🥇 Kaizen System: Kaizen Employee Suggestion System

The article presents a comprehensive guide to implementing the Kaizen employee suggestion system, emphasizing how crucial it is to base it on numbers, data, and facts. It contains practical tips on creating a system that not only allows employees to report problems and ideas but also promotes a culture of continuous improvement.

One of the main advantages of the Kaizen system is that it gives employees a clear process for reporting problems and initiative in improvement actions. Employees receive recognitions and gratifications for implemented ideas, which serves as a motivational element and supports the development of their competencies. The system also improves communication and team relations, with the average value of an implemented idea exceeding 2350.00 PLN annually.

The article's author draws attention to key assumptions when introducing the suggestion system. The system should make sense for teams and the company, unite around a clearly defined goal, preferably a SMART goal, and engage all employees from the president to those in lower positions. Supervisors should oversee the system and help in building its structures.

The daily functioning of the suggestion system should be based on verification and actual implementation of submissions. Each idea should be analyzed comprehensively, preferably in reference to the VSM map. It is important to provide dynamic feedback to idea submitters, preferably within 24 hours of changing the application status.

The article also presents what an employee's application should contain, including key information such as: first and last name, date, department/section, problem description according to 5W2H, solution description or technical drawing, commission evaluation, implementation status, and reference to the regulations.

The author notes that for the smooth operation of the Kaizen system, a coordinator is needed who is responsible for the system's development and coordination of the flow of all applications in the organization. An effectively built system allows for dynamic monitoring of the application status, which should end with the implementation of the idea.

The suggestion system enables employees to feel influential in the organization's processes, bringing tangible benefits. The article also discusses why employee suggestion programs often fail - mainly due to omitting key system assumptions. It indicates what is and what is not an idea in the context of the suggestion system, as well as what modules make up this system.

Elements to consider when building the Kaizen system are also emphasized, such as clear communication, employee engagement, a readable submission form, idea implementation in a short time, transparent roles, an understandable reward system, and promotion of the system concept in the organization. The article ends with a description of the business goals of the system, such as cost reduction, improved safety, communication, company image, and streamlining performed work.