Basic American Foods Gets Lean

Manufacturing is a broad and complex market, especially when it comes to talent management. Last fall, we launched a talent management suite built specifically for manufacturing organizations to help them create a high performance workforce while demonstrating compliance with regulations and standards such as OSHA and ISO, and initiatives such as Lean and Six Sigma. It’s definitely an interesting market, and I wanted to share the story of just one of our more than 200 manufacturing customers – Basic American Foods.

Walnut Creek, California based Basic American Foods (BAF) is an innovator and leader in convenience and refrigerated foods. With nearly 40 patents to its credit, BAF is an acknowledged leader in research and development, earning universal respect for innovation, quality, and customer service.

The company continues to grow, staying focused on its customers, and looks to the future with confidence. BAF knows the key ingredient to its success, both now and in the future, is the company’s highly skilled employees and their continued development. To ensure that the organization is doing all it can to effectively develop its employees, BAF implemented Halogen Software’s talent management solutions.

Before transforming its performance management process using Halogen’s solutions, BAF conducted performance reviews on paper. It was common knowledge throughout the organization that trying to manage performance on paper was not helping the company achieve its business objectives. BAF employees simply did not want to participate in performance appraisals using the old system. Since the process was a burden, it hindered managers in effectively coaching and promoting the ongoing development of their employees. To make the whole process more palatable and get the staff engaged in performance management, the HR team had to find and implement a new system that was as simple and as user friendly as possible.

As HR Manager Melanie Rydalch explains:
We were dealing with a system that was not very simple or productive. It was universally frustrating. It became very apparent that there had to be a better way. We knew we had to automate the process, and were looking to find a best-in-class, web-based talent management solution.

They understood that the easier the process could be made the more likely their employees would be to engage with it. It would also mean that managers could spend their limited time providing feedback and coaching rather than wasting it on administration.

Additionally, the leadership at BAF had also wanted to implement Lean manufacturing principles for several years, but they were challenged by the inability to maintain accountability in this area. It didn’t take long for the BAF leadership to realize it needed to create a culture that supported Lean processes. The new appraisal system provided access to the Lean competencies BAF needed.

Rydalch explains:
The online performance management system was simple to use and instrumental in establishing Lean principles in our organization. Halogen ensures our leadership holds all employees accountable to the Lean principles. We have made a great deal of progress since the implementation of Halogen largely because everyone in our organization is held accountable to the Lean principles and the reporting provides a simple visual to determine our opportunities for improvement.

By streamlining the process and providing tools that made the whole appraisal process easier, BAF has transformed employee performance management from a once a year chore to an ongoing, year-round process. The solution’s extensive features such as comment helpers, development tips, performance journals and goal tracking help managers provide regular feedback and coaching to employees. This has been instrumental in transforming the entire culture of the organization into one that focuses on development.