Fujio Cho Reminds Us About People

Regular readers know that we often harp on the fact that most lean manufacturing efforts fail because one key pillar of lean, respect for people, is forgotten.  Leave it to Toyota Chairman Fujio Cho to remind us, again, of the importance of people. 

"The competitiveness of a company in the global market will be decided by the extent to which the company can employ and manage excellent and motivated people," Cho said at a press conference he gave earlier this year in his capacity as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

"Manufacturers treating workers as simply one of the 'three Ms'--men, machines and material--won't develop in terms of international competitiveness," Cho said. "We firmly believe that we need to value our workers so much that every single one of them feels part of the management of the company and an active participant in everyday business.

"It's important for all companies competing in the global marketplace, and for the manufacturing industry as a whole, to encourage people to work [to their potential] in return for suitable remuneration."

No further commentary is really necessary.  We've said it before and we'll say it again: people are more than a pair of hands.  They have knowledge, creativity, experience, and ideas.  Even if that isn't represented on a P&L or balance sheet.

Comments

[Dan Markovitz]

My friend who works in HR at a large investment bank says that people don't leave companies; they leave managers. It's not companies that disrespect employees. It's the managers who treat them as just a pair of hands.