Posted on Thu, Jul 15, 2010
In this difficult economy, our weekly blog tackles a sensitive subject: adding employees as the business outlook finally shows some hesitant signs of recovery.
Before tackling the main topic of this article, a couple of disclaimers are in order:
First, with U.S. unemployment hovering in the high 9% range, it seems rather heartless to talk about why not to hire employees. While we are sympathetic to all the people who have lost jobs due to the economy, the suggestion that companies simply hire in proportion to sales volume would violate logical business principles – Lean or traditional. An organization that fails to stay efficient and effective does no favors to its employees. In fact, that approach puts everyone’s job at risk to a more efficient competitor. The only exception is the government which… Oops, see the next disclaimer.
Second, politicians are already bickering about whose policies will lead to a recovery in employment and how fast it will happen. Also, pundits are engaged in quite a debate about the role of government versus the private sector. As a result, it would be easy for this to turn into a political argument. Although it’s quite tempting to take some potshots, we will carefully tiptoe around those subjects.
However, as Lean Consultants we can’t help but notice how many companies have the objective of recovering their former level of sales but doing so with fewer employees. We unabashedly support this approach for a variety of reasons.
Read the rest of the article here
Posted on Wed, Jan 06, 2010
Over the holidays I attended a party and found myself in a discussion with another guest. Over a cold, adult beverage we traded the typical small talk about jobs and responsibilities. After explaining that I was a Lean consultant and what that meant, my new acquaintance said (jokingly), "Oh, so you are one of those guys who's shipping jobs to low wage countries".
I explained that in reality our work has saved thousands of jobs in North America by eliminating the wasteful content that encourages some companies to simply move to low cost regions. I don't think the guy meant any offense but, the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.
I firmly believe that Lean and Six Sigma have kept and created jobs. Furthermore, consumers can buy higher quality products at lower prices as a result of the improvements in manufacturing that these technologies have provided.
But that's just me... What do you think? Are the economies of North America stronger or weaker as a result of Lean and Six Sigma? Do these technologies create net employment or reduce it? Please add your comments.