Essay about Eight Areas of Waste

1. Among the 8 Areas of Waste, in your own opinion, which would be the one that should

be resolved first and why?

Among the eight areas of waste management, the first that should be resolved is the

underutilization of employees. According to Mulcahy, employees are an organization’s greatest

asset. Without them, the organization will not function. Basically, the organization will not able

to make profits, expand, compete globally, grasp different opportunities, etc. Employees are

referred to as human capital that organizations invest with and play an important role that will

decide whether the organization will be successful or not. They are an asset and therefore,

valuable to the organization.

According to Gupta (2013), employees are viewed by most employers as a machinery

part that can be used as needed depending on the requirement. This will lead to a change in the

attitude of employees towards work. If an employee feels they are underutilized, they might get

bored and unproductive. They will lose interest and be unable to make meaningful contributions.

That is why employers need to narrow down the gap between the capabilities of the employees

and the tasks given to them. The employees need to feel that they can obtain the maximum

benefit from their employers or can wisely wield their workforce, giving them opportunities to

do the job they applied for. Once this area is resolved, in my opinion, the rest of the areas of

waste management will follow including overproduction, defects, and unnecessary inventory.

2. How should you resolve the chosen waste? Please make a detailed narrative on this and

you may use Gantt Charts and other necessary tools to support your answer.
 Utilization plays an important role in how employees will approach their work. It is

important for employees to feel that the knowledge and experience they thrive to gain will be put

to good use. In order to resolve this area of waste management, the following can be

implemented:

1. Identify the goals and objectives of the organization.

2. Once identified, it can be used to identify the resources needed including the skills of the

employees that must possess.

3. The skills assessment can be used as a basis in hiring the required employees. Depending

on the organization, employers may go beyond or limit the placement of employees

depending on their needs. It can also be used in training, development initiatives, and

hiring procedures.

4. For instance that the required employees are hired, monitor and evaluate the

organization’s productivity and utilization. Employers should determine how the

employees spend their time doing work-related activities. Employees often have different

levels of productivity depending on their knowledge and skills. However, this will let you

understand how employees spend their time and handle the works assigned to them.

5. After monitoring and evaluation, analyze whether the employees and the set of skills they

possess are useful in achieving the organizational goals and objectives. In this step, you

can also determine that a specific employee is more useful to another department instead

of the department he/she currently belongs to.

6. Promote a good working environment.

Note:

● In #3, the duration of hiring employees is tentative and for educational purposes only.

● In #4 and #5, the evaluation, monitoring, and analysis are done the moment the

employees are hired and start working.

● In #6, the promotion of a good working environment should start the moment the

organization was established.