principle of People Involvement as its driving force, with employees working as a single team. People Involvement engages every employee to root out waste, eliminate problems, and make improvements. A lean organization provides tools and workplace organization to facilitate the employee-centered environment. This attitude of cooperation and trust is the foundation of Lean Labor Management.
Set comprehensive and statistically valid goals
Lean Labor Management strives to operate with an optimal labor base. This goal can be achieved in the following ways.
- Staff the optimal number and types of employees with effective, expert workforce planning.
- Train and develop employees to add value to every step and process.
- Leverage a flexible labor pool with cross-trained employees and temporary resources.
Implement objective feedback and coaching
“In a lean organization, supervisors go out of their way to thank employees for good work and smart suggestions,” says Chris Merritt, Vice President and General Manager of Ryder’s Retail Supply Chain Solutions. “It’s important for supervisors to make sure their teams understand how their work contributes to the company’s success.”
Additionally, company leadership needs to communicate company strategies to the entire organization in a way that makes sense to every employee. Instant feedback is important to ensure that work is done right the first time. In a lean facility, employees meet briefly at the start of each shift to share information and news. Leaders are expected to give employees the tools and encouragement they need to be effective in their jobs. If instead, managers ignore employee suggestions, an aspiring lean enterprise will fail.
Recognize and reward
The end goal is to create more value for the customer, so when employees make suggestions and those suggestions add value when implemented, the employee should be rewarded for their contribution. If you create a program to incent and reward employees, value will continue to increase and performance will improve.
Through a rewards program, your employees feel more appreciated because you show them the value they add. Simply thanking an employee for a great suggestion, especially in front of others, can be extremely effective. Material rewards work well too; for example, a cash incentive or gift cards to employees whose suggestions boost performance or save money.
The key to delivering long-term customer value and outstanding business performance, quarter after quarter, year after year, is to implement a lean culture.
To learn more about implementing Lean Labor Management in your retail supply chain, watch this webinar titled “How lean practices can translate to greater motivation in the retail workforce.”
