Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke. The 5S program is not new. It has been around for at least 30 years, and it has helped organizations of all sizes in developing a better and safer workplace for employees of any industry. But 5S cannot be just another flavour of the month. The easiest steps of the program (the first 3 Ss) are a lot of fun to execute. They have a visual appeal and instantly deliver change in the workplace. Indeed, the hardest part is the organization's mind changing that will set the workplace ready for the program's longevity. In this post, we offer our audience three steps to make your 5S program last. To learn more about 5S, please visit the links provided below. You can also find dozens of books written about 5S for sale.
1. Establishing ownership: an orphan 5S program is nothing else than political compliance or simply stated, waste of time and money. Large corporations usually pick "champions" or "owners" to be the sponsors of the program, from training to execution. Small- and mid-size companies usually have their owners as the main sponsor. Whoever the organization chooses to be in charge, it is vital that someone is in fact in charge. It is equally important that this someone truly believes that the program will make the organization a safer, more productive, and better workplace - the old "walk the talk" adage.
2. Education: we have seen, in many occasions, a 5S program going down the drain because of lack of education. And we really mean education, not training. Employees need to comprehend why the program is about to be in place, and how the program will change their lives at work. Often, 5S is delivered as a housekeeping program, and a housekeeping program 5S is not. The main idea is to improve the well being of all, not only employees but also customers, vendors, and even the community around your business. The program per se includes housekeeping, but it is far from being it only.
3. Allocating a budget (or not): have no fear, in most cases, a low 5S budget can still make a huge change in the workplace. Furthermore, if the organization simply wants to contract third parties to rebuild, repaint, or even manage the program, it will not achieve the main idea of ownership and commitment from employees. The best 5S programs we have seen did not require a lot of capital or external contracting to be successful. Employees in most cases, when committed, use their intelligence and creativity rather than the company's funds. Of course, inevitably there will always be those cases in which spending is mandatory, but any company can start the program with zero cash for it.
A well implemented 5S program depends on many variables. These are only a few of them, but if the entrepreneur has these simple 3 steps in mind, s/he is off to a great start. If your organization does not have a 5S educated person, and if it is difficult to educate someone onsite, eZSigma can help you to turn your organization into a pleasant and productive workplace.
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Another major factor for 5S or any form of improvement is change management. If the people involved in the event/improvement have a mindset that is against any change there will always be challenges no matter how prepared or educated your organization is. Therefore, I offer an addition, call it item 1A: when the organization is choosing someone to 'be in charge' ensure that this person is an advocate for change and has the ability to motivate others to see change as a positive and desirable outcome. Otherwise those involved will be forever cursed to doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.
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