Employee Empowerment is Key to Success With Lean

the concept of managing employee empowerment can be defined as creating an environment in which people at all levels feel they have a real impact on standards of quality, service and efficiency of operations within their areas of responsibility. This is a strategy and philosophy that enables employees to make decisions about their jobs. In organizations where management style is not natural, adopting a management style that includes empowerment will be difficult, but critical change to succeed in implementing Lean Enterprise efforts thinking.

organizations that support people are entitled to have some common characteristics:

- There are several layers of management in the organization
- Wide range of control are the relative responsibilities and accountability
- Process-based organization structure as it is used as opposed to purely functional structures based on
- Department stands behind the people who are trained

Most experts who are familiar with implementing Lean in the organization will probably state something to the effect "... the main inhibitor to get lean environment is the inability to trust the work force and really give a certain level of control so that people can spend their ideas and be respected as experts in their field ... ".

Without this level of trust within the workforce, those who know best how to improve the operation will not feel they can make the changes necessary to eliminate all waste and can be thought of continuous improvement will become a way of thinking, it must be for Lean to be truly successful.

Empowering the workforce does not mean that management is giving up control and allow people to do whatever they want. Instead, guidelines and boundaries should be set so that everyone knows the limits on how they can act. process should be established which allows management to set direction for the organization, but allows employees found unique ways to achieve those goals and objectives. Leaving the workforce to be free to implement the ideas in their work areas, the administration will find that the organization is much more productive than following the direction of a few selected individuals. The trick is to influence one's self, although the talents of all involved.

style, the harmonization process of empowerment within the business organization is not solely the responsibility of management. True, the manager must learn to let go without giving up complete control, but in order for empowerment to work, the employee must accept the responsibility that goes with it. In short - they take it. However, not all are willing or able to do, or do not know how and what it means, so care must be taken to educate themselves and transition those who are involved.

A change in the mode that allows members of the organization really difficult transition to make, but one that can be achieved. It does take time and that the coach can be a real help. Everyone involved should be patient and understand that the organization is learning a new way to work, but when it is successful with this transition, the organization will have taken a big step toward the lean, and not just to lean.