Top 10 Reasons for Ergonomics (or Lean) Program Failure: Part 1

“We started off well but things have fallen by the wayside”.  “Employees were trained, they were enthusiastic and then things just started slipping away…”  The previous two statements are ones I’ve heard from companies who wanted to do ergonomics that then proceeded to get a program together and implemented who currently find themselves with a program “in name only”.  Common reasons given for demise of the program were that other priorities came up that took precedence or people just got tired of doing it.  There can be numerous reasons given for program failure but with a closer look can be synthesized into a much smaller number.  In fact, I’ve compiled my Top 10 list of reasons for ergonomics (or lean) program failure.  Here are the first 5 in no particular order:

1. No System:  No plan, processes in place for how the program will be built into organizations business systems and day-to-day work systems.  The last thing an organization wants as a result when implementing a new program is for it to become an “add-on” to the current systems.  The program should be designed to either integrate into the current business systems or modify/replace the current systems as much as possible.
2. No champion:  Lack of senior leadership support.  “What’s important to my boss is important to me.”  Enough said.
3. No performance expectations:  No roles/responsibilities defined and assigned.  No performance expectations built into each person’s and department scorecard and/or performance review.  Goals and metrics are needed to determine if individuals and departments are meeting expectations.  If there are no measurements and no expectations there is no reason to do and/or support the new program.
4. No dedication of resources:  All initiatives require organizational resources of time, effort, people and money.  How much of each needs to be defined and modified as needed as the program takes hold and grows within the organization.
5. “Owned by single person”:  Person leaves—program stops.  Have you ever been a part of an organization where a person (CEO or program leader or department manager) left and everything they did over gradually (or quickly) went away? If so, why did this happen?  If the program was truly part of the company then the culture and processes should have become part of the company’s systems, “the way it’s done” and not have relied on an individual to carry it.

In the next blog I’ll reveal reasons 6-10 and share two bonus reasons of why ergonomics (or lean) programs fail.