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OFFICE/SERVICE PROCESS ARTICLES
Are Toxic Employees Born or Made By Bad Process?
Toxic employees, even supposed “top performers,” take a huge financial toll on their companies. New data that’s emerging points to just how big a toll. But are these employees a product of bad HR screening – or made toxic on the job by poorly designed office process? You may be surprised at the answer.
Viewing Process Through a Strategic Lens
Almost all business managers–even process managers–regard process as tactical. That’s wrong. In fact, whether process is properly aligned with business strategy determines whether or not companies actually implement what they plan. We need to stop treating process as mere “mechanics.”
Why the Sudden Emphasis on Office (Human) Process?
Sure, manufacturing process involves people–but people performing high-frequency, repetitive jobs with minimum variance and virtually no independent decision-making. Right up the process industry’s ally. But change the work to low-frequency, high variability activity that requires independent decision-making, and you’re in a process “black hole.” The manufacturing process approaches don’t work, and manufacturing process professionals are fish out of water. But now that companies can no longer afford poorly designed office work that eats up employee time, the heat is on.
Why Does Office Process Have to be Customer-Centric?
Hey, can’t we just redesign office process–especially back office process–without worrying about aligning process with customer needs and preferences? You can, if you don’t mind losing your customers.
Ten Must Dos for Designing Customer-Centric Process
Office process itself is virtually virgin territory, but add in having to worry about impact on customers as well as operating efficiency? Tough task, but help is on the way. These 10 guideposts will help you stay on course during your journey through unfamiliar territory.
If You Have to Cut Customer Staff, Use a Scalpel, Not a Cleaver
There’s a wrong way and a right way to cut staff. The wrong way is the “meat cleaver” approach, where every unit gives up a certain number–or more often, a certain percentage. Reduced quality work, longer turn times and increased turnover result. The right way is redesigning work to require fewer people first, then making cuts, which improves work quality, shortens cycle times and lowers costs.
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