Let me reveal a secret. Most employees actually want a clean and well functioning workplace.

I know some people could find it hard to believe. The present situation in many companies might indicate that employees are lazy when it comes to housekeeping. Well, I have different experiences.

As I conduct 5S training, I meet employees from all kinds of businesses. I always ask what would change if their workplace would be clean and in good order,

“It would save a lot of time,

“I would be less irritated at work”,

“I think we would be prouder about our workplace”, are some typical answers.

For me, it is clear that almost every employee wants the facilities to be in good shape.

How can we have messy workplaces and employees who want good order?

One explanation to this contradiction is: it is acceptable for most people to take care of their own waste, but few people like to take care of somebody else’s.

A shift worker would certainly not be pleased if he one day would found his workplace dirty and messed up. The first time it happens, he might clean it up, but the next time he will not be that generous. Soon he will stop and say:

“Seems like no one else cares about this place, so why should I?”

This means that the overall level will gradually deteriorate. If we do nothing, we will end up with a situation where the least interested employee will set the housekeeping standard for everybody else. As I see it, a cluttered and dirty workplace is not a choice of the employees; it is a result of a bad system where a few lazy people can tear down the work satisfaction for all the rest.

This is, of course, unacceptable, but it is the main reason why we need systems for scheduling, consistency and self-discipline as 5S.

Involvement is the key for a successful 5S implementation

As most employees actually want 5S, you need to involve them in the work. If you do this right you will not just get a better running operation, but also motivated employees eager to continue with the change process.

So how could you do that? Based on my experiences, these steps are the best for successful 5S implementation involving everyone in the work area:

1. Start by choosing at which department to start. As 5S will use resources, you should begin somewhere where the payback time is shortest. Do it right so that you have a good example to set for the next.

2. Perform 5S training. In a production plant, the training involves all production personnel, maintenance, managers and staff.

3. Treat the first S, Seiri (Organization) as waste reduction. The goal is to release time for housekeeping and to make housekeeping as easy as possible. The best way to do this is to go out in the facility in cross-functional teams and search for everything that creates unnecessary effort. Sort out unnecessary objects; mark all known problems, find leakages, and remove hazards. Red-tag every problem and make an action plan that you carry out within 30 days.

4. The second S, Seiton (Orderliness), focuses on arranging everything at the easiest and most efficient access. In practice, you might integrate Seiton in the action plan from Seiri, or it could be a task for empowered work teams.

5. The third S, Seiso (Cleanliness), is crucial for the acceptance of 5S. There are two goals with Seiso: the first is to agree on what cleaning standard you mutually think is right, the second goal is to document what you needed to do to get there. Just like Seiri, everybody working in the area, including managers and staff, should perform the Seiso activity. Split the area into small parts and appoint teams to take care of each. Let the teams note down what cleaning they needed to do, and ask them to estimate how often this cleaning should be repeated in the future. Finally take a photo of the new standard. Remember that Seiso is a one-time activity; the next S