The Fundamentals of Showing Respect

This holiday season we turn our focus to the Lean behaviour of Showing Respect. In the previous two issues we discussed the other Lean behaviours of Go-Look-See and Asking Why. Today it is time to muse a bit about respect and frankly, the world could use a little bit more of that.

In Novo Nordisk respect is deeply rooted in our values, which are described in The Novo Nordisk Way, a list of 10 essentials that describes the values and behaviours that guide everything we do. It is rooted in the principles and vision of our founders who set out on a journey to change diabetes in 1923. Our Novo Nordisk Way Essential 6 states:

“We value diversity and treat everyone with respect.”

Respect is also fundamental to Lean philosophy, so let’s decode what it actually means.

What is the elevator pitch of this concept?

The success of any business is built on efforts of individuals and good teamwork. And if you use that kind of thinking way, we are never going to be far wrong when it comes to treating our people with respect.

Once in a conversation with our CEO Lars Fruergaard J?rgensen on this topic, he shared his perspective on what respect is:

“Respect for me is about seeing other people where they are, making them seen, heard, understood and not imposing your own views or your own desires on them. And I think it is a fundamental thing if you want to create a productive environment. It is a fundamental thing for us in the workplace for how we collaborate, and I think it is also fundamental for actually job satisfaction and having a good time at work.”

How are respect and trust linked to each other?

There are two sides to trust and respect.

Firstly, from a company perspective and building trust within people. One of the great Lean tools that we use for that is the Hoshin Kanri strategy deployment process. Clearly showing where we are going and why we are going there from a company perspective helps to build that trust within the organisation that we are doing things for the right reason.

Secondly, we have also got the very local interactions that we have every day. For example, we don't turn up late and we don't force our opinions. When we say we are going to come back and follow up on something, we do it.

All of that is about building trust, and it is a two-way street. From a leader’s perspective, I'm going to trust that my team is going to do the right things. And then from our employees’ perspective, we trust that the leaders will follow up on what they have said they'll do.

Why should we show respect?

No company has the right to be successful. The only way we become successful is to truly engage our people and that's that back to the cycle of we build trust and respecting that we're going to be doing the right things, that we're going to develop you as individuals.

That's why we do it.

Nobody wants to work in an organisation where they are scared to say what they want to say and they don't believe in the product that we're making. It doesn't make any of us successful.?

What is the leader’s role in fostering the show respect atmosphere in the organisation?

• You process confirm to facilitate problem solving.
• You are humble and acknowledge that you don’t always get it right and you don’t have all the answers.
• You are consistent, always be consistent and then everybody knows where they are.
• You are willing to listen and you are listening to understand.
• You are able to provide feedback, both positive and negative.
• You are open and honest.
• You are able to facilitate the discussion and you are able to ask the right things.

Toyota's philosophy and respect and trust is built very heavily around the situational leadership. Here you can read more about situational leadership.

A year from now, if I enter an area that's been working with "Show Respect" as a daily practice, what can we tangibly see?

You will see a team where openness, curiosity and creativity are really a vibrant part of everyday life.

You will see self-reliance, it's people willing to make mistakes but getting up and going again. It's people having a smile on their face all day at work. It’s leaders following up and checking and you're touching these little bits that maybe are not perfect and saying great job well done. That self-reliance is really the key and when you can see that there is transparency top to bottom. Everybody knows their mission and where they fit in the organisation.

Wonderful Stine Christensen Klinger has kindly made the below visual one-pager summarising the key points of Asking Why.

Best,

Kev Shapcott and Ani Movsisyan