Have you ever thought about the efficiency of your twice-weekly staff meetings? Do your employees have to fill out umpteen forms just to get a new stapler? Must underlings get approval from higher-ups for every little thing  from requisitioning a box of Post-It Notes to implementing a new initiative? If this sounds like your workplace, you may be caught in a nest of red tape. It might be time to re-examine your processes and procedures.

It's not as easy as it sounds. In many workplaces, especially longtime, well-established companies, there's just a way things have always been done. Period. Very few employees not just underlings but management as wellquestion the validity or logic of any particular procedure, and even fewer feel comfortable offering suggestions for making something easier, faster or more efficient.

I'm sure many of you are nodding your heads right now. Most every workplace has some policy, procedure or accepted manner of protocol that adds extra steps but not quality to the process and simply isn't working anymore.

But, in just as many workplaces, these non-functional policies and procedures are difficult to change. Why? There are a myriad of reasons. Many higher-ups have climbed the ladder on the basis of their ability to conform to and even excel at the very policies and procedures that are bogging the company down. Or, this red tape is so deeply ingrained in the company status quo, it simply doesn't occur to people to think about changing it. Or, more often than not, people are hired with the expectation that they'll conform to the standard norms, and they settle into their jobs, determined to live up to that expectation.

Make no mistake: It's not easy to change these ingrained norms. But, in many cases, the change is not only good, but great for the company.

So how do you start? Some companies, especially larger ones, bring in outside consultants to take on this task. But what if you'd like to do it in-house? Here are a few suggestions:

" Create an anonymous survey
A great first step in the process of examining your company's policies and procedures is asking your employees to think about their own jobs with the goal of streamlining their daily tasks. Ask them what's working and what's bogging them down. Ask for their suggestions for improvement. Why do it anonymously? Because of the problems I outlined above. Employees might not feel comfortable criticizing the status quo, even if you ask them to do so. That's why the anonymous factor is critical. You'll get honesty.

" Assign one person in each department to head up the task
Make it part of an employee's job description  for the next six months, he or she is now in charge of examining the department's policies and procedures and making recommendations for streamlining. Ask this employee to look at each job function with a critical eye toward making it faster and easier.

" If it's on paper, can it go online?
Are you still wading through paper resumes from potential employees and interviewing a myriad of candidates? Consider purchasing a hiring solution to put those functions online. Whatever you're doing on paper, chances are there's a technology out there to make it easier, faster and better. You'll save time and effort.

Bottom line? Most companies have policies and procedures that aren't working. Streamlining will only make you more competitive, leaner and meaner in the marketplace.




Charlie Wonderlic is the President and CEO of Wonderlic Inc., a premiere provider of employee recruitment, selection, development and retention solutions. For more information about customized hiring solutions from Wonderlic, visit www.wonderlic.com