The "circular deadlock" of the company's 5S activity
Previously, the company promoted 5S three times. Each time, it was like throwing a stone into the water - it made a splash and then sank to the bottom. The first time was the year before last. The administrative department pasted slogans all over the walls, and tool positioning lines were drawn in the workshop. However, on the third day, someone threw a wrench outside the line. The second time was last year. A consulting company was invited for training. During the inspection, the workshop was spotlessly clean, but as soon as the inspectors left, the parts were piled back in the passage. The third time was even more extreme. A "Red Card Campaign" was launched, and red labels were put on the disorderly - piled materials. As a result, within less than two weeks, all the red cards were secretly torn off by the employees. In the end, it was always "a bustling start and a quiet end at the end of the month". Even the inspectors joked that the 'S' in 5S stands for 'three' in 'three - day enthusiasm'
I've become the "one who takes over someone else's leftovers"
When the leader assigned the 5S task to me this time, the atmosphere in the office changed. Lao Zhou, my neighbor, patted me on the shoulder without saying a word, but his eyes clearly said, "You can't handle it either." The HR lady whispered secretly, "The three people who were in charge before have all transferred to other positions." I stared at the leader's instruction of "Be sure to succeed", and the folder in my hand felt like a red - hot coal. It wasn't that I was afraid of failing to do it, but that I was afraid of repeating the same mistakes. The previous failures were not because "nothing was done", but because "no one took it seriously".
My "Pain Point Targeting Plan"
After staying up late for three days, I finally came up with a plan: first, conduct brainwashing; second, provide training; and finally, carry out a pilot project. The logic is very simple - the previous 5S initiative failed at the "root": the management thought it was "cleaning up", and the grass-roots employees thought it was "coping with inspections". No one regarded 5S as a "tool to improve efficiency". Therefore, the first step is to make everyone understand that "5S is not a formality but a way to save time and cost" (brainwashing); the second step is to teach them specifically how to do it (such as how to put tools back in place and how to keep records in the ledger); the third step is to select a workshop for a pilot project and use the results to convince everyone - after all, "people will believe only when they see the benefits".
Step 1: Hitting the brick wall right away: The "cognitive Great Wall" of the management
But I never expected that the most difficult group to brainwash was not the grass-roots level, but the management.
First, there is a misdefinition. The sales director directly said at the meeting, Isn't 5S just about sweeping the floor? The salesmen under me are running around to visit customers every day. Where do they have the time to arrange folders? The production manager was even more straightforward. Last time, the files in my office were piled up high and I got a red - tagged warning. In the end, didn't I just have to say a word and it was removed? This is just for the leaders to see
Next comes the historical shadow. The financial controller flipped through the previous inspection records and said, Last year when we implemented the 5S system, our department spent a week organizing the vouchers. But when we needed to find a voucher this year, it still took us half an hour to look for it. What's the use? Their logic is very simple: Since it failed before, it won't succeed this time either
What's even worse is the so - called "irrelevance to interests". The deputy general manager in charge of operations took a call from a client midway and then came back and said, "We haven't met the quarterly target yet. Implementing the 5S system takes up production time. Can it help me sign more orders?" In his office, documents were piled up on the sofa. There were three pens and a key in the pen holder, and the coffee stains on the desktop hadn't been wiped off. How could he believe that something he himself hadn't achieved could be promoted?
The "ineffective scene" of the cult's mind - control session
I specially prepared some data: Last year, on average, each person in the workshop spent 15 minutes looking for tools every day. In a workshop with 20 people, that's 5 hours a day. Over the course of a year, it's equivalent to 1,200 fewer hours of production. I also found a case from a peer company - after a machinery factory in the neighboring city implemented the 5S system, the tool return rate increased from 30% to 90%, and the efficiency rose by 20%. But as soon as I finished reading these data, the sales director interrupted and said, "You're talking about another factory. Our customers are in a hurry for the goods. If we delay production for one hour, I'll lose orders worth one million yuan. Can you compensate for that?" The production manager waved his phone with the workshop surveillance video on it and said, "Look, the parts next to the lathes are piled up like a mountain now. I told the workers to tidy them up today, and they said, 'Last time we spent three days tidying up, and then you asked us to increase the output. Where do we have the time now?' "
When the meeting was over, the general manager patted me on the shoulder and said, "Young man, work hard." But then he turned around and threw the 5S manual I had prepared on the tea table. On his desk, there were piles of documents, teacups, and notebooks, leaving no space for writing.
Now I'm staring at the "brainwashing plan" on the computer and suddenly realize that the previous 5S initiative failed because "the management didn't include themselves in it". What I need to "brainwash" is not the "grassroots employees", but the "arrogance of the management thinking 'I don't have to do it'". However, this arrogance is even harder to wipe away than the oil stains in the workshop.