Posted by admin on January 5, 2010 under Leadership, Process Improvement | 
A new study by The Conference Board (http://www.conferenceboard.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=3820) released today shows an increasingly dissatisfied workforce.
A recent survey of 5,000 households found that only 45% of respondents are happy with their jobs - the lowest level since 1987, the first year the study was published. The top reason for discontent? Job design (i.e. interesting, challenging, meaningful work).
Interestingly enough, the satisfaction of the youngest portion of the population (those under 25 years of age) is at the lowest level is satisfaction level ever. It seems that many of these employees should only be in their first job. So, what does that say about their expectations for receiving personal satisfaction in the workplace?
Another startling statistic revealed by this study is that 22% of persons polled do not expect to be in their current job in a year. Considering the current state of the economy and forecasted levels of employment into 2011, that number seems very high. Just imagine if the national employment figure were closer to 5% or 6% - how many of our employees would be looking to “jump ship”?
Executives should be paying close attention to these statistics, and considering how to respond to this situation. If you were to lose 22% of your workforce, when it is likely already overstretched, what would you do? Do you have the succession plans, policies and procedures, business processes and training programs in place so you could respond quickly to this scenario? Could business continue, let alone grow, if you lost almost ¼ of your staff? Contingency planning is something we should be reviewing and adjusting on a regular basis.
Better yet, what does it take to create an environment where employees are allowed to innovate, and have challenging and meaningful work? If you could create an environment like that, how would it impact your ability to compete and thrive in the current economy? What steps are you taking to make this a reality in your organization?
Posted by admin on August 17, 2009 under Process Improvement |
I was having lunch with a couple of colleagues recently, when we happened onto the topic of standards. You see, one of my colleagues works with organizations to prepare them for certification to a specific standard in their field - usually ISO. He audits their current practices, reviews their procedures and documentation, and makes recommendations to management about adjustments that need to be made in order to meet the standard and receive certification. He also performs periodic follow-up audits.
My friend was carrying around his set of standards books for everything from quality management systems to corporate responsibility in foreign lands. To him, these were the “bibles” of corporate excellence; the measures to which all organizations should aspire. (Did you know that the International Organization for Standardization - ISO - has developed over 17,500 standards? 1,100 new ones every year… http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue.htm)
Now, granted, I think there is definitely a place for standards. I wouldn’t be happy about flying on an airplane that was built from manufactured parts that did not meet certain, minimum standards. This need is inherent in any industry - from baking to software development to medicine. Customers have the right to expect a minimum level of quality from any product or service they purchase.
Unfortunately, few organizations even operate according to their own procedures, let alone incorporate learning into constantly improving their operations. Working toward certification does encourage consistency and predictability, and results in improved operations. The question, however, is whether these published standards are enough to create an organization which strives to constantly improve. Do we get improvement after the auditor leaves and leaves his stamp of approval?
The challenge with improvement post-certification is that an organization must continually update all the documentation that substantiates their certification. Not necessarily an easy task - especially for smaller organizations. It takes a little discipline.
But, by certifying organizations to any specific standard we seem to be sending a message that no additional improvement is needed. Is this really the right message to send?
It seems to me the culture around standards certification needs to be changed to reflect the acceptable minimum performance expected from an organization, rather than the accomplishment of some lofty perfectionism. What do you think?
Posted by admin on July 16, 2009 under Leadership |
Economic challenges impact everything we do these days – personally and professionally. Are gasoline prices going to rise? Will I have a job next month? On and on it goes – the questions and uncertainty.
In our personal lives, however, we recognize that we need to be more cautious – maybe we eat out less often, or carpool more. What we don’t do, though, is let the fear paralyze us into inaction – we still live our lives and work toward our goals, albeit a little more slowly.
So why is it then, that companies facing the same types of challenges (read fear), react differently? I have recently spoken with a number of people in different organizations and industries that are just paralyzed with fear – of doing anything right now. They voice it out loud and I can hear it in their voices. Sometimes it makes me wonder if they are even still breathing….
A company’s operational strategy, though, is based on the defined business strategy and developed with environmental considerations factored in. While there are times that assumptions made during the development of the plan are more conservative than actually occur, there should be risk mitigation strategies in place to address the issue(s). A bad assumption shouldn’t mean the company completely ceases executing the operational strategy!
Stop letting fear distract you from the tasks at hand – profitable operations and growth for your organization. Focus on what you can do given the current constraints, and take “fear” out of your corporate vocabulary.
Posted by admin on July 9, 2009 under Leadership, Process Improvement |
Since last fall, most organizations have been in a cost cutting mode as the economy started faltering. Initially, cuts were in the areas of travel, expense accounts and the like. Early in 2009, the cost cutting became more drastic, impacting the livelihoods of our organizations’ valuable employees.
Today, organizations have trimmed their budgets to such a barebones level that there is not much anything left to cut. At some point, the cutting has to stop before it does irreparable damage to the long term viability of the organization.
Many organizations (be they corporations, non-profits, or governmental agencies) are sacrificing long-term benefits for near-term gains. While “trimming the fat” is necessary, we cannot afford to lose sight of the factors and resources necessary to innovate and grow our organizations post-economic downturn. At some point, we need to consider how our own organization should look in the future, and start taking steps to (re)build the infrastructure, processes, staffing and other resources necessary to position ourselves for the inevitable recovery.
In what ways are you starting to plan for recovery? In what ways will your organization look different in the future?
I’d love to hear what you are planning…
