The following is an excerpt from my book, “Lean HR: Redesigning HR Processes for a Culture of Continuous Improvement” – Second Edition, out this spring, intended to help organizations partner with HR to reach the full potential of a lean transformation. “Almost as a rule, leadership teams are aware that lean is capable of delivering much better results than they… Read the full article…

The following is an excerpt from my book, “Lean HR: Redesigning HR Processes for a Culture of Continuous Improvement” – Second Edition, out this spring, intended to help organizations partner with HR to reach the full potential of a lean transformation. “Understanding why HR is held in such low regard and seen as tangential to lean transformation efforts is critical… Read the full article…

Ever wonder how much of your HR team’s time is spent on transactional work compared to more value-added contributions? Although some studies report this to be 40%, the client I worked with recently registered a shocking 90%! This group, like so many others I’ve encountered over the years, is struggling to increase the value they bring to the organization. However,… Read the full article…

Sitting in an audience of well over 200 team members in a production facility, I was enjoying being a participant of this team meeting. The sessions included all types of engaged presentations on various topics, such as individual/team accomplishments, reports on what was coming up, progress updates on various projects, safety statistics, and process changes to improve product quality. They… Read the full article…

In March, AME and I facilitated a Champions of HR event for lean HR professionals to visit 3 world-class lean cultures. Following are the highlights of each visit that made for a memorable event. The Power of Gratitude with Cambridge Engineering Our first visit was Cambridge Engineering. When you first visit the Cambridge facility, you’ll typically be invited to the… Read the full article…

Recently, I visited an operation that was pleased with all the improvements they had been able to implement. They pointed to the ways team members had been involved in identifying problems and implementing solutions. I inquired on the role of HR in the overall improvement efforts and they looked at me quite puzzled. Since the focus of the improvement efforts… Read the full article…

Recently, I had the honor of working with McKee Foods and their HR team out of Gentry, Arkansas to capture the story of their journey with lean. As I’ve shared this with other HR teams, I believe it’s worth noting why I think it matters. It’s not so much that this HR group has done more with lean than other… Read the full article…

Over the last few years, it’s struck me that referring to “lean” as a way of thinking is complementary to, not exclusive of, what the experience of lean feels like. But beyond being an interesting perspective, understanding the experience of lean could be really important. Watching a presentation on a lean culture at a conference, I was struck to my… Read the full article…

As Julie faces her next engagement survey to be run later this year, she realizes that the work they’ve done in the last year is still not likely to change the results. One more time, she’ll have to face the leadership of her organization and explain why she hasn’t been able to generate an improved rating. Yet as we talk,… Read the full article…