Bulletin boards have always been a good way to share information and put up posters about your workplace, but at Round Mountain, they have taken it to another level.
Instead of just one-way communication, at Round Mountain, the Continuous Improvement (CI) Boards also ask that employees provide feedback and suggestions to improve the site. Last year alone, the boards spurred 604 ideas from employees and has helped created a real culture of collaboration and idea-sharing.
“The CI Board is about finding ways for employees to contribute to good change. We want to hear their ideas and work together to collaboratively come up with solutions to better our site,” said Deanna Hall, Continuous Improvement Facilitator.
The CI boards are a visual way for employees to provide suggestions that are later taken to the CI meeting where employees are encouraged to provide feedback on the suggestions and ways to implement change.
The feedback encourages employees to work together and strategize as a cross-functional team to come up with the best solutions for improving the site.
How do the CI Boards work?
When an employee has an idea, they write it on a card and add it to the ‘New’ column with the category they want to improve. The employee then becomes the ‘Owner’ of this card.
The board is organized by KPI’s that range from Safety, Environment, Production, Quality and Cost Savings suggestions.
Monthly meetings are held where the owner has the opportunity to explain their suggestion in detail, and take feedback on how to go forward with implementing this idea.
After feedback meetings, the cards go into the final three columns: “completed” meaning the idea was implemented; “under ‘review” meaning the idea is in limbo, on whether or not it will be implemented; or “closed,” if the panel chooses to not go forward with the idea.
Employees are rewarded for their contributions as an incentive to continuously put forward suggestions to improve the site. The CI Board is an effective and simple way to promote innovation and creativity to improve our business.
An up-close look at the CI Board – with completed, review and closed sections filling up on the far right. The orange cards represent ideas relevant to safety to symbolize priority ideas.
A CI Board idea card
Nikki Baragrose, HR Assistant, stands with her appreciation award for bringing forth new suggestions to the CI Board from Bob Donalson, Environmental Projects Superintendent
