Kaizen Your Employees

In Japanese Kaizen means continuous improvement; something we all should strive for. As a business owner or manager you look around your workplace and think of ways things could be better. How often does the thought cross your mind that the same should happen with your employees? It’s very likely that the people you’ve hired hold more potential to be better employees and could be tapping into more of their potential. Previously we’ve written about how to motivate employees and some of the benefits of cross training but these practices won’t just work to motivate your employees. Allowing your employees greater flexibility in terms of what tasks they can perform at work will ultimately lead to a more versatile workforce; illness, injuries and vacations will have less of an impact on productivity and stress levels among employees if people can move into other jobs relatively seamlessly. Next to think about is training. There are all kinds of training programs available, if employees can work better through training advocate for it. Colleges and Universities as well as business help centers will all be able to connect you with the right people to provide training for your employees, customer service is a popular choice. Maybe you’ve seen a motivational speaker or know of one coming to your city soon, invite them to your workplace to speak or provide tickets to your employees to attend an event, it may jump start a new level of commitment or motivation in your workforce.  Your employees are one of your greatest assets and are the most important factor in your businesses success. In the words of one car manufacturer marketing gurus, “Make Things Better”.