With almost 50 years of experience between us, in assisting organizations globally to implement Continuous Improvement programs, we have gained valuable insights that impact the success of Continuous Improvement initiatives. Our experience comes from working extensively with multinational corporations, all levels of government, crown corporations, and enterprises of all sizes in Canada and abroad. We have assisted numerous organizations to implement operations transformation initiatives throughout the enterprise or within specific business areas of the enterprise. These initiatives have involved training senior executives, middle and frontline management and staff in Operational Excellence (OE) or Continuous Improvement (CI) philosophy, methodologies, tools and techniques. Additionally, we have supported CI projects, coached and mentored client staff so that the organizations develop internal capacity and knowledge to sustain improvements in the long term. The short-term results in the majority of our engagements have been impressive in terms of service improvements, new capacity creation, quality improvement, productivity increase, cost reduction, customer satisfaction, employee engagement and fulfilment. Sadly, most organizations have failed to maintain the initial momentum and benefit gains of CI initiatives. Generally, most CI programs flounder over time; Or worse, cease to exist in spite of substantial human and financial resources invested in the initiative.
Not all organizations have the same circumstances or follow the same trajectory, but we have identified below five common reasons why organizations are not able to sustain CI programs over the long haul.
1. CI initiatives are viewed as “projects” rather than “this is how we work”
This is one of the most common mistakes organizations make. “Projects” have start and end points. Projects rarely result in a change in how staff view work. Launching a CI initiative through a series of CI projects is a good strategy to jumpstart the program and develop internal capacity and knowledge of CI, but it will not yield sustainable results in the long-term. The word “continuous” in Continuous Improvement implies exactly that – ongoing, daily improvements, no matter how trivial in how the organization delivers value. This requires managers and staff to have the capability to identify and eliminate (or minimize) waste, create flow, and improve the consistency in the quality of the service or product produced through business processes on a daily basis. Implementing CI through merely a series of projects is wasteful and short-sighted.
2. Changing organizational priorities
Rapid advancements in technology and the digital revolution are putting increased pressure on organizations to adapt and meet the challenges of changing economic, social and demographic conditions. Often, investment in CI programs is considered an elective rather than a requirement. This is a mistake. CI programs designed to create a culture of true “Continuous Improvement” is a mandatory requirement for developing organizational agility. Organizations are made up of people. How people interact, how issues are identified and resolved, how changes are anticipated and acted upon determine the ability of the organization to withstand economic, social and technological shockwaves. CI programs that encourage and engage frontline staff and customers (internal and external) on an ongoing basis in problem solving and Continuous Improvement is an organizational necessity, not a luxury.
3. Lack of senior management support
Most, if not all CI initiatives are typically sponsored and supported by one or more senior executives. These individuals have either had prior exposure to CI approaches and/or are “believers” in the value of CI for organizational improvement. We have seen numerous examples of how CI programs are so dependent on the executive sponsor that when the sponsor leaves the organization, the CI program immediately ceases to exist, or its existence gradually fades away over time. CI programs that have the most chance of survival are those that have successfully embedded CI business practices and expertise at the grassroots level. It is critical that senior management sponsor and support a CI program that focuses on building CI acumen widely in the organization with the objective to create a culture of “how we work”. This will withstand personnel changes at all levels.
4. Belief and behaviours don’t change
It is not enough to impart technical skills in CI to the organization. This is just one aspect of the CI philosophy. It is of critical importance to impact management and frontline staff mindsets and behaviours. Our workplaces today are increasingly seen as networks of people and self-managing teams working together rather than a hierarchy where people at different levels have to be “managed” by a higher-ranking individual. CI philosophy promotes two important mindsets: (i) team leaders leading with humility and empathy, and (ii) respect for people. We see managers (at all levels) in organizations spending 50%-70% of their time in meetings and sending or responding to e-mails. This is a wasteful use of personnel time. CI requires managers to have more facetime with staff, to “go and see” how work is getting done, coach and mentor staff, engage in improvement initiatives, promote standard practices and engage with staff in problem solving. CI programs ought to emphasize these important beliefs and practices to ensure long-term sustainment.
5. No metrics to track performance
The axiom, “what gets measured gets done” remains as valid in the present digital age as it did in prior times. Staff need to feel that their work and efforts are valued and contribute to the organization’s purpose. Organizations have much more data available today than they did just five years ago. The data is not always utilized for operational improvement purposes. Most organizations focus on analyzing and reporting financial data to various stakeholders. Collecting, analyzing and sharing operational performance data at the process level is a key enabler of CI. There is nothing that motivates teams more than seeing their process level performance being measured, tracked and discussed in their daily or weekly team huddles and observing the impact of their efforts on improving the performance metrics. Monitoring process level performance is key to sustained operational improvements.
Who is Cloe?
We developed Cloe with the objective to assist organizations implement and sustain CI. Cloe is a virtual CI/OE activation assistant. She supports and nurtures an organization’s Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence ecosystem to achieve new levels of efficiency in business operations. Cloe uses Robotic Process Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Behavioural Insights “Nudge” theory to engage staff, management, internal and external customers, and make process level performance visible and address operational issues in real-time. Additionally, Cloe helps drive change in staff mindset and behaviour, particularly within the management ranks.
We will officially launch Cloe later in January 2021.
