Culture of improvement

From HMCwiki

Organizations would double the power improvement efforts if they built a culture of improvement with a singleness of purpose. Below is a series of true stories illustrating that world class cultures aren’t created; they’re grown.

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The story of the tea leaves: understanding the value of unity

A large progressive Japanese company annually awarded the most beneficial idea with the greatest prestige and monetary recognition. Ideas in this culture come natural with the average employee generating 36 ideas per year with an amazing 75% implementation rate. The award went to an employee that had recognized the waste in unused tea leaves (U.S. equivalent to coffee) . Using standard tea bags just as we do, the workers would dip the bag into the cup until the their tea was the right strength then the bag was thrown away. The award winning employee suggested that the employees return to the old way of taking just the amount of tea leaves desired, placing them into a perforated tea container and then dipping. This way the employees would only use the amount of tea that was needed, subsequently reducing the waste incurred by the standard tea bag which had enough tea leaves to satisfy the strongest of tastes.

Why such fuss over saving only hundred dollars on tea leaves? There were other ideas implemented that saved tens of thousands of dollars, why weren’t they given this prestigious award. The review committee said the value of this idea went far beyond the dollar amount of the savings. In order to achieve this savings, all employees in the organization had to participate to make it work. Executives, supervisors, line workers all joined together to make the savings real. This strengthened the culture to work as one in order to reduce waste. And if you are good at getting rid of waste in the small things, you will also be sensitive in getting rid of the waste in the big things. The “spirit” of this idea was what was the greatest value.

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A tale of trash in the elevator: goal orientation knows no rank

To initiate customer-focused culture change, East Jefferson Hospital of Metorie, Louisiana received Disney management training and consulting services. For a public hospital in a conservative state this was a bold move. In benchmarking this culture, it was discovered this drive to be customer-focused began ten years prior. Their telephone etiquette would challenge that of the finest hotels. Their dress code was strict for the sake of their guests. The CEO spent an hour during employee orientation welcoming all the new “cast” explaining how important it was to exceed customer expectations. As a test, the benchmarkers purposely looked lost and asked for unusual assistance, only to find staff rush to help their “guests”. Just as Disney, they understood and practiced the concept “on stage/off stage” while at work.

A clean environment at East Jefferson was essential just as it was at Disneyworld. It was jointly practiced by all employed through something of a “adopt a highway” program. The public areas of the hospital were distributed among the various hospital departments to patrol and keep clean throughout the day. As you walked by, you made the place look new by straightening magazines, picking up trash or calling housekeeping if major cleaning was in order. The Chief Financial Officer explained that administration’s patrol, his beat, was a lobby just outside their offices. They took pride in keeping it picked up. The CFO said you could look back and feel good about your effort. It became such a habit that he caught himself automatically picking up trash in an elevator at an out of state conference. These common practices brought the importance of the customer, internal and external, into focus at all times. This is the fuel that transcends organizational rank, that sends the whole organization shoulder to shoulder toward a goal of world class customer service.

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A lesson learned from Mattress Mac: getting the job done is everybody’s job

In the Houston area, Mattress Mac is a household word. To the surprise of most, his company, Gallery Furniture has the highest sales revenue per square foot of showplace in the world. Sold-out on quality and a leader of Deming philosophy, Jim “Mattress Mac” McIngvale has broken tradition by taking salesmen off commission and placing them on salary. This encourages the seasoned staff to take time and train the new recruits to get overall sales up. The more money the company makes, the more everyone makes. Since there is no commission, when sales are slow, salesmen quickly hop in delivery trucks to speed up delivery service.

While visiting their team meetings led by Dr. Kosaku Yoshida, a Deming disciple, one of the frustrated warehousemen, said “Doc, earn your pay, how can I get everyone to pitch in as a team to keep the warehouse in order?” Dr. Yashida looked puzzled. He said in Japan, job descriptions are purposely left vague to open up employees’ availability to do whatever is needed. When a president of a company is walking by an empty waste barrel, if he has time he will walk it back to its resting place. This requires an environment where instructions are evident (laminated on the barrel), and culture where getting the job done is everybody’s job. It matches a motto of one of the first re-engineered hospitals in Florida: “If you can do it, you do it”. Another hospital put it, “All jobs have dignity if they are for our guests”. In a culture that is truly customer oriented, the whole organization is tuned to getting the job done.