I was reminded of an incident not long ago where I was standing toward the back of a meeting room as the CEO and his key staff delivered a presentation on just how the company would be embarking on the implementation of a new performance improvement program.  A "seasoned" employee standing to my left uttered those infamous words "This too will pass." 

It seems that our CEO had gotten himself included on a service that regularly sent him a taped condensation of the latest management guru´s protestation about the right way to manage the business.  One month it might be Six Sigma, the next, Lean Manufacturing, and yet another it might suggest a Strategy Focus or Balanced Scorecard management process.  When one of these doctrines struck a chord that was near and dear to our CEO´s heart the company embarked down that path to greatness.

Our sage had, in his opinion, seen this all too often and continued his comments with "This too will pass, just like all the other new management processes we have undertaken in the last couple of years.  Those of us who have been around for any length of time will listen to the new idea, give it lip service, and continue on just as we have been doing because it won´t be long before this approach is replaced with another newer idea.  Meanwhile we still have to get product out the door."

What a sad commentary.  Is it reflective of society in general where we hear of the younger generation bouncing from one fad to the next in their search for fulfillment?  What is the alternative?  One good alternative, I believe, is consistency.  Unfortunately, consistency has also been defined as "the hobgoblin of small minds" when used inappropriately.

In past issues and articles we have talked about consistency and commitment - consistently as the sustained effort that it will take to turn an elephant in a bathtub or to change the culture of an organization - commitment to stay the course through thick and thin until the desired results have been achieved. 

As we enter the second quarter of 2006, hopefully with our taxes complete, is this the right time to take a look at where we are, where we hope to go, and then embark on that journey.  I say journey, because greatness is just that, a journey and not a destination.  If you will keep that thought in mind, I personally believe that the roadmap you follow is much less critical than staying the course.

What do I mean?  I truly believe in the importance of people to the profitability of the enterprise.  In 1981 or ´82 I tried to get an article published that I was titling "Will Your Next CEO Have a Human Resources Background."  As you might imagine the only people who wanted to listen to that argument were Slim and None and Slim was already half-way out of town. 

I came to this leap of logic after doing some research and finding the age old business equation "Capital + Equipment + Labor = Profits" and seeing where CEOs had originally had a manufacturing background and knew how to make things work.  The next class of CEOs had a financial background and was able to squeeze the incoming nickel tighter to maximize profits.  They were followed by the marketing types who could create demand for the product.  So, my conclusion was that the next logical part of the equation to maximize was the people part.  Today, we are finally seeing this manifested in the popular press - the performance of companies with "engaged" employees consistently exceed the results reported by all three major market indices. 

Why do I say it is a journey and that the roadmap, or improvement process, is less important than the journey itself?  Consider the following scenario that I believe is fairly typical in a process improvement intervention:

Phase One - A process improvement approach is selected by management as the way we will improve profits.  This might be a Lean Manufacturing intervention, a Six Sigma quality process, a Balanced Scorecard measurement system, an Open Book Management approach, a Gainsharing Incentive Plan or some other technique.  To my way of thinking it matters little, what is important is that you, and hopefully your employees, believe that it is the right approach for your organization.

Phase Two - Kick-Off and implementation with a lot of fanfare and excitement.  This is good because it gets everyone´s attention and refocuses their efforts along a consistent approach to improvement

Phase Three - Success, small at first, but success none the less.  People recognize that their efforts have created a positive result and that is satisfying.  When something is satisfying, we tend to continue doing that same thing which leads to more new successes.

Phase Four - Buy-In by the employees that this new system is working.  This is particularly true if they are sharing, in some manner, in the additional profits that the improvement process and their commitment are generating.

Phase Five - What If.  If these isolated (be it department or line) efforts are producing results that we can see and enjoy (a bonus) "what would happen if?"  If receiving moved the raw materials to the line rather than holding them on the dock how much more production could we achieve?  If line one delivered sub-assemblies to the finishing department in a different manner how much final assemble time could be saved? 

Phase Six - Management agreement or simply getting out of the way and letting that employee who knows more about the six feet surrounding his or her work station than anyone else do their job as best it can be done.

Phase Seven - Engagement of the employees from the executive suites to the shop floor is the foundation for the greatness journey we all hope to embark upon.

I feel fortunate to have witnessed a journey like this first hand, as I observed and participated in the process of moving a company from a highly autocratic management system to a very participate organization.  While the new CEO was at the helm, you could visit the remotest location in the middle of nowhere and ask a shop floor operator how the company had performed in the most recent period and get accurate results.  This was diametrically opposed to the way things had been handled in the past and led to a $252,000,000 (yes, that´s MILLIONS) one year improvement in profits and consistently higher profits during this CEO´s tenure.

While I personally like a Gainsharing approach because of its inherent employee reward system I also believe that any approach can and will produce the desired results of improved performance and profits if applied consistently to the point of creating employee engagement.  Good luck on your journey.  Let us know of your successes. 

Copyright 2006 J.E. Mittler & Company.  All rights reserved.