Engaging Employees Through Action Teams The Challenge: The President of a division of a large multinational corporation determined that his division's Repair and Return business was not generating the revenue that it should. Costs were high and customers were unhappy with the service. It appeared that there was confusion and differences of opinion within the organization as to how this segment of the business was suppose to operate. The Solution: At the recommendation of an FS&F consultant, a process improvement action team was created consisting of key stakeholders in every department that touched the Repair and Return process and from every level in the division. Meeting weekly over five weeks, with facilitation provided by the consultant, this team disassembled the entire Repair and Return process and reconstructed and documented this segment of the division's business. The Results: Over the next year, the customer satisfaction with the division's Repair and Return business improved dramatically. In addition, costs for this business segment decreased with a resulting significant increase in profitability for the division. The President later stated that not only had this part of his business improved but a whole new culture of employee involvement in problem solving had created a higher level of ownership on the part of his employees. |