A blended approach fusing both lean working and employee engagement techniques can lead to improved productivity and efficiency, according to the group HR director at Unipart Group.
HR doesn’t have to choose between business tactics, John Greatrex told delegates at the CIPD annual conference. “I don’t believe that HR maintains humanity or we all become machines. I really believe there is a way you can blend them both,” he said.
That remained true in difficult times he said, for instance the 2009 automotive recession, which hit suppliers like Unipart immediately.
“We actually found that we could maintain and even improve engagement levels in some cases,” he said, adding that this was because employees understood the situation and believed they were being treated fairly.
By blending engagement with lean the firm enabled employees to have a voice, which David MacLeod, author of the government-commissioned report Engaging for Success, highlighted as a key technique for boosting productivity.
Greatrex outlined some of the tools the company uses, including communication cells, which provide the framework for daily team briefings, problem solving tools and techniques, which empower employees to solve issues at their own level, and formal learning facilities close to the shop floor.
He added that the company had found a strong correlation between lean working, engagement and productivity. For example, a survey of branches in the automotive division showed a strong correlation between high engagement scores and service levels, he said.
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HR doesn’t have to choose between business tactics, John Greatrex told delegates at the CIPD annual conference. “I don’t believe that HR maintains humanity or we all become machines. I really believe there is a way you can blend them both,” he said.
That remained true in difficult times he said, for instance the 2009 automotive recession, which hit suppliers like Unipart immediately.
“We actually found that we could maintain and even improve engagement levels in some cases,” he said, adding that this was because employees understood the situation and believed they were being treated fairly.
By blending engagement with lean the firm enabled employees to have a voice, which David MacLeod, author of the government-commissioned report Engaging for Success, highlighted as a key technique for boosting productivity.
Greatrex outlined some of the tools the company uses, including communication cells, which provide the framework for daily team briefings, problem solving tools and techniques, which empower employees to solve issues at their own level, and formal learning facilities close to the shop floor.
He added that the company had found a strong correlation between lean working, engagement and productivity. For example, a survey of branches in the automotive division showed a strong correlation between high engagement scores and service levels, he said.