Respect for People

I think I am one of the lucky ones that have many good bosses who challenge me to do something I don't even know how to deliver and at the same time show guidance and understanding when needed.

One thing that attracts me into Amazon is the respect for people. I still remembered my interview at Olive Garden back in 2007. The GM of PHX3 asked me if I wanted to be a financial analyst or a process engineer. I had no idea what each path meant at Amazon, and told them that I was flexible to be placed into any one of them as they would know what suited me most. But I am impressed that they discussed about career path even at my first interview!

Then, I was hired as a process engineer, a different role from what I applied. I did not know that I could enjoy it that much as I worked on process mapping and applied engineering standards on warehouse processes to build on what I studied in IE about lean in a practical setting. Something with a mix of analysis and hand on experience on the floor! After a year, my boss who is now the regional director asked if I still wanted to be a SFA as there would be another warehouse opened in Goodyear. I was impressed that they remembered the other choice they offered to me during my first interview and checked if I changed my mind after working for a year. I thought for a while and said that I still liked to be a process engineer doing process improvement. He then moved me into ACES (Amazon Customer Excellence Systems). He was right! My skills seem to match ACES better than the operations engineering role who has more ME than IE for building expansion.

Later on, I got the opportunity to teach others about lean as I was challenged not to do those mapping myself. I need to teach others. I found that teaching was so much fun! It helped me to think of proper examples to engage and built on what the participants know in order to teach them the fun of kaizen and how to use proper tools to guide them in various phases!

After working three years at Amazon, I got a promotion to serve as a continuous improvement manager for the North American network - thanks to the appreciation from a black belt leader who taught me so much about the respect for people as we built inbound standard work at PHX3 in 2010. He changed my perspective that we could have standard work even for a project role and a lean leader. I liked how he showed me the method to build standard work in my Gemba walk to collect facts before sharing best practice! He had been our coach for the two years where I was in the Continuous Improvement (CI) team! I had the honor to teach the network about kaizen and do some projects at inbound. The one I loved most is the last project that drove compliance on the use of a problem solve tool called inbound andon tracker, which is to track inbound defects and provide feedback to vendors and do chargeback! I see the Improvement kata is working to drive process sustainment even at peak! You just have to do it with discipline and help Fulfillment Centers to remove barrier no matter they are the knowledge gaps, or the process visibility or the software bugs. Give them some encouragement too as they move into the right direction and be available for them!

In early 2013, I got an opportunity to transfer to my current team since the North American Operations Subject Matter Experts (SME) team needed more people experienced in inbound to be the liaison between the software teams and the operations teams. That inbound Andon tracker project was the driver of the concept of an automatic defect capturing system through the front end tools and provided a one stop shop for all inbound defect tracking for vendor chargeback and associate feedback. That is the vision of the current simple inbound problem solve project that I support now. I had the opportunity to design it with the tech teams and supply chain teams last 2 years, and now having the fun of testing and implementing it across the network.

When I think back, it is indeed the respect for people that attracts talents into Amazon. It is also the respect for people that keeps the people learning each day and lets them come closer to their dreams. Recently, I come across the career choice program at PHX 6 - a program that Amazon sponsors people back to schools for whatever programs interested them. The classes do not have to be a skill related to Amazon. I think this is another way to show respect for our people that we want to contribute in their dreams even it is not directly align with their positions. We trust that people will perform the best when they are moving closer to their dreams each day and we never know that those skills could be useful in the future with the pace that Amazon is growing and the new territory that Amazon are expanding each year. It is indeed the focus on employee relations that gives people sense of belonging and loyalty. I hope that all the top management know that they own the happiness of their direct reports and the dynamic of their organizations. What you say and how you say matters so much to your team and so be a good model to lead when we need direction, and listen when we have suggestions. Always provide feedback and recognition as we all need them to grow!!