Approaches to Engage Individuals and Teams for Continuous Improvement Initiatives

1. LEAN and Six Sigma World Conference
Thursday March 27, 2014
San Antonio, Texas
Creating an Engaged Workforce to Sustain
Continuous Improvement
Gordon Masiuk, President
Masiuk Consulting Services Ltd.
www.business-performance-excellence.ca

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Presentation Topics
• What is “Sustainment” ?
• What is “Employee Engagement” ?
• What is “Reinforcement” and how does it
lead to engagement of people and teams to
sustain CI initiatives?
• Real life examples of reinforcing activities,
structures and processes that can
work in any organization.

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Engage
ReinforceSustain
The “Engage – Reinforce – Sustain” Cycle

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What Does Sustainment Look Like?
• Fully Implemented
• Repeatable results
• Standardized
• Consistent
• Proven CI methods fully utilized:
– All of Deming‟s 14 Points, not just a few you like
– PDCA, not just “Opportunity” and skip to “Act”
– DMAIC, not just “Measure” or “Control”
• “It’s how we do things around here!”

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A CI/Sustainment Model
Leadership, Communication, Support, Structures and Processes
Vision
Improve
Measure Implement
Plan and
Prepare
Engage and Reinforce!

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A CI/Sustainment Model – „EE Perspective
Vision: Where are we going? Why are we doing
this?
Plan and Prepare: How are we going to get there?
What‟s the plan? Who is affected?
Implement: What is my role? What will change for
me? How will I be successful? What new skills
will I need?
Measure: How are we doing? How am I doing?
How will I know? When will I know?
Improve: Are we doing things better? Am I
doing things better? What new things can
I do? Has anyone noticed?

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Employee Engagement

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The First Step to Sustaining CI
Efforts is to Engage Your People

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Levels of Engagement
• Engaged employees work with a passion and feel
a profound connection to their company. They
drive innovation and move the company forward.
• Disengaged employees have essentially
“checked out”. They‟re sleep walking through
their workday, putting in time, but not energy or
passion into their work.
• Actively Disengaged employees aren‟t just
unhappy at work, they are busy acting out their
unhappiness. Every day, these workers
undermine what their engaged coworkers
accomplish
Source: The Gallup Organization

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Employee Engagement
• Employee engagement is how people feel about:
– the work they do and what is expected of them,
– the organization they work in,
– the leader they work for,
– how they are treated
• These feelings manifest themselves in job
performance including quality initiatives.
• High wages, job security and the potential for
promotion assist in attraction and retention,
but do not create engagement for
employees.

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Employee Engagement: What Employees Need
Engaged Employees:
• Feel connected to the organization and know how
they contribute to the success of the organization
• Know what their goals and responsibilities are
• Receive regular performance feedback
• Receive frequent positive reinforcement
• Have immediate supervisors that show interest in
their work, appreciate their efforts, and care for them
• Work with co-workers who are committed to quality
• Have the right tools and training to do the job right
• Have a supportive social network at work

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Bowling – An Analogy For Engagement

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Bowling – An Analogy For Engagement

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How We Typically Support Employees

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Recent Studies: Employee Engagement
Engaged
30%
Disengag
ed
52%
Actively
Disengag
ed
18%
2013 Gallup US Employee
Engagement Survey
Engaged
35%
Unsupp
orted
22%
Detache
d
17%
Disenga
ged
26%
Towers-Watson2012 Global
WorkforceStudy
On average, only about 1/3 of employees are engaged!
Source: The Gallup Organization, Towers Watson

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So, we have a disconnect between what
people need, and how they feel about
their work environment!
Sustainment of anything is challenging
when only 1 out of 3 people are actively
engaged in your organization!

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2013 Gallup Findings – Business Impacts
• Gallup research also shows that active
disengagement (18% of employees) costs
the U.S. an estimated $450 billion to $550
billion annually.
• On the other hand, Gallup finds that the 30
million engaged employees in the U.S.:
– Come up with most of the innovative ideas,
– Create most of a company‟s new customers,
– Have the most entrepreneurial energy.
Source: The Gallup Organization

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Actively Disengaged Employees
• Significantly less productive
• Report being less loyal to their companies
• Less satisfied with their personal lives
• More stressed and insecure about their work
• Are absent 3.5 days more per year
(almost 2 FTE years equivalent
absenteeism per year, per 1000
employees!)
Source: The Gallup Organization

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“At first I was really sceptical about this
quality stuff. But now, even if the company
were to cancel the program, I would still
operate my field and facilities this way
because it’s become “my operation” and it’s
the “right thing to do”
Field Operator
An Actively Engaged Employee

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Reinforcement

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Questions…
• How many organizations here today have a well
defined employee attraction process?
• How many organizations here today have a well
defined employee development process?
• How many organizations here today have a well
defined employee termination process?
• How many organizations here today have a well
defined, positive reinforcement process for
employees? i.e.: a process that is designed to
provide positive reinforcement for every
employee and all projects on a timely basis?

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Why don’t we consistently reinforce
and support employees in a meaningful
way, and on a timely basis?

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What is the primary role of a
supervisor, manager or leader?

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Reinforcement is the secret that sustains
Continuous Improvement Initiatives and
engages people to new levels of
performance!
The “Secret” to Sustaining CI

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Anything that is meaningful to an
individual or team, is reinforcing!
What is Reinforcement?

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Reinforcement and Consequences
Consequences That Decrease Behavior
Consequences That Increase Behavior
1. Positive Reinforcement
2. Negative Reinforcement
3. Punishment
4. Extinction
Get something you want
Avoid something you don’t want
Get something you don’t want
Don’t get what you want
Behavior
Source: Aubrey Daniels “Bringing Out The Best In People”

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Results of Reinforcement
Target
(Desired
Performance)
Punishment
Extinction
Negative Reinforcement
Positive Reinforcement
(Declining
Performance)
(High
Performance)

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Why Is Reinforcement Important?
• Positive Reinforcement is the only form of
reinforcement that leads to continual
improvement!
• Reinforcement is the key to engaging
people and sustaining CI Efforts
• Positive Reinforcement is aligned with what
we expect people to achieve
• It lets people know that they are
working on the right things in the
right way and continually improving

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How Leaders Can Engage and Reinforce
• Provide clarity on expectations, results and
outcomes
• Focus on the strengths of individuals
• Deliver frequent performance feedback,
coaching, support and positive
reinforcement to individuals and teams
• Train, train, train! JIT and adult learning.

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SMART Positive Reinforcement
• Specific: Positive reinforcement needs to be delivered
for specific behaviors and results
• Measurable: Illustrating improvement graphically, or
numerically always serves as a trigger for delivering
positive reinforcement
• Available: Positive reinforcement needs to be available
to the receiver
• Reinforcing: Positive reinforcement needs to be
meaningful to the receiver
• Time Based: Positive reinforcement needs to be
provided immediately in order to reinforce, shape
and sustain positive behaviors and results.
• How many of you have received performance
feedback or positive reinforcement in the
last week?

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Customer Satisfaction – Performance Feedback
Customer Satisfaction Score - Joe K's Sales Team
92
93
94
95
96
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Week Number
%CustomerSatisfaction
2% increase in customer satisfaction in 10 weeks

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Cycle Time Reduction - Performance Feedback
Downtime Minutes and Categories:
Performance Before and After Improvements
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
N
ov
29-D
ec
3
D
ec
6-10
D
ec
13-17
D
ec
20-24
Im
prIm
plem
ented
D
ec
27-31
Jan
3-7
Jan
10-14
Jan
17-21
Jan
24-28
Time Frames
AvgDowntimeMinutesPerDay
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
NumberofCategoriesPerWeek
Avg DT Minutes/Day # of DT Categories/Week
Avg DT Minutes/Day: 19.65
Avg DT Minutes/Day: 4.5
Baseline Avg: 19.68 minutes DT, 6.75 Categories/Week Improvement Avg: 4.5 Minutes DT, 2.5 Categories/Week
First 30 minutes of Operation
77% reduction in Down Time!

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“If I had 1 hour left to live, I would
spend 55 minutes planning,
and 5 minutes executing”
Albert Einstein

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Reinforcement Planning
• Get leaders engaged by making reinforcement
planning part of their daily planning and work
responsibilities
• For each CI initiative, plan how you will reinforce
the team/individuals
• Provide regular feedback on performance to
employees: at least weekly!
• Make their efforts and results visible.
• Recognize and celebrate efforts and results
regularly

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Engagement Approaches for Sustaining CI
• Start with engaging/training leaders first!
• Formal company structures e.g.: CI Councils
• Weekly CI Updates – with team member
names and accomplishments
• Monthly to quarterly CI Reviews
• Living Storyboards – CI Project Wall (use
charts, graphs, results, and highlight people)
• Company CI Intranet site
• Formal company awards
• Immediate, low cost reinforcement

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Examples – CI Project Wall
Division A
Project Name
Goals
KPIs
Plan
Do
Check
Act
Charts
Division B
Project Name
Goals
KPIs
Plan
Do
Check
Act
Charts
Division C
Project Name
Goals
KPIs
Plan
Do
Check
Act
Charts
Division D
Project Name
Goals
KPIs
Plan
Do
Check
Act
Charts
Division E
Project Name
Goals
KPIs
Plan
Do
Check
Act
Charts
Company/Division Priorities:
1. Improve Production
2. Reduce Cost Per Unit
3. Improve Safety
“Living Storyboard” Posted in a High Traffic Area in the Workplace

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Tracking of Initiatives on Company Intranet
Cumulative Average Cycle Time
2006-2008 Rig Release to Onstream Comparisons
164
155
145
142 144
147
150
153
157
154
158 159
129 127
95
92 92 94
99 98 96
85
80 80
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
CycleTimeDays
2006 (Baseline) 2007 (Baseline) 2008 Actuals 2008 (Target)
143
131
49% reduction in Cycle Time,
Resulted in $43MM increase in Cashflow!

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Results Charts – Cost and Cycle Time
Vendor Contract CI Process Redesign Initiative
12,250
5,850 6,400
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
Original Process Redesigned/Streamlined
Process
Difference (52%
Savings)
Cost of Original and Redesigned Processes
Dollars(Annual)
Vendor Contract CI Process Redesign Initiative
627.76
192.5
435.26
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Original Process Redesigned/Streamlined
Process
Difference (69%
Reduction)
Cycle Time of Orginal and Redesigned Processes
Hours-PerContract
52% Savings
69% Cycle
Time
Reduction

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Production Improvement Trends
Lost Production/Shortage After Improvement - Pareto Analysis
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Quota
Produced
BH
Pum
p
FailureTurnaround
RecoverLoadOilPum
ped
Off
Engine
FailurePum
p
ChangeW
CT
RequestLineBreak
SI(FlaredGas)RodsParted
GearBox
Pressure
Survey
High
LinePressurePowerFailure
FuelGas
Com
pressorDownPolished
Rod
Pig
Stuck
ShutIn
W
orkover
TestOtherW
ell
Equipm
entFailure
W
aterDisposalProblem
M
echanicalFailure
Saddle
Brg
RoadConditions
BentPolishedRod
SEF
Flow
Line
W
axedOff
DEF
GeneratorFailure
Low
IG
SparkPlug
TankRoom
W
aterPrasco
Failure
Plug
Upgrade
LineFrozen
OffW
aterSwitch
Rod
Hung
Up
(DEF)
W
aterInjectionProblemTankSwitch
Ignition
High
TankLevel
Clutch
W
eightsMoved
W
ellHeadHole
in
Tubing
OilSwitch
High
Discharge
PressureCoolerFrozenHigh
PressureBatteryDown
Low
Oil
Reasons for Lost Production/Shortage
BarrelsofOil
Lost Production/Shortage After Improvement - Pareto Analysis
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Quota
Produced
BH
Pum
p
FailureTurnaround
RecoverLoadOilPum
ped
Off
Engine
FailurePum
p
ChangeW
CT
RequestLineBreak
SI(FlaredGas)RodsParted
GearBox
Pressure
Survey
High
LinePressurePowerFailure
FuelGas
Com
pressorDownPolished
Rod
Pig
Stuck
ShutIn
W
orkover
TestOtherW
ell
Equipm
entFailure
W
aterDisposalProblem
M
echanicalFailure
Saddle
Brg
RoadConditions
BentPolishedRod
SEF
Flow
Line
W
axedOff
DEF
GeneratorFailure
Low
IG
SparkPlug
TankRoom
W
aterPrasco
Failure
Plug
Upgrade
LineFrozen
OffW
aterSwitch
Rod
Hung
Up
(DEF)
W
aterInjectionProblemTankSwitch
Ignition
High
TankLevel
Clutch
W
eightsMoved
W
ellHeadHole
in
Tubing
OilSwitch
High
Discharge
PressureCoolerFrozenHigh
PressureBatteryDown
Low
Oil
Reasons for Lost Production/Shortage
BarrelsofOil
The reduced downtime generated a 92% reduction in lost production
In this category
92% reduction in production loss

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Sustainment Examples – Flag Wall
The “Flag Wall” used in an electronics company
assembly plant to show employees what existing and
new country their products were being sold to, along
with current and trended sales volumes by country.

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Formal Awards/Certifications
• Baldridge
• ISO
• Company Performance Awards
• Government Awards
• Operational Excellence Awards

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What have we learned?
• We need to engage our people… 2/3 are not fully
engaged – the potential is HUGE!
• Reinforcement is the secret to sustainment – plan
for it and make it meaningful!
• Starting CI initiatives is hard, sustaining them is
much harder! Leaders play a key role.
• There are many ways to sustain CI efforts, and
many practices, processes tools and ideas to
leverage – use them or create something new!
• Create a culture of quality every single day!

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Your Challenge!
• Next week find some way that you
personally can help to sustain your CI
efforts, and find some way of delivering
positive reinforcement to a deserving
individual or team!

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Final Thought…

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Questions?
Contact Information:
Gordon Masiuk (403) 880-0917
gord.mcs@gmail.com
gord.masiuk@business-performance-excellence.ca
www.business-performance-excellence.ca
Thank You!

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Additional Slides and Templates

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12 Key Questions To Assess Employee Engagement
1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?
2. Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is
important?
3. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every
day?
4. Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work
right?
5. In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
7. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your
progress?
8. In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for
doing good work?
9. Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as
a person?
10. At work, do your opinions seem to count?
11. Are your fellow employees committed to doing quality work?
12. Do you have a best friend at work?
Source: Gallup

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Steering Teams
• Steering teams and Councils need to represent
cross functional leaders/sponsors who are
actively engaged in the CI effort and have
decision making authority.
• The team must be well versed in the CI strategy
and aware of all initiatives and issues.
• They need to meet monthly at a minimum to
ensure they are providing the required support,
resources and reinforcement to the CI efforts,
and proactively addressing issues.

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Sustainment Examples: CI Council
• Process Owner
– Accountable for the end to end process – usually a VP
accountability
– Identifying process interface issues
– Providing resources for CI
• Process Manager
– Accountable for identifying CI opportunities within a
defined process
• CI Team Lead/Facilitator
– Supports and coaches the CI project team, identifies
opportunities for reinforcement, helps to identify and
remove obstacles, supports the Process Manager
and Process Owner in implementing improvements
and delivering updates to the Council

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Leadership Engagement - Examples
• Every leadership meeting starts with an
update on CI status, and how the
individuals and teams are being reinforced
• Senior leaders visibly on site asking staff 2
questions (and following up afterwards):
– “What are we focusing on improving?”
– “What can I do to support your efforts?”
• Shift focus from just directing work, to
removing obstacles, listening to ideas,
providing coaching and performance
feedback, and reinforcing staff on a
daily basis.

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Sustainment Examples: Training
• Invest in training at all levels
• Leaders and staff need to have a solid
understanding of CI concepts, tools, and
strategies - awareness is not enough
• Utilize “just-in-time” training methods, and
use the adult learning model – learning by
doing
• Standardize as much as possible
• Train, train, train until there is a “common
language” – to sustain CI, consistency is
one of the keys. Reinforce learning!

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Sustainment Examples
Weekly CI Update Framework
– Date and Contact Person
– Project by Project Status Summary (Active Projects).
• Include Team Names, Area of the Business, Name of the CI Initiative
• Summary of Project, and Stage
• Charts, graphs, photos
• Impact to business results to date and projected i.e.:
– Production
– Cost
– Quality
– Quantity
– Customer Satisfaction
– Revenue
– Etc.
• Next Steps
– Include cumulative totals of business results of all projects to date
– Circulate Update to all areas of the company/division/business
unit. Leaders need to encourage other leaders (such as in a
steering team) to provide individuals and teams with
reinforcement.

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Sustainment Examples: CI Reviews
• Set up formal monthly to quarterly CI review
meetings to share progress, learnings and successes
• Ensure top management and leaders from other
parts of the organization attend for support
• Invite individuals/teams to present on their initiatives
– provide coaching to presenters on building and
presenting their topics prior to the review meeting
• Topics can include: completed projects with results;
projects in progress; or projects that didn‟t achieve
desired results but where valuable lessons have
been learned
• Have a formal celebration after the review meeting
• Circulate minutes/highlights and have a formal
write-up on the intranet or company magazine

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Sample Agenda - CI Monthly Reviews
Sample Agenda
• Time Frame (1/2 to Full Day)
• Opening Remarks – (VP, Sr. Manager, Director)
– Commitment to Quality
– Linking Quality to Achieving Business Priorities
– Gratitude to CI Teams and Efforts
• CI Team Presentations (Usually About 10-15 Minutes Per Initiative)
– Project Team Introductions
– Improvement Opportunity, Project Goals/KPIs
– Project Steps
– Charts, Metrics, Results, Impacts to Business Priorities
– Next Steps
• Summary of Projects, What Has Been Learned, Ideas for New CI
Projects
• Formal Recognition of All Teams
• Celebration Event
• Follow Up:
– VP, Sr. Manager, Director – follow up with a formal letter of appreciation to
each team or individual
– Update of: CI Intranet Site; CI Project Wall; Weekly Update etc.

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Sustainment Example: Living Storyboard
Company/Division Priorities:
1.
2.
3.
PLAN:
Project Name/Goals:
Area of Company:
Team Members:
KPIs:
Action Plan and Status (Updated mm/dd/yyyy):
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
Include Photos, Charts, Graphs
DO:
CHECK:
ACT:

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Sustainment Example: Formal Recognition
• Develop an internal CI based award. Issue the
award at least quarterly and annually.
• Use existing award structures such as Baldridge,
or develop an organization specific one.
• Tie the Award to your Vision and Mission to
reinforce the direction and purpose of your
organization
• Align individual and team goals to the Award

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Premier‟s Award of Excellence
(Gov‟t of Alberta: Canada)
• Tied to the Vision of the Alberta Provincial Government
• Demonstrated Excellence in:
– Leadership and People Focus
– Client and Stakeholder Focus
– Planning for Improvement
– Process Management
• Eligibility includes:
– Provincial government departments, divisions, branches, or units
– Committees
– Cross-Government Groups
– Departmental Project Teams
– Various Agencies, Boards, and Commissions
• Each recipient receives a formal award and certificate,
at an annual Awards ceremony, and is able to use the
PAE logo on business cards and stationary, and is
expected to share their stories.

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Low Cost, Immediate Reinforcement
• One hospital used “Kaizen Cards” to recognize the
improvement efforts of an individual or team. It would be
dropped off in a “Kaizen Card” box and each day the leaders
would review and provide recognition to the individuals or
teams that week.
• One pipeline company had an “Applause” process. Everyone
in the company had a company credit card, and they could
spend up to $200 to recognize any team or individual effort at
any level (without approval!) The leader and the nominator
would deliver the “Applause” in a team/public forum that week.
• Weekly performance reviews (feedback and reinforcement)
• Say “thank you”, take interest in an improvement initiative and
talk to the team, send an email, recommend the team for
formal recognition, encourage lunch & learns to share….