In the previous part to this series we began to look at the various types of wastes which could be hidden within your organization. In part 3 we continue that review with a look at the next three types of wastes.
Waste or Muda #4: Waiting
Waiting of any kind means that the process has slowed down. Maybe even stopped. When we make the customer wait for something we have created waste. Waiting can take many different shapes within our organizations.
The IT Manager tells the HR manager that he/she needs that new analyst in three days and now we are looking at 3 months and you are no closer to filling that position then you were when the IT manager said he need the person in critical fashion.
Your organization's policy is that all job requisitions must go through the HR manager before a recruiter can begin sourcing the position. The HR Manager due to their workload forgets to give the job requisition to the recruiter for 72 hours. That becomes 72 man hours of wasted effort.
Voice of the customer is critical in seeking out the needs of the customer. So when a department manager tells HR they need certain metrics to complete a project, then that is what they expect. HR decides that in order to make sure that the manager has everything develops reports that provide the information requested and then some. The result is that the manager has to delay their report because they have to get through the noise before finding exactly what they need,
Waiting can also occur when HR sets up interviews at the wrong date and time or the offer includes the wrong salary information.meaning until the errors are corrected the new hire can not start in the new position.
Waste or Muda #5: Over production
Have you ever heard of the term "overkill?" This area of the non-value activities is the optimum of overkill, overproduction can be found in everything we in HR do. You ask a recruiting source for their best 5 candidates and they send you 20. The department manager asked for a spreadsheet showing the past month's recruiting results and they are sent the past quarters results.Another example is when the department manager requests a report for a specific piece of data so the HR department send them the report every month. In that same scenario, the department manager asks for a specific report on a specific metric and HR prepares the report and also send along the various accompanying support data.
Waste or Muda #6: Overprocessing
As you go shopping tonight or try and call customer service, look around and see how many steps it takes to get you to where you want to be. You call customer service for your favorite store and go through call hell as you are asked to push this number on your phone to continue the process. The other night for instance I called the customer service number for a book store and the CSR was refusing to help because their records said that the credit card number on the account was not the number we have been using to order titles, so she would not let me talk to a supervisor.
Overprocessing can occur when you respond to a hiring manager's request and not really understanding the real needs or wants of the customer. The result is that you deliver something to the hiring manager and because it is the wrong information, the system bogs down until you deliver the right metrics.
Ever look at your recruiting process in detail. HR sources, screens, recruits and interviews potential candidates and refers the best candidates to the hiring manager. That is the way the system is supposed to work, Then comes the hiring manager who states that they want to see all the resumes and re-screens the candidates and schedules interviews just like the HR department already has done.
Non-value added actions are never a good thing for the organization, but as the next three waste types have shown they can especially be detrimental to your HR strategy. In the next part of the series we will look at the final three types of wastes and what they mean for the HR function. The last part of the series will look at possible solutions to remove these wastes from your processes.
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