Issue link: https://industrialmanagement.epubxp.com/i/513969
26 Industrial Management In his book Toyota Kata , Mike Rother wrote that none outside of the Toyota group of companies has success- fully brought systematic continuous improvement into all processes every day and across the organization. Even Toyota's efforts to spread its approach of continuous improvement to outside suppliers have not met expectations. Truly, most organizations remain far away from establishing a solid continuous improvement system, and current management behavior rarely leads corporations to do what they should do in terms of both process and people management. Bad habits, or behaviors done with little or no conscious thought, continue to affect culture and hold companies back from success. Recruiting the right habits One of the initial steps for business success is getting the right people on board with the appropriate skills and attitudes. How companies choose and hire their people reflect their organi- zational culture. These hires are going to develop new methods of working, invent new products, lead the transfor- mation and build a successful business. They are the company's future leaders. But do companies really get what they expect from their hiring candi- dates? Traditionally, companies demand degrees and certifications to demon- strate expertise, while others prefer to hire based on experience, history and skills. Neither way will work if the organization in question refuses to develop a culture of improvement. Managers hire MBAs and Six Sigma black belts with the mistaken notion that they will transform the business without a transformation of management. Yet what can a certificate holder do in a system that doesn't engage employees in the continuous improvement cycle, value their ideas and develop them continuously? A closer look at these companies reveals that they don't have a real system capable of utilizing and Certificates don't drive performance competency in the practical world. aligning employee skills and efforts to solve problems and achieve business goals. Your entire professional force can get certified, but if the company culture doesn't allow it, they won't get the chance to practice what they have learned. And while certificates can prove ability, actual improvement will not occur without a high commitment to self-education and self-development to keep the certificate holder's knowledge up to date, allowing the person to develop better ways of working and practicing. Certificates don't drive performance competency in the practical world. Josh Kaufman, author of the interna- tional best-seller Personal MBA , wrote that a large body of evidence suggests that what some business schools teach has no connection to what is required for business success. Unfortunately, according to Kaufman, many business programs have de-emphasized value creation and operations in favor of finance and quantitative analysis. This extreme focus on financial analysis produces executives who are not capable of improving business performance, driving success and creating value for customers. It doesn't build distinguished leadership. Reinforced by their MBA education, many executives and managers seek solid financial outcomes, although in many instances they have lost connection with the reality that exists on their organization's front lines. Decision-makers are poorly informed about the actual situation, and decision- making is based on incorrect assump- tions and inappropriate targets. They have learned to manage the process via distance using some reported metrics. They have not been taught the culture of improvement. For example, if managers remain behind the scenes and avoid the actual place where the work is done (the gemba), they will not realize what small issues pop up as obstacles to success. They will make poor decisions. Then, when their business processes fail, the human resources department asks what went wrong. After all, they have hired professional, qualified persons. But hiring professionals won't, by itself, turn around an organization. Having a real continuous improvement system and an embedded culture of improvement will. A system that empowers employees to make changes, motivates them in the right way, aligns goals and efforts with organizational strategies and vision, develops leaders continuously, bases management decisions on real situations, and makes improvement a part of everyone's daily routine is a system with a high chance of success. Better questions, better results When organizations base their hiring processes on certifications and classic interviews, what do the companies really know about these individuals, their behaviors and their openness to change? Do companies really get the results they need? The hiring process can be improved to select better candidates if the human resources department, instead of asking for certifications, tests individuals properly and assesses their skills. Toyota approaches the hiring process differently. The powerhouse Japanese automaker wants to hire people who are motivated and highly committed to self-development and self-education. For Toyota to exceed customer expecta- tions, its employees must do the same. Toyota tends to assess what its candi- dates know and how they are going to use that knowledge. Jeffrey K. Liker's The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership originally reported that when Toyota started to hire leaders for the New United Motor Manufac- turing Inc. (NUMMI) plant, the first joint venture plant between Toyota and General Motors, the focus was on hiring candidates who had demonstrated an inherent capacity for self-development and learning. Toyota wanted people who had an openness and excitement to learning new things.