Kaizen training is a business leadership and corporate executive training program that teaches techniques for increasing efficiency and effectiveness. By cultivating an atmosphere of business-oriented self-reflection, the training equips leaders to increase productivity and improve the overall corporate climate. Process-learning is at the heart of kaizen training. Kaizen is not something that can be implemented once and then forgotten about; it must be lived on a daily basis to be successful.
The Japanese word kaizen means “improvement.” It’s not surprising, then, that kaizen began as a business practice in Japanese corporations. Entrepreneurs developed kaizen training as a means of improving job relations, workplace functionality, and accuracy, among other things, as Japan struggled to recover from the devastation of WWII.
All kaizen processes revolve around bringing employees together to jointly solve corporate problems and pursue the company’s larger objectives. It involves everyone from assembly line workers to managers and executives, with the idea that all employees have a say in whether or not the company succeeds. Training teaches leaders how to bring together diverse groups of employees and inspire them to identify and improve processes on their own. Some kaizen training focuses on accountability and teamwork, but nearly all of it focuses on identifying waste patterns, studying lean manufacturing strategies, and developing continuous improvement programs.
Kaizen was created with the manufacturing industry in mind at the outset. The kaizen model is well suited to engineering and raw material production companies in particular. However, kaizen training and philosophies can benefit businesses in all market sectors, and kaizen training is now practiced in a wide range of organizations around the world.
Kaizen training is available in a variety of formats for corporate executives. Training is sometimes scheduled for a number of months in the daily or weekly calendars of executives. The kaizen method will be taught by experts who will come to your office and train you. Lectures and case studies, as well as small group work and role-playing, are common training activities.
Kaizen coaching is also available, and it’s especially popular among small businesses that don’t have the time or resources to fully utilize in-office training exercises. A kaizen coach will typically work with an organization to assess all events before offering advice and suggestions to help the organization align with kaizen ideals of self-made productivity and continuous improvement.
Kaizen training is sometimes crammed into a weekend retreat or team-building trip. Executives and managers who attend kaizen retreats frequently travel to an off-site location for a few days of intensive kaizen training. Because kaizen is a method that requires continuous implementation rather than just a philosophy, one-time training sessions are rarely as effective as longer-term training. With all-at-once retreat training, there’s a risk that participants won’t get a chance to see results before forgetting everything they’ve learned.