Impact Statement
ProjectTitle: __Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement______
Issue:
Although R&D and product development are growth engines for our business, individuals within R&D are rarely pacesetters, often reactive to asks of numerous other areas of the business. While there are several factors that contribute to this, the situation could be improved by educating the scientists onother important aspects of the business and by empowering individuals all levels to identify opportunities and lead improvement efforts.
The objective of project was to better organize and formalize leadership development for interested and capable individuals at all levels in R&D starting with product development scientists. The long term object is to cultivate an R&D organization that identifies and initiates group, division, and corporate advancement. As a collective group, we become a point of leadership in moving our business forward.
What has been done?
Through interviews and focus group discussions, three areas were identified for attention:
- Education – in business aspects, consumer insights, “soft” skills
- Improvement Projects – give individuals opportunities to organize and lead small improvement projects to improve daily activities and develop leadership skills
- Empowerment – encourage scientists at all levels to own and lead projects
During growth plan discussion and execution in the last 2 years, attention was put towards these objectives with particular emphasis on empowering the employee to identify and act on cross functional training and improvement projects.
Highlights from these efforts include:
- Several employees in R&D have taken greenbelt training and applied the skills to improvement projects and general practice in daily activity
- Improved mentorship practices and knowledge sharing in product development by pairing individuals from different areas
- Kaizen event participation to improve Pilot Plant activities
- Initiated value stream mapping of our product development process
- Two employees participated in an external event with the OSU Fisher Center for Operational Excellence
- Several identified and completed external training courses in information processing
Impacts/New Partnerships:
The greatest impact has been a surge in ownership and leadership from relatively new employees. Traditionally, product development had operated with senior/junior scientist partnerships executing projects within specific brands. In the last 3-5 years we have been moving away from that model to a more flexible and versatile means of execution, and the efforts I have encouraged are intended to accelerate us in that direction. New and lower level employees have been given greater autonomy to lead projects. This has improved morale, productivity, and knowledge sharing across product development because a much broader pool of talent is proficient in new skills and empowered to lead projects at all levels.
A partnership with our business excellence (BEx) team has resulted from an intersection of initiatives. We have developed and encouraged BEx practices as part of my efforts and that has met nicely with the recent inclusion of a business excellence team to the R&D staff. Creating a common tool box for tackling problems facilitates solving of problems and gives the developers a recognized, valuable skill which they can apply broadly in future roles. Together, we have effectively executed on a number of initiatives, many lead by the BEx team, but several led by product developers. We intend to grow this skill set across product development and will look for continued partnership with the BEx team.
Outcome of Project
In our business, we have the opportunity to develop leaders and pacesetters in the design, development, and delivery of impactful nutritional products. Studies are increasingly showing that assuring appropriate nutritional intake can have substantial financial impact to health care costs. The proficiency with which we identify needs and deliver these products to consumer can have a significant impact on quality of life and health economics. While this project does not directly affect that end objective, it aims to better develop our scientists to engage the upstream activities of this larger challenge.
How has your project been aided by your FSLI experience?
A couple key elements of the FSLI experience have influenced my project effort.
The first is that leadership skills can be taught, developed, and must be practiced. This has been a constant idea throughout my project planning and implementation. I wanted to be sure that we approach our leadership development in a “see, do, teach” approach and that we challenge them to own their development and give them opportunities to exercise their abilities.
The second is in seeing the “system” that interconnects what we do with numerous other activities and interests. Through such a lens, we can see opportunities to affect improvements in ways that may otherwise be missed. As we discuss leadership and development opportunities within our teams, I encourage consideration of adjacent, interconnectedareasas potential and fertile grounds for improvement opportunities.
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