Good Housekeeping: The mantra for a more productive workplace
Ask anyone out there if the term ‘good housekeeping’ rings a bell in their mind. Chances are you will end up finding an overwhelming hoard of answers that perhaps look, or more precisely, sound similar to each other! But the truth out there is that good housekeeping, as the term itself explains it, really stands for a tidy, safe, disciplined, orderly and organized environment and nothing more!
At a time when we are talking about giving a push to productivity levels at our workplace and ways and means to boost up our competitiveness, good housekeeping is the natural answer to all our quests. There is complete unanimity that good housekeeping comes as the perfect mantra to bring a much needed transformation that would take our business activities to the next level.
And when we talk about good housekeeping, it’s all about the ethos set out in the 5S concept comprising: Sort out (Seiri), set in order (Seiton), shine (Seiso), Standardise (Seiketsu) and Sustain (Shitsuke). What should be kept in mind is that though these terms might at first scare you, but the truth is that good housekeeping at the end is no uphill task. Get to know how your business can benefit from a good housekeeping practice:
- Your workplace turns into a clean, safe, well organised and more pleasant environment.
- The utilisation of space is improved or space is released to a good extent.
- The workflow becomes smoother since non-value added activities are minimised.
- The time to look out for tools, material and documents is shortened.
- The life of our equipment becomes longer as machine breakdowns are minimized.
- Errors are minimised which increases the delivery of defect free products and services.
- Productivity and quality of products and services enhances.
- Employee morale and satisfaction increases.
At the end of the day, no matter how you call it, 5S or good housekeeping, don’t forget that the overall aim is to continuously improve your ways of doing things!