Guidon government client conducts 100th Lean Enterprise Event
Iowa – February 17, 2009
Iowa Business Council Recognizes 100th Lean Event and Announces Creation of "Partners in Efficiency Award"
The Iowa Business Council (IBC) recognized the occurrence of the 100th Lean Enterprise event conducted within State government during its 23rd Annual Partnership Meeting held on January 26, in Des Moines. Also at that time, IBC announced the creation of the “Iowa Partners In Efficiency
Award.”
Lean in State Government
The Business Council’s Annual Partnership Meeting program honored individuals who have helped to introduce Lean Enterprise into state government. For the past six years the Business Development & Process Team of the Iowa Coalition for Innovation and Growth, a collaboration of IBC and the Iowa Chamber Alliance, has worked to institutionalize the philosophy of Lean Enterprise within state agencies. Successful businesses worldwide utilize Lean, which is the continuous, critical evaluation and improvement of administrative and production processes. Unnecessary steps or “touches” determined to add no value to the end product or service are eliminated. As a result, human and financial resources are deployed more efficiently while costs are reduced, product quality is increased, employee sense of value and worth grows, and customer satisfaction rises.
In 2006, the Iowa Department of Management received an appropriation to create the Office of Lean Enterprise, which has now assumed administrative responsibility for all future Lean events in state government.
During the month of January the Office of Lean Enterprise, led by Teresa Hay McMahon, coordinated and conducted state government’s 100th Lean Event within the Iowa Workforce Development Unemployment Insurance Tax Collections Office. The Council will recognize this milestone and honor McMahon, Governor Chet Culver, and others for their dedication to implementing Lean in more than 20 state agencies.
“A competitive business climate means regulatory functions need to perform as efficiently as possible,” said Mel Haught, President and CEO of Pella Corporation and incoming Chair of the Iowa Business Council. “As a result of leadership from Governor Culver and the determined efforts of the State Government Lean Initiative and the Office of Lean Enterprise, Iowa now serves as a role model for state governments everywhere that are trying to duplicate the introduction of Lean throughout their own regulatory structures. IBC strongly endorses the ongoing pursuit of, and dedication to, this very important initiative.”
Iowa Partners in Efficiency Award
IBC also announced that, starting in 2010, the Business Council and the Lean Government Collaborative will co-sponsor an annual “Iowa Partners In Efficiency Award.” This award will recognize the employees or work units in any political subdivision of local, county, or state government that, through the use of Lean tools and techniques, significantly and measurably increase productivity and promote innovation resulting in the improvement of delivery of public services to the benefit of the citizens of Iowa and the private sector.
The purpose for creating this award is:
- To publically acknowledge and highlight outstanding efforts at efficiency, productivity, cost avoidance, and waste elimination in government;
- To improve regulatory processes and performance targets;
- To drive economic competitiveness;
- To foster better work environments; and,
- To develop leaders and innovators with a bias for action.
More details about the Iowa Partners In Efficiency Award are forthcoming. In the meantime, the Business Council is pleased and excited about this new recognition, one it expects to become a tradition in the years to come. “The Iowa Business Council applauds the visionary state agencies that have conducted Lean events, the results of which are providing significant benefits to their departments and the constituencies they serve,” said Mel Haught. “With the advent of the Partners In Efficiency Award, IBC hopes to encourage continued use of Lean Enterprise in the public sector as an initiative that consistently succeeds in producing effective results.”
About Guidon Performance Solutions
Guidon is a global management consulting organization that helps clients achieve rapid, sustainable improvements in operational performance and growth. Guidon pioneered the combined application of Lean and Six Sigma in the service sector and has a proven track record working with clients in financial services, healthcare, government, retail, technology and other service organizations. With a full-spectrum of capabilities focused on people, process, and technology, Guidon provides strategic direction and hands-on implementation to guide cultural and organizational transformation. Guidon’s approach, aligned with client leadership, generates measurable results including revenue growth, cost reduction, productivity improvement, increased customer satisfaction and innovation. For more information about Guidon, please visit www.guidonps.com or call 866-986-4414.
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