Building Lean Culture in the Workplace (Part 1 of 2)

Your organization’s culture impacts everything your business touches, all the way down to how the public will view your company. Just like individuals, organizations communicate. In this way, an organization’s culture can build the business up or bury it in just a matter of days. All organizations must develop a culture that positively communicates their mission to the world at large.

In my company, Value-Centered Solutions, we wholeheartedly embrace the lean philosophy, and as a result, we enjoy the full support of our employees and leadership. If you look at any multinational’s initiative list, you’ll find that developing a lean culture is one of the top-ten goals under current objectives. Companies like Nike, John Deere, Ford, Intel, Caterpillar, and Kimberly-Clark strive to establish a lean culture. A lean culture encourages all employees to contribute, collaborate, and strive for continual growth and improvement in all aspects of the business. It seeks to anticipate and be responsive to customer needs, so the company provides the right products and services at the right time. This explains why lean is a must-have in your organization’s growth agenda.

Lean is an operational framework that instills processes aimed at eliminating waste throughout the firm. Simple as it sounds, lean is an ambitious objective whose attainment requires a business to develop lean culture.

Here are the elements that will enable you to build a lean culture in your workplace.

Building Blocks of Lean Culture

Ensure that the Client is Everyone’s Business

At Value-Centered Solutions, we put our clients first. It’s crucial to recognize that your customers are the bloodline of the entire organization. Lean seeks to support customers with products and services they want without flaws and on time. Every worker must treat the customer as the person that pays their salaries and work towards embracing the elements that will contribute to excellent customer experiences.

Clear Communication

Embarking on the lean journey is just that – a journey. Lean is a process and not an end. Company leadership must develop channels that cultivate clear communication of the organization’s vision. In my experience, employees are more likely to immerse themselves in operations to achieve the company’s vision if they know it’s specific scope. 

Leadership can foster clear communication by encouraging and implementing the ideas and suggestions of employees at all levels. The company leadership must create an environment that allows employees to feel their input is not only valid but vital to the core vision through effective communication. 

To be continued…