In the previous part to this series we began to look at the various types of wastes which could be hidden within your organization. In part 3 we continue that review with a look at the next three types of wastes.

Waste or Muda #4: Waiting

Waiting of any kind means that the process has slowed down.

Maybe even stopped. When we make the customer wait for something we have created waste. Waiting can take many different shapes within our organizations.

The IT Manager tells the HR manager that he/she needs that new analyst in three days and now we are looking at 3 months and you are no closer to filling that position then you were when the IT manager said he need the person in critical fashion.

Your organization's policy is that all job requisitions must go through the HR manager before a recruiter can begin sourcing the position. The HR Manager due to their workload forgets to give the job requisition to the recruiter for 72 hours. That becomes 72 man hours of wasted effort.

Voice of the customer is critical in seeking out the needs of the customer. So when a department manager tells HR they need certain metrics to complete a project, then that is what they expect. HR decides that in order to make sure that the manager has everything develops reports that provide the information requested and then some. The result is that the manager has to delay their report because they have to get through the noise before finding exactly what they need,

Waiting can also occur when HR sets up interviews at the wrong date and time or the offer includes the wrong salary information.meaning until the errors are corrected the new hire can not start in the new position.

Waste or Muda #5: Over production

Have you ever heard of the term "overkill?" This area of the non-value activities is the optimum of overkill, overproduction can be found in everything we in HR do. You ask a recruiting source for their best 5 candidates and they send you 20. The department manager asked for a spreadsheet showing the past month's recruiting results and they are sent the past quarters results.Another example is when the department manager requests a report for a specific piece of data so the HR department send them the report every month. In that same scenario, the department manager asks for a specific report on a specific metric and HR prepares the report and also send along the various accompanying support data.

Waste or Muda #6: Overprocessing

As you go shopping tonight or try and call customer service, look around and see how many steps it takes to get you to where you want to be. You call customer service for your favorite store and go through call hell as you are asked to push this number on your phone to continue the process. The other night for instance I called the customer service number for a book store and the CSR was refusing to help because their records said that the credit card number on the account was not the number we have been using to order titles, so she would not let me talk to a supervisor.

Overprocessing can occur when you respond to a hiring manager's request and not really understanding the real needs or wants of the customer. The result is that you deliver something to the hiring manager and because it is the wrong information, the system bogs down until you deliver the right metrics.

Ever look at your recruiting process in detail. HR sources, screens, recruits and interviews potential candidates and refers the best candidates to the hiring manager. That is the way the system is supposed to work, Then comes the hiring manager who states that they want to see all the resumes and re-screens the candidates and schedules interviews just like the HR department already has done.

Non-value added actions are never a good thing for the organization, but as the next three waste types have shown they can especially be detrimental to your HR strategy. In the next part of the series we will look at the final three types of wastes and what they mean for the HR function. The last part of the series will look at possible solutions to remove these wastes from your processes.

See also

In Plain Sight: Hidden Wastes which affect the viability of your organization Part 1

In Plain Sight: Hidden Wastes which affect the viability of your HR organization Part 2

In Plain Sight: Hidden Wastes that Affect the Viability of Your HR Organization Part 4

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Biography

Daniel T. Bloom is the founder and Managing Partner of Daniel Bloom & Associates, Inc. Founded in 1980, DBAI is a Largo, Florida based human Capital consulting firm. Serving corporate clients nationwide, we have assisted organizations from small real estate firms to members of the Fortune 1000 with various human capital related issues.

DBAI services three niche markets with services to assist organizations to maximize the human capital assets of the organization.

The first niche is comprised of those organizations with fewer than 100 employees who either do not have or never had a human resources department and now find them selves in need of expert counsel on human capital issues. We in essence become their HR department but on a retained basis where they can call us as the need arises.

The second niche market are those corporations with a small HR staff who have an urgent need for specialized human capital services and we can provide the expertise to complete the application of these services on a timely and cost effective basis.

The third niche is strategic human capital project completion for the large corporations on a divisional basis.

The service package of DBAI includes, but is not limited to, the areas of talent management, training, vendor management, policy design, relocation management, process improvement and EEO.

A resident of Florida since 1980, Mr. Bloom was an executive recruiter with several contingency recruiting firms in the metropolitan New York market, a member of the internal HR staff of the ECI Division of E-Systems (Now Raytheon), a licensed real estate broker providing relocation services to corporate clients, an educator and since 1980 a Human Resource Consultant. He is a national member of the Society for Human Resource Management, Worldwide ERC (the corporate relocation trade association), and the American Society for Quality. In addition he is a member in the Tampa Bay area of American Society for Training and Development, Tampa Bay Metro Business Leadership Network and the Tampa Bay Executive Forum. In addition he serves on the Expert Panel for the Round Table Group in the area of human resource issues.

Mr. Bloom received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Parsons College majoring in Education and Certification in Six Sigma from St Petersburg College. He holds certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources from the Human Resource Certification Institute, a Senior Certified Relocation Professional from Worldwide ERC and a Six Sigma Black Belt from St Petersburg College.

Contact Danial via  Web: http://www.dbaiconsulting.com
LinkedIn: http://www.twitter.com/dbainc
Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/dbainc

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