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and selection than skill orientation because employee growth and development will come more from horizontal growth and not vertical growth.

Besides, the Lean Approach will not support the traditional method of constructing a career that is, upward through the functional' activities. A new form of career must be devised, an alternating career' in which employees go back and forth between applying what they know in a team context and taking time out to learn new skills in a functional setting. The conventional idea of a career progressing up a ladder toward general management with more and more direct reports, needs replacement because the value stream doesn't benefit. A new concept of a career in which more and more skills are gained and applied to more and more difficult problems is both good for the employee and for the value flow. It requires a lot of creative thought in redefining conventional careers

The compensation scheme in a Lean company would also have to be different. While the ideal compensation scheme would pay each employee in exact proportion to the value they add, this is very cumbersome. So the simplest and cheapest method of calculating compensation is generally the best. This means paying a market wage based on their qualifications and tying a bonus tied directly to the profitability of the firm. Since a lean firm is substantially more profitable than average, the bonus would be a significant fraction of total compensation

See how it all combines to form a Lean tapestry? Applying lean thinking to only the manufacturing process would be underestimating the potential of this approach. When you think Lean, think lean about everything.

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