G... Gemba people

When I started out in Lean, I realised that if you want to improve customer satisfaction, you first have to work with satisfied employees. As we know from business sociology, job satisfaction is based in particular on the feeling of doing a good job. So I thought it was important to agree on what "a good job" was. To put it another way, and to use terms we've heard a lot, for me "giving meaning to my work" meant "understanding how my work is useful". I haven't changed my mind on that, and I still believe it's vital for everyone to know how their work creates value (for customers, for society, for the company), because it's important to be able to take pride in one's work.

However, during my last study trip to Japan, I realised that companies have many other commitments to their employees. All every manager has to do is ask himself what he asks of his teams to realise that many of the requirements are not there to make people's lives easier - quite the contrary. How many control systems do nothing but complicate it for them... how many digital tools that are supposed to save them time actually poison them... how many absurd demands are imposed by our systems... how many safety solutions consist of adding protection rather than eliminating dangerous situations...

Taking the point of view of 'gemba people', looking at systems through their eyes, is what Mr Amezawa, who accompanied us on this trip, showed us on numerous occasions. How do you seriously go about making life easier for people on the ground?

-          By working with them to anticipate changes that will undoubtedly lead to problems, thanks to the Henkaten board. The arrival of a temporary worker, a change of supplier, the introduction of a new technology, or quite simply changes in the weather, always have consequences. Discussing them with your teams can help you to anticipate them as effectively as possible.

-          By taking a (real) interest in the conditions for success. Rather than stubbornly reinforcing objectives, roles and responsibilities, are we interested in what makes people's lives easier? Are we adding “things to do”, or removing things to do, to simplify their work? Do we measure the contradictions we impose? What we ask of our teams, is it designed to make life easier for US, or for THEM?

-          Stabilising teams through Kaizen. Every change in the way they work proposed by the corporate teams (process engineering, quality, HR, etc.) leads to a host of small (or large) problems. Who hasn't experienced (suffered?) an ERP change, the arrival of a new machine, a new HR process, or quite simply the arrival of a new product, and all the associated inconveniences? Kaizen can help your teams to 'get to grips' with these new processes by making micro-adjustments that are adapted to the context and which, step by step, will help them to take ownership of the new processes and make them acceptable.

Amezawa San says “Don't add work. Make Gemba people life better”. If we look at our teams through these glasses, we can question many of our beliefs! (particularly the one that managers know what's good for people...)

Cécile Roche