Success experiences make us happy and strengthen our self-esteem and well-being. Providing the customer with exactly what he needs or having the right information at the right time makes us feel that our work is needed and contributes to job satisfaction.

Unfortunately, employees often cannot act as they would like. A few examples: the train conductor, who doesn’t know himself when the train is at a standstill and cannot help the passengers, the Telkom employee on the hotline who has to try to deal with technical problems that he doesn’t understand himself. The office worker who has to phone around forever to find the right contact person for a customer inquiry… The list could go on forever. Being in a position to help or advise clients, but not having sufficient or correct information, causes stress. In many companies, one observes that the employees struggle like in a hamster wheel, but definitely do not have the right tools to be able to complete their tasks really successfully. Stress and frustration are of course pre-programmed here.

Lean management can help here. Together with the affected employees, you first go through the processes in the company and put on the customer’s glasses. The aim is to create the framework conditions in such a way that every employee can optimally fulfill his or her task. In lean administration, for example, the information flows are improved in such a way that everyone has exactly the data they need to look after their customers. And one thing is certain: the success stories will not be long in coming. And a win-win situation at all levels: the employees enjoy their work, the customers are better served and ultimately the competitiveness of the entire company increases.

To be continued: (3) Use employees’ skills correctly