<span style="font-weight: 400;">Even seasoned senior managers look to continually enhance their skill sets to differentiate themselves from other job seekers. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Management job seekers with </span><a href="http://www.qualitysolutions.ca/leanmfg.htm"><span style="font-weight: 400;">lean management experience</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> can separate themselves from the competition. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Those who study lean management demonstrate to employers an understanding of the forces of the global economy, as well as the requisite lifelong learning for business success. Here are five reasons:</span>
<h3><b>Companies Invest in Lean Management, Creating Lean-Related Jobs</b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">GE initially invested $432 million in the United States to develop “</span><a href="http://www.areadevelopment.com/siteSelection/directory2011/manufacturers-test-centers-of-excellence30230.shtml"><span style="font-weight: 400;">centers of excellence</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” that practice lean manufacturing. This was just the start. With </span><a href="https://hbr.org/2014/04/how-ge-applies-lean-startup-practices"><span style="font-weight: 400;">digitization</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, information speeds up processes, enhancing the ability for rapid decision-making.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">GE responded to the need for speed by implementing what is termed “FastWorks,” a framework which takes lean to the next level. And numerous companies followed this lead. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Job seekers who independently seek lean management training will stand out not only for their skills, but for their ability to anticipate a future employer’s needs.</span>
<h3><b>Lean Allows Managers to Consider Accepting a Position with a Failing Company</b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">In general, job seekers attempt to avoid struggling companies. Lean managers, on the other hand, have the flexibility to look for employment with companies that experience significant business challenges. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Applicants with a deep understanding of lean may identify companies where an </span><a href="http://www.ehow.com/list_6025715_disadvantages-lean-manufacturing.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">overhaul of manufacturing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> can reverse a failing company. Lean management simply expands the opportunities for job seekers qualified for senior executive positions.</span>
<h3><b>Continuing Education Fills Gaps in a Resume</b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Employers have always been reluctant to hire an individual who has been unemployed for an extended period. Most hiring managers will not exclude unemployed applicants, but a period of idleness never reflects well on a candidate.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Lean management training allows job seekers to avoid resume gaps at a fairly minimal expense, without the need to seek a degree. Junior and mid-level managers may even consider interning with a lean shop.</span>
<h3><b>Where High Turnover Exists Process-Oriented Managers Are in Demand </b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">For a people-oriented manager, the loss of experienced employees may prove insurmountable. Lean managers tend to be process-oriented: They focus on developing processes which can create success, even with decreased staffing. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Lean managers are not necessarily callous, or uninterested in the </span><a href="https://ugn.com/the-importance-of-eq-emotional-intelligence-for-lean-managers/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">employee success</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. On the contrary, lean often helps companies avoid layoffs that could have otherwise have been necessary. A process-oriented manager can enter a struggling department and use lean principles to develop processes that make each person’s job easier and more clearly defined, while preparing the department to weather future turmoil. </span>
<h3><b>A Lean Manager Emphasizes Value</b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">A job-seeker fluent in lean would present quite an argument for hire if they can effectively communicate why they studied lean: To learn how best to maximize customer value and minimize waste. Because in the</span> <a href="http://leanmanufacturingtools.org/63/benefits-of-lean-manufacturing/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">global marketplace</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">others are aggressively looking at your market share and working out how to take it. </span>

<em><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-33160" src="http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/peteranthony-192x300-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/petercanthony/" target="_blank">Peter Anthony</a> is President &amp; Chief Executive Officer of </span><a href="http://ugn.com/about-ugn/#mission"><span style="font-weight: 400;">UGN</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which he joined in 1992 as sales and marketing manager. Upon taking the helm of chief executive in 2002, Anthony ultimately reinvented UGN—expanding it from a niche supplier to a broad-based corporation with a diversified product line. His drive to embrace the Toyota Production System as the foundation of the UGN business model resulted in maximum productivity and efficiency throughout his manufacturing and business management structure. </span></em><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today, Anthony spearheads the company’s more than $400 million in revenue across six manufacturing facilities in the United States. </span></em>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;