How to Kickstart Improvement in Service

A lot of the business our organisation manages is concentrated on the product generation aspects of our clients business. For a manufacturer this means the shop floor procedures where parts are put together in a sequence to build a saleable product. When we talk to a potential client concerning improvement programs or processes the client instantly assumes we are talking of improvement within the manufacturing area, and that improvement – we are told – needs to be centred on workforce concerns, which are centred on pay and benefits!

This is in no sense an overstatement of the way company managers view their employees.

While improvements are clearly possible inside such an environment, it’s also true that a significant percentage of the staff isn’t directly involved with producing saleable products, but with administrative service support. These employees are frequently seen in a different light to the manufacturing group, and it is apparent to us that any improvement process that bypasses administrative functions also misses the opportunity to achieve significant efficiency savings for the employer. However, an improvement program has to capture the imagination of the participants, while providing a mechanism for individuals and work groups to participate and be successful. It is also necessary for managers to encourage individual contributions and contribute their managerial ‘weight’ to the achievement of any improvement. All of this while not seeking to highjack the credit for any performance gain.

While considering the differences of work pattern and culture that is the norm for the administrative and support functions in these businesses, the similarity of work to staff working in service industries became apparent, where much of the activity is clerical and administrative. Whatever solution could be found to enable us to engage with these people would probably work regardless of the nature of the business. We were clear in our minds that long term improvement programs typical of manufacturing facilities would not be appropriate for administrative functions.

For many years we were attracted by the pragmatic teachings of the late Philip Crosby, author of Quality is Free and many similar books. The program defined in that book has been adapted world-wide to the benefit of countless organisations and individuals. Less well know within the same tome is a program he chose to call ‘Make Certain.’ With some effort we adapted Make Certain to a 21st century European culture and sought an opportunity to trial the outcome.

A current client allowed us the opportunity to show its worth within an administrative workforce of 120 staff. Working with groups of around 20 individuals, each with a mixture of skills and department affiliation, we spent time explaining the process and encouraging their involvement and contribution to improve both overall and specific efficiencies and effectiveness. We too learned from this experience and were able to develop the program further.

For our client’s organisation the trial run was a success because for possibly the first time each person understood the nature of their own individual work process, and how this related to – and effected, all of the surrounding processes. This understanding led to a desire to improve, and because local managers and supervisors were participants measurable performance improvements were achived. This initial trial of the ‘Make Certain’ program was a phenomenal success. An estimated 10% increase in efficiency, as measured by the ‘work units’ produced by the staff involved, only 9 months from program implementation.

The up-front cost to the organisation – for training – was equivalent to a loss of 360 hours employed time – probably somewhat less working time! This along with a support expense estimated to be around 20 man-days of management time.

Overall it cost the organisation 65 days of lost time to achieve a saving in the first year of 2700 hours ( 10% of 27000 hours, based on 120 staff and 230 working days per year.) What to do with 10% additional work capacity is a problem that would delight any business manager.

The entire process was initiated with minimum investment, employed no high profile specialists or techniques, and succeeded because the participants had the freedom to believe in themselves and test their own solutions.

Truly, as Phil Crosby said, Quality is Free.

Excerpt from: How to Kickstart Improvement in Service