New Year’s resolutions apply both at home and at work. While we are trying to stick to that diet and exercise program that we committed to on December 31st, how are our business resolutions faring?

We may have said that this is the year that we will start our lean initiatives, or this is the year that we will dedicate serious resources to the continuous improvement effort that we started earlier. Unlike our waning commitment to our New Year’s diets, how can we make sure that our companies stick to this resolution?

Enter the champion

Lean initiatives require many things to help them succeed: an overall plan that is tied to the strategic direction of the company, leadership buy-in, and performance measures, to name a few. However, an equally important and often-overlooked requirement is a continuous improvement “champion.”

Who should be the process-improvement champion for your organization? In reality, a company may have champions at all levels of management and in different areas of the company.

Generally, a champion is the person with the passion, technical skill, and commitment to lead the company to high performance. This obviously requires that the champion be more than just a cheerleader. This person must be able to act as a teacher to the company and the supply chain, facilitator of improvement efforts, and negotiator when internal organizational issues arise.

The champion as change agent

When companies set out to implement continuous improvement initiatives, the one component that is most commonly overlooked is the people side. Each time a change is put in place, you are asking your people to shift their thinking and behavior. The cultural change that needs to occur to help your improvements be successful is not a natural outcome of a process improvement. Instead, it is a part of the initiative that needs focus and attention.

Whenever a continuous-improvement initiative fails, it is most often due to people resisting change. Your champion should be able to readily identify the change resistors in the organization and work with them to get buy-in and participation. Your champion must also possess the willpower to keep the initiative moving forward without being distracted by the inevitable naysayers. Upper management may not not be able to effectively identify and work through the people issues, because by the time a problem becomes apparent at the executive level, it will have become a large cultural issue.

Another important part of the champion’s role is the ability to motivate the workforce. As discussed above, company cultures have a way of setting up obstacles to change. The champion will need to navigate through these while maintaining the energy level of the continuous improvement team.

Improvement initiatives take time, and the champion will need to continue to find ways to keep people engaged in the process. This will include helping people understand how their efforts tie to the company’s objectives and priorities. It will also include the celebration of incremental successes. As people see results, the improvement initiatives should create a momentum to keep people interested.

The ideal champion: Your company’s “personal trainer”

The continuous improvement champion is like your company’s personal trainer. He or she will keep you on track working towards your goal. Change is not easy, but with hard work, dedication, and persistence, you will get that slimmer waist line and a leaner company. This year, let’s keep those New Year’s resolutions.