SITUATION

The German BMW plant directors in China had tried to transplant the 5S program (a set of strict behaviours to improve efficient and productivity in plants) from the production areas to the office areas but this soon proofed to be an unpopular idea. However the plant directors didn’t give up and decided to task the company’s change management department to develop a solution.

The challenge was then eventually assigned to me and my task was to relaunch 5S and to make it a success this time. I was assigned one intern for this project and unfortunately there was no budget. I reframed the program, recruited and trained an army of 100 change agents and organised 2 massive launches with business games. See below for details.

TASK

The Plant Directors approached the change management department to lead a change program to change mindsets in office areas. The assignment was given to me and my task was to launch the 5S office standards for 3,500 managers and staff in office venues in two plants.
Duration: 2 years
Manpower resources: 01 Intern
Budget: None. However I had to eventually ask the Plant Directors to sponsor RMB 2,500 / AU$500 worth of prizes for the business games.

ACTIVITIES

Step 1 – Create a change management plan and align with managers

Carried out a change assessment exercise, organised stakeholder analysis and developed a change and communication plan for the change program
Organised 12 alignment discussions with managers and key stakeholders and made 15 status update briefings to Technology, Finance and HR management circles over the course of the entire program
Developed 35 office behaviour standards with 3 brainstorming workshops with management, managers and other key stakeholders
Created a comprehensive website explaining the 35 office standards with photos, videos, FAQs, quizzes, templates, tips etc
Produced a visual summary for easy reference for the 35 standards and also friendly tip cards

Step 2 – Set-up a wide change agents network on the ground

Organised a nomination exercise for managers to recommend staff with role model behaviours to join a change agents network
Offered 2 half-day trainings for change agents on the new 35 office standards and a further 4 briefings for FAQs and clarfications during the course of the program
Held an initiation ceremony for 100 change agents in which their respective division senior management gave them certificates of appointment and special lanyards and caps

Step 3 – Kick-off the program with an engaging staff launch event

Created a business game concept with game manuals for organisers and players
Prepared the 100 change agents to organise the business game in 2 plant locations
Organised 2 event planning workshops for the launch event team, 5 business game practice sessions and 2 rehearsals
Organised 2 staff launch events in 2 plant locations

Step 4 – Implement sustainability activities and prepare BAU

Developed an audit, audit process and guidelines for change agents to carry out quarterly audits in their own divisions
Created reports, polls and surveys to evaluate success and to identify areas for further improvements
Set-up and trained a BAU core team to make over the program from the change management function
Organised of an appreciation event to thank change agents for a successful program

RESULTS

Best practices

Management sponsorship: Strong sponsorship from Plant Directors
Change agents: Well-trained and motivated network of 100 change agents
Business game: Game was well received with a total of 330 staff participating
Website: Over 10,000 visits to the project website over the course of the program which was unprecedented for such a 5S topic.
Audit results: Over 200 audits conducted with 83% in the top performance band

Areas for improvements

BAU: Set-up the BAU team at the beginning and not towards the end of the program
Change agents: Get a stronger alignment with the managers on their nominations and roles and responsibilities for the change agents