Lean Manufacturing vs Coaching Alliance in Engagement Promotion: An Employee Suggestion System Prototype

Abstract

Industry 4.0 is being pushed by Industry 5.0 to put the human factor at the centre of technological innovation by fostering engagement practices, namely through participatory design and communication and knowledge sharing. Kaizen Teian, or suggestion systems, are tools that empower employees with voice behaviour, giving them the possibility to foster innovation in the organisation by fostering in them this feeling of involvement and/or belonging. This paper brings a prototype of a suggestion system, co-created with employees from three multi-sector companies that integrates the PDCA cycle with the Disney strategy, a Neuro-linguistic Programming technique used in Coaching. The Disney strategy aims at supporting innovation through a process for the realisation of ideas, giving them a mature character. This system fosters two of the predictors of work engagement, which are participative design and knowledge sharing, and brings transparency to suggestions, enabling the employee to monitor them. The promotion of sustainable innovation through the Disney strategy, the improvement of labour engagement and the sharing of knowledge, are all enhancing factors of organisational competitive advantage, not only by retaining the workforce, but also by preserving organisational knowledge. This is a digital tool adapted to the current challenging technological context, where Lean must be preserved and coaching tools applied.