Creation of a Lean Leader Programme - Team Impact Award Winner

 

Sellafield-Edited

February 2025

Background

Sellafield had never previously documented and gained executive-level approval for a desired future state of Continuous Improvement (CI). However, this has now been addressed with the introduction of the Sellafield Way.

A Voice of the Customer (VoC) exercise highlighted the necessity for a Lean Leader programme. When asked, "What can the central Business Improvement (BI) team do to help create a culture of CI?", the predominant response was that leaders needed to be educated in CI to engage and empower their teams in fostering a CI culture.

Feedback from attendees of the LCS 1a, 1b, and 1c training programmes indicated that their leadership teams were not sufficiently focused on developing a CI culture. Although the LCS training, along with Practical Problem-Solving training, standard use of A3 reports, and embedding daily performance meetings, had created a solid foundation for CI, there had been no dedicated training for senior management and the Executive team—approximately 150 individuals.

It was recognised that leaders across the organisation participated in various courses and programmes to develop leadership skills. However, none of these initiatives explicitly focused on the behaviours required to create and sustain a CI culture.

Additionally, there was an awareness of the evolving nature of the business and its mission. Potential funding and resourcing challenges necessitated improved performance, not only for the benefit of Sellafield but also for the wider NDA group. Consequently, a Lean Leader programme was deemed essential to enable widespread contribution to improvement efforts while ensuring that systems and processes were fully aligned.