In 2022, Toyota sold 10.5 million vehicles, securing its position as the top-selling carmaker globally for three consecutive years. Apart from its impressive sales figures, companies worldwide admire this automaker for its philosophy of continuous improvement and process-based culture.
Toyota has established itself as a leader in the industry by changing even when things seem to be going well and stable. To outperform your competitors, you must adopt a similar approach and build a culture of continuous improvement. Here’s how you can achieve it:
Start At the Top
The first and most critical step in establishing a culture of continuous improvement is gaining unwavering commitment from top-level leadership. When leaders actively advocate for continuous improvement, it sets the tone for the entire organization. Leadership should not only embrace the idea but also lead by example, actively participating in improvement initiatives and supporting employees’ efforts.
Practice One-Team Alignment
Instead of improving processes by department, change as one, or what we call one-team alignment. Solving problems by department is inefficient and leads to organizational silos. Companies should focus on company-wide change through small incremental improvements, creating a powerful snowball effect of progress and success.
Empower and Involve Employees
Leaders need to create a culture where everyone feels empowered to make suggestions for improvement. Building a culture of continuous improvement requires involving all employees in the process. Encourage a sense of ownership and empower individuals to identify problems and suggest solutions.
Establish channels for open communication, feedback, and idea-sharing. When you get everyone on board, from top to bottom, you bring together the collective brainpower of the whole organization. This teamwork leads to better and long-lasting improvements that really work.
Encourage a Learning Mindset
Foster a learning culture that encourages employees to view challenges as opportunities for growth. Celebrate both successes and failures as valuable learning experiences. When your people are not afraid of failure, they become more willing to take calculated risks, which can lead to breakthrough innovations.
Share Success Stories
Promote a culture of continuous improvement by sharing success stories and case studies across the organization. Highlight the positive impact of improvements on processes, customer satisfaction, and overall performance. These success stories inspire and motivate others to contribute actively to the culture of improvement.
Follow the Principles of Kaizen
Kaizen means change for the better. It is a philosophy that says we change when there is nothing wrong. You do not wait to lose an A-player talent, a legacy client, or for a new competitor to enter the market to change. You are growing incrementally over time instead of making one big change when something goes wrong.
In this approach, there is a structured system and set standards for driving change. It encourages the participation of all employees in identifying and making small improvements to processes. The focus is on fostering teamwork and collective responsibility to achieve common goals.
Building a culture of continuous improvement takes time and effort, but it is worth it. When you are able to do it, your company is well-positioned for success in the long run. This keeps you ahead of your competitors and enables you to build a reputation for having the best processes in the industry.
Learn more about building a culture of process at https://hilarycorna.com/ and subscribe to our podcast.
In your service,
Hilary Corna
