Selections

Hiring the Right Person. In the Right Amount. In the Right Form. At the Right Time

At Toyota, the expectation is that hires will be with the company for life, and every hiring decision is taken very seriously. To illustrate this, a former VP of HR at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky describes this directive he received with his first staffing assignment:

"Your job is to protect the job security of 8,000 people, and do not ever compromise that. Toyota has a history of 40 years of job security. Do not screw it up...If we do one thing well, it is planning our staffing so as to protect the reputation of Toyota and respecting the long-term job security of team members. It is a critical point in Toyota. We agonize over every hire."

No pressure there.

This is done by hiring the right person in the right amount in the right form at the right time.

The Right Person

When hiring for a particular position, do you know the type of person you're looking for, and would you know how to identify who would be the right fit? Toyota goes to great lengths, using tools such as pre employment assessments and behavioral-based interviewing, to discover candidates' backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses and future potential. The company doesn't look just for someone capable of doing the particular job, but for someone who will be committed to the job and company long-term.

Too often, organizations look to satisfy an immediate staffing need, and may or may not be successful even with this short-term goal. Instead, Toyota matches the skills and abilities that are needed with those of the applicant to successfully meet both the immediate need as well as the characteristics needed to grow into new roles and positions. For Toyota team members, this builds trust and encourages engagement for the long term, because they have an opportunity to grow within the company.

In The Right Amount

Overhiring is a common mistake. It can be done with the best intentions, but it's still missing the long-term perspective. Maybe a big project came along or sales picked up. But what happens when sales go back down or the big project ends, and another big one isn't immediately there to take its place? At some point, decision makers decide the excess headcount needs to be reduced. Ups and downs in hiring and firing means, in good times: retraining new employees into the culture (which takes significant time and resources); and in bad times: firing employees, which destroys trust and morale.

Rather than act on that first impulse to increase the workforce, Toyota finds alternate solutions. Perhaps individuals from one department can be re-allocated to a different department, to temporarily handle the increased workload. Or maybe there's a way to improve the workflow, eliminating the 'need' for additional workers. Taking steps to really examine and scrutinize the situation protects job security for the current workforce and strengthens the overall health of the organization.

In The Right Form

Another factor in avoiding overhiring is being able to select the right type of employment status according to the work need. It's important for job security to have some percentage of the workforce as temporary employees (aka variable workforce).

While the selection of temporary employees isn't a new concept, Toyota's approach is unique because the company treats these individuals as part of the team and the Toyota culture. Temporaries go through the same people value stream as full-time members. In fact, the common goal between the company and the temporary employees is that they go through the value stream successfully; that is, being trained, performing up to standard, and committed, and then converting to full-time employment at the end of the two-year temporary assignment. An example: Through 2006, at Toyota's Georgetown, KY, plant, 100% of the temporaries who performed their job with quality were converted to full-time team members at the end of their assignment.

At The Right Time

This piece is especially important in the lean Toyota environment. It's critical to maintain the proper balance of the correct number of team leaders off-line - the standard that's been effective at Toyota is that a maximum of 50% of the team leaders are working on the line at any point in time. If there are too many team leaders working on the line, instead of off-line supporting members, it can put a burden on the team members, negatively affecting the uptime percentage of the plant. Conversely, if there are too many off-line, it can have a negative impact on the cost key performance indicator of labor-hours per unit.

Consider how this would apply to your organization. Know the optimal balance that results in an efficient, productive and safe work environment. And continually monitor and maintain this balance, especially when considering adjustments to workforce levels.

To learn more about Hiring for Lean and how to apply the successful 'Toyota Way' to your organization, be sure to attend our educational seminar, "Applying Toyota's Proven Methods for Hiring and Developing a World-Class Workforce." The next event will take place in Atlanta later this month, and more scheduled dates/locations will be announced soon.

* Taken from "Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of The Toyota Way," Authors: Jeffrey K. Liker and Michael Hoseus