Question

. How could employee empowerment be beneficial to a lean manufacturing operation? Provide two detailed workplace examples.

Answer 1

Employee empowerment would provide the company with more proactive employees that are able to deal with challenges without the need for external help. This can be achieved by providing them with a higher order of training, involving them with decision-making processes and ensuring some degree of freedom when it comes to the use of their skills in a creative manner, as well as foster communication so that individuals work with each other, bettering the understanding of synergy and increasing collaborations. It also makes sharing knowledge a better consideration between individuals and the supervisors as well as make sure employees are engaged in their work in order to drive their motivation and morale to perform.

How it is applicable for a lean company comes in the form of reduced wastages and reduction in confusion while performing their functions, all leading to a reduction in wastage in the form of time, material, even motion.
Empowerment teaches the individual to make their decisions autonomously, and this is immensely applicable to learning as a concept of minimization and optimization.

Empowerment would also create a learning organization that develops as it works and therefore, not reduce waste, but also increase efficiency when viewed through a long term lens.

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