The plant had invested heavily in Lean manufacturing practices over several years, with the expectation of improving productivity, reducing waste, and increasing employee engagement. While Lean tools and methodologies were formally in place, the organisation was not realising the expected operational or cultural benefits. Productivity gains were marginal, employee morale was low, and overall business impact was limited.
Leadership recognised that while the technical elements of Lean had been implemented, the human, relational, and behavioural aspects required to make Lean effective at scale were missing.
Business need
- To translate existing Lean capability into measurable productivity, engagement, and retention improvements.
- To integrate Lean tools with leadership, communication, coaching, and human factors capability.
- To break down silos between levels of the organisation and improve decision quality and speed.
- To build internal capability within Continuous Improvement and Supervisory teams to ensure sustainability.
- To create a practical, experience-rich programme that resonated across education levels and roles.
- To deliver a solution that generated rapid momentum, long-term adoption, and demonstrable ROI.
What was delivered
LeanUp — a bespoke, integrated performance programme combining Lean technical rigour with performance coaching across four interconnected practice areas: leadership, coaching, communication, and human factors (CRM).Key elements included:
- A 12-day programme delivered in four intensive face-to-face blocks, with cohorts of 12–18 leaders across multiple seniorities, creating interdependence rather than hierarchical separation.
- Four integrated modules:
- Building Leadership Foundations
- Building Relationships
- Building Engagement
- Building Resilience
- Direct alignment with the plant’s existing Lean technical training, ensuring behavioural capability reinforced process design, problem-solving, and continuous improvement.
- A strong focus on internal capability building, particularly within Continuous Improvement and Supervisory populations.
- Experience-rich, highly practical learning, directly applied to day-to-day operational challenges.
- A coaching phase to support implementation and sustain behaviour change post-delivery.
- Ongoing access to learning resources via mobile technology, including profiles, videos, and practical tools, supporting continuous application on the job.
- Individual competence assessment targeting priority gaps in Lean practice, ensuring relevance and impact.
Outcomes
- Double-digit increases in productivity, employee engagement, and retention.
- Double-digit reductions in failure rates, defects, and rework.
- Significant personal and professional development among participants, including improved confidence, communication, and leadership effectiveness.
- Sustained improvements driven by strengthened internal leadership and Continuous Improvement capability.
- Return on investment exceeding 100%, driven by productivity gains and operational improvements.
- A more resilient, aligned, and engaged workforce, capable of sustaining Lean performance over time.
