STUDENT NAME: HUYNH DUY LINH

STUDENT ID: BIT 0878

Assessment 3
Stimulate the generation of ideas for improvement on the shop floor

Most organizations implement Operational Excellence in a top-down manner:

management decides to invest in Operational Excellence and the rest of the company has
to follow. This is a sensible approach, but please don’t forget to solicit and listen to
feedback from the shop floor. It will greatly improve your chances of success.

After all, the shop floor is where the money is made and where improvement starts. Your
operators and managers can provide you with first-hand feedback to optimize your
processes, so listen to them and keep them motivated. In short,

o have motivated and critically thinking operators on the shop floor

o stimulate a culture of continuous improvement

o reward bottom-up feedback and personal contributions to change

o communicate your company’s vision and goals clearly to your entire workforce

1. Learn and motivate first-line management to identify ideas for improvement

Your operators can provide you with valuable feedback to further optimize your
processes. But if they have no one to turn to, these ideas may go to waste. To ensure a
good flow of ideas for improvement from the shop floor to management, invest in:

o managers with the right soft skills and (OpEx) training in first-line management

o clear and efficient bottom-up communication channels from the shop floor to
management

o incentives for structural improvements identified by operators and first line managers

2. Implement quick wins as soon as possible

Small changes often have the biggest impact. One of the best ways to motivate people is
to listen to them, implement their feedback (if useful) and let them know the results of
their input. So try to:

 implement small changes (Kaizen) as soon as possible. This is

essential to motivate your workforce and to nurture a culture of
continuous improvement.

 make sure to communicate the results of the implementations as soon as

possible (if possible in less than a week) to motivate your workforce to keep
coming with new ideas for improvement.

3. Define and align clear company goals and long-term improvement projects

Operational Excellence requires having clear company goals for the long term. So please
make sure to have these goals in place and make sure that everyone in the company
knows the priorities and importance of these goals. So:
  define and communicate your company vision. This vision should state where
your company is now and where you want it to be in 3 to 5 years. Describe
your goals as SMART as possible.

 implement a transparent process for capturing and prioritizing larger

improvement proposals to support your company goals. The priorities of
these improvement proposals will be determined by the priorities of your
company goals.

Written Report
1. Effectiveness of the operational plan
In general, the operational plan has been well performed and directed to Australian Hardware in an
appropriate way.
● Most of individuals who got involved in the operation plan fulfilled their responsibilities
(reached the KPI)
● All stakeholders were fully aware of the operational plan in terms of goals, timeframe and
each individual’s responsibilities, showing the effective communication of the plan.
● Budget was managed appropriately and the money supply was sufficient.

2. Areas of underperformance
● Some positions were given insufficient time to complete their tasks.
● The monitoring process had some limitations on evaluating individual and organizational
performance

Recommendations
Employee performance can be evaluated through the performance measures undertaken by the
organization. For instance, KPI or OKR can be implemented for evaluation. Further, the area wherein
the employee lags is to be identified and the cause for the underperformance is to be highlighted in
this regards. Providing adequate and appropriate training to the employees may aid in the
development of the employees, thereby providing support to the staff.
The following steps could be used for managing underperformance:
● Understanding the external factors involved
● Avoiding emotional confrontation
● Assessing the organizational activities
● Planning for effective measures
● Providing proper training
Implementation plan

Action Who is Tools & Techniques Estimated

Involved Duration

Establish implementation Planning Team ● Execution plan 1-2 hours

schedule
● Calendar
Train team members to use HR Team, ● Training 1 hour per
the internal application that Department material team member
help them manage their part Managers &
● Internal
of the plan Teams
application

Review the progress of Department ● Strategy Department

implementing the plan Teams + Review review: 1.5
Executive agendas hours
Team Organizational
● Strategic
review: 3
Topics for
hours
discussion