People are the Key to Process Improvement

With this post, I am starting a series of commentaries on the characteristics of companies. I will contrast the forces that drive companies to success with anti-forces that impede progress.

The complete list appears in the above slides (to see a slide more clearly, click on it and it will enlarge).

A characteristic of a successful company is employee engagement. The anti-force is no true human resource development.

I don't think anyone will debate that people are the key to long term business success. I heard of one mission statement that read "We will take care of our employees and our employees will take care of our customers". Engaged employees are active participants in the continuous improvement of processes and systems. They come to work not just to collect a check but to joyfully apply their God given skills and talents. It is important to them for the business to succeed. They care about their colleagues. In short, there is a team atmosphere.

I recommend the book, First Break all the Rules which focuses on measuring employee engagement and taking actions to increase engagement.

This all sounds great. But why do we see un-engaged workforces in so many places? It all boils down to leadership. Yes, that sounds cliche but it is the strongest and truest answer. Everyday, do you perpetuate an environment of fear or do you convey the message (with your actions) that people are important and valued for their skills and talents. Do you constantly seek ways to maximize potential? Do you put learning opportunities in front of people? Do you live your company's mission?

I recently lived through a realization that people must develop for an organization to improve. My church has a membership of approximately 3000 people. The leadership felt the church was not growing and taking advantage of its incredible pool of talent. So, they borrowed from industry and developed a mission statement. They wanted to create a statement that captured what the church should become. The subsequent work would be for the congregation to act in accordance with the mission.

Up front, they explained that our church's process was similar to most traditional churches. The church took the needs of the congregation and converted the needs into programs. The congregation was both supplier (of the needs) and customer (of the programs). Over time, this creates a consuming church with less focus on giving.

The final mission statement wants the church to become more missional.(see the diagram above). The skills and talents of congregation members are now the key input. The church's process converts these inputs into service for the community (the customer of the process). This structure puts more emphasis on the employees. (congregation members) For the mission statement to be fulfilled, employee engagement must occur.