How to Introduce Continuous Improvement in the Workplace

Continuous improvement is the process of implementing ongoing changes to an organization's work processes with the goal of enhancing efficiency in the operations of the organization. Gradual changes are easily adoptable in comparison with major changes implemented at once. Continuous improvements are introduced through training, mentoring and use of information technology tools. The ongoing changes lead to lower cost and increased performance within the organization, whereas large-scale changes are often disruptive to the flow of operations and costly. Continuous improvements in the workplace, therefore, minimize the need for sudden changes and ensure that growth flows smoothly.

Instructions
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1
Brainstorm on the viable approaches for improving efficiency and prepare a clear framework for enhancing production. List the particular improvements that you will introduce in their order of priority and indicate the time frame for each of them. Establish deadlines for achieving your targeted goals so as to create a result-oriented work environment.

2
Communicate the scope and objectives of the intended continuous improvements to all members of the organization. Use internal communication media such as notice boards, emails, departmental meetings and electronic newsletters to reach out to all members of the organization.

3
Train and mentor your employees to equip them with clear understanding of their roles, limits and privileges of their responsibilities in the process of continuous improvement. Ensure that your training and mentoring programs are gradual relative to your continuous improvement program.

4
Set the performance benchmarks for each of the performance-enhancing changes that you plan to introduce. This will enable you to monitor the progress of the continuous improvements, measuring the actual performance standards against the targeted performance objectives.

5
Begin introducing gradual changes to the existing work processes and resource structure. Encourage creativity and innovation, and eliminate wasteful procedures. Endeavor to optimize the use of available resources, then consider the gradual introduction of new resources such as information technology equipment.

Training for Employees

Training for Employees

Companies and organizations train their personnel for a variety of reasons, for example to make needed improvements in performance levels; to go hand-in-hand with a professional development

program; to help employees have a role in the reorganization for succession planning; to introduce a different product or service; and to provide knowledge about a specific topic. Successful organizations recognize that continued learning is necessary for people to be the most effective in their jobs and have the best opportunities for advancement.

1. Types
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Employee training normally covers a wide range of topics. These include: 1) Communications, especially with the increased diversity of the present workforce and the emphasis on gender equality; 2) Computer skills to keep America competitive; 3) Customer service, to meet the varied needs of consumers; 4) Diversity, particularly with different cultural perspectives and viewpoints; 5) Ethics, in regard to corporate social responsibility; 6) Human relations, to improve the positive interactions among people; 7) Quality initiatives, necessary to reach and maintain high standards; 8) Safety, for proper use of hazardous materials and dangerous equipment; and 9) Sexual harassment, to ensure appropriate behavior.

Purpose
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Organizations find that training and development are beneficial to both the employees and the company in a variety of ways. For example, it frequently enhances employee job satisfaction, morale and motivation. It also improves process efficiency, which leads to financial gain, and encourages the learning of new technologies and methodology, which can result in increased strategic innovation.

Effects
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Companies should not see training as an optional cost that may or may not be advantageous. Rather, they need to see training as a true investment that may be costly but will also support continued growth. These companies should also recognize that such training is essential for promoting a culture of learning in order to keep one step ahead of the competition. When developing a training program, an organization should first determine its needs, since it will not have unlimited resources at its disposal. Employees need to know why the training is being provided and the company's expectations of their additional learning. Finally, the training program should begin on a small scale and gradually work up into a larger effort, so it can be fine-tuned.

Quality
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When training is provided in an organization, top-quality trainers should be hired and the best materials provided. The classes need to be conducted in a quiet and comfortable location with stateof-the-art audiovisual equipment. When the training is completed, its effectiveness needs to be measured and changes made where necessary.

Staff Training
Staff training is an important aspect of employee development. Through training, your workers develop into highly useful resources. Your business will rely on these workers to perform their jobs. When everyone understands their job tasks and performs them well, a business can achieve its central goals.

1. Training

Staff training relates closely to employee development. This link is important for understanding how to manage the human talents in a company. If you have managers and HR professionals creating employee training plans, you can use staff trainers to meet many of those needs.

Significance
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Staff training works best in organizations that place a high value on continuous learning. For example, leaders who focus on learning new skills in whatever way works best for them will develop into better leaders. Their leadership development will benefit the organization and themselves.

Cost-Effective
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In the post-information age, staff training continues to evolve. Trainers, like other business professionals, use Internet communication to deliver cost-effective training. For example, trainers use an online learning system to deliver information in chunks to workers. A small business can save money by developing its own e-learning courses or subscribing to an e-learning provider with courses already developed.

Problem-Solving
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Staff training should include ways for employees to apply what they learn. For example, problemsolving scenarios in e-learning modules allow employees to test their knowledge. When employees cannot find the right answer to a scenario, they can seek help from a staff trainer.

How to Create Online Learning Modules

As training resources dwindle during tough economic times, many companies are learning about the advantages of online learning so their employees can receive quality training at a lower cost. Companies benefit by not having to pay for travel expenses, instructor facilitation, books and other training materials. Fortunately, online learning modules can be created by content developers and easily published to a Learning Management System or a web site.
E-learning software Microphone

1. Create an Online Learning Module

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Create an online learning module using specific e-learning software for ease of use, functionality and quality output. Articulate, Raptivity and Adobe all offer quality software that can be used to create exciting, interactive learning modules. They also run in conjunction with PowerPoint. Training developers may use PowerPoint to create the initial course and then publish it with a presentation tool available with e-learning software.

2
Write the content for your course by creating an introduction or welcome to the course with a brief description of what the course will include. Then write the content specific to the course. Ideally, an online learning module should take the user about 15 minutes to complete. Write the content that the

narrator will say during the presentation and write the text that will be displayed on the screen to reinforce the narration. Create any quizzes or activities that the students will need to take during the course.
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Reinforcing what the learner sees on the screen is very effective if you use the right graphics. Try to avoid having an over-abundance of text on the screen with very little graphics or animation. If you are creating an online learning module about safety, choose graphics of safety equipment, such as hard hats, reflective vests or caution tape, to accompany the text on the screen. If possible, only use short phrases on the screen along with the graphics to emphasize the narration.

4
Record the narration after you've received the content approval from the subject matter experts or business owners. Record the narration in a program such as Nero and save it as an audio file to upload into the course. Or you may choose to record directly into the course if you are using software such as Articulate and have a quality microphone. Try to turn off ancillary noise such as overhead fans or air conditioners before you record. Edit any mistakes or background noise in a program such as Adobe Audition before launching the course.

5
Synchronize the audio to the animations on the screen. Make sure that the narrator is speaking at the same time the specific graphic appears. Change any timing issues that occur when the narration is not synchronized to the animation.

6
Publish the course to a Learning Management System (LMS) after it has been reviewed for accuracy by the subject matter experts or business owners. Depending on the parameters of the LMS, you may need to upload the course to your company's FTP site first or you may be able to upload it directly to the LMS.

Open Communications:

Bulletin Boards/Signs/Graphics Creating a Company Intranet Company Magazine Employee Forum Internal Newsletter Quarterly Employee Meetings

Ask An Expert
The Best Time to Hold Company Information Meetings

Q: Is it a good practice to hold company information meetings for staff over their lunch hour, or should they be held only during company time? A: Leaders bringing all staff together periodically to discuss business issues has long been considered a best practice. Depending on the size of the firm, they are held monthly, every other month or sometimes quarterly. Even with workforces increasingly dispersed around the country, leaders are utilizing technological solutions (video conferencing, webinars, blogs) to bring people together. Leaders use all-staff meetings in a number of ways, especially as a means to:

teach employees about external influences impacting the business, celebrate successes and recognize hard work, explain upcoming changes and challenges, maintain a sense of workplace unity, ask for employee input and listen to their feedback, and model what respectful and effective communication looks like.

Since you asked about the timing of company-wide meetings, we should state out front that there is no hard and fast rule. In today's complex, fast-changing business environment, the successful workplace demands that managers and employees remain open, flexible and accommodating. Having said that, most all-staff meetings where business issues are discussed and reported on are generally conducted during normal working hours. This sends a message that the information is serious business and that management really wants all employees to understand what is going on, values their input and is sensitive to not impinging on their time off work. However, we don't necessarily believe it is a problem if management wants to hold an informational meeting over employees' lunch hour once in a while. And, there may very well be extenuating circumstances that require this; for example, a time-sensitive problem occurs, an opportunity arises or complicated travel schedules. But how employees respond to holding meetings over lunch depends upon with what their present culture is like. For example, I am familiar with a small firm whose culture is quite informal, creative and very collaborative. A few times a year, management sits down with their entire staff over lunchtime and mulls over and brainstorms around a business issue. As far as I can tell it is received quite well. These sessions are relaxed, chatty and can even be quite playful. I hasten to add that management at this firm always provides a tasty lunch for these occasions. However, this may not play well in other settings and employees may indeed become resentful when their leaders expect them to frequently give up their lunch period for company business. It is a necessary and healthy reprieve for employees to have their own private time for lunch to be alone, chat socially with coworkers, run errands or catch up on their favorite web sites.

So continue to have those all-staff meetings, but make them meaningful. Boring and unengaging staff meetings are deadly. A few tips for keeping them fresh:

Lively, honest debates are stimulating. Generate as many as you can. Make sure management does not do all the talking. Make sure employees understand what you are talking about. (I was in an all-staff meeting at a government agency last year. An endless number of acronyms and jargon were being thrown around and it was clear many employees did not understand.) Continue to communicate clearly how employees' efforts impact the larger business goals.

Periodically, ask employees if the meetings are beneficial and what could be done to make them more useful. Winning Workplaces, August 06, 2008 | Add your thoughts
From: "Estera, Marlon L" <marlon.l.estera@chase.com> Add sender to Contacts "annalenerose_cainap@yahoo.com" <annalenerose_cainap@yahoo.com>

To:

Hello Kykes eto yung email ni boss JP

From: Imbuido, Juan Paolo S Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2011 11:23 AM To: Estera, Marlon L; Quimpo, Conrado T; Cainap, Annalene Rose F; Eviza, Margeline T; Berame, April Cc: Pardinez, Angelica M; Mago, Eloisa P Subject: Re: Peer Coach Final Interview

Team, For the final Interview process we will be giving each candidate the opportunity to come up with his/her own idea of a better way to disseminate information in a manner that will make it easy for everyone regardless of shift to have access to. The presentation day will be on September 2, 2011. I will be sending invites for your scheduled time. Please comply with the following: Managers can assist candidate with the project but the idea has to come from the candidate. It will be the candidates discretion how he or she will present the project to Boss Corie. EOP during the presentation. Your final interview scores will be based on the ff: Material, Presentation, Delivery, Content and Overall Thought Process. If there are any questions, please see your immediate manager.

Thanks,
Juan Paolo S. Imbuido | Team Manager | ATM Monitoring Group | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 21 st F Net Plaza Philippines |PH1-6211 |juanpaolo.s.imbuido@chase.com