Monday, July 7, 2008

Lean and HRM work perfectly together!

Lean and HRM (Human Resource Management) work perfectly together when implementing Lean. A good and effective HRM-department can support a successful implementation of Lean in many ways.

Examples are:

  • When implementing Lean it is necessary to appoint some change agents. These change agents can be found internally or hired. In both situations a good HRM-dept can help finding the right persons.
  • The implementation of Lean is a huge change for the whole organization. To handle the change a good HRM-dept can be the key player. Both as advisors for the change agents and as coaches to the management and employees.
  • During a Lean process a lot of training is being conducted. A good HRM-dept can support making a good training plan. I.e. ensure that the training is conducted at the right time and in the right way. Also a HRM-dept can help evaluating these training sessions.
  • The HRM-dept should also be used to make the best and most effective project teams to be used in the Lean process.
  • When implementing Lean one of the objectives is to find best practise. E.g. when implementing 5S at a work place used for several shifts or when making SOP (standard operation procedures). When looking for best practise conflicts may occur. Here HRM can help.
  • If the goal with Lean is to reduce costs (oppesite a growth strategy) HRM can help to ensure a good process when asking employees to leave the company. A good HRM-dept can make the difference between a good and a bad implementation of Lean in such a company.
A good HRM-department can make a huge difference when implementing Lean!

Do you have comments or more examples - please white a comment!

By Mikkel Smith
Flexkom – Download Lean tools online >
Website on Scandinavian Lean Courses >

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