Feature Article
Productivity a Problem? – Maybe it’s not the Employee!
Do you have a productivity problem? Are you failing to meet your productivity, revenue and cost avoidance goals? Often the employee becomes the central focus of a weakness in productivity. Perhaps the problem is not with the employee but with other contributing areas. Overall productivity is an outcome of a company’s specific capabilities in the areas of people, process, technology and infrastructure.
Consider the typical response to a productivity issue; it must be the employee. Employees are often scapegoats for the real issues that may be restraining productivity. Before reaching for the termination lever, perhaps a review of the following four areas would be useful. View the questions within each area as a guideline by which you can increase success if they are clearly in place.
People: Do employees have an understanding of what is required? Do they know what success looks like? Do they have the skills necessary to perform to expected levels and do they receive regular training/development to keep abreast of changes in process or expectations?
Process: Is the process documented, measured and understood by all using it? Do the measures indicate a constant flow of required input elements or is there significant variation in either input volume or quality? Is the quality of raw materials, or information, causing rework, waste and inefficiency?
Technology: Is the technology supporting efficient processing of activity? Are there delays in system response time or wasted time moving through various computer screens? Is there sufficient technology for the number of active employees? Is the technology reliable or do failures occur frequently?
Infrastructure: Does the company's organizational design cause wasted time getting critical resource allocation, program support, or management attention? Does the budget exist to carry out critical functions efficiently? Are incentives in place to drive desired behavior? Are supporting functions pulling their weight and assisting in the creation of successful outcomes?
As the manager of a department it is your responsibility to identify and clear roadblocks to success. Consider using the four areas listed above, and develop an approach to identify specific enablers under each category. Work with your team to understand whether those enablers are contributing to, or detracting from, success. Prioritize the output, choose the areas you can affect, and drive the improvements necessary. Your team and the company stakeholders will see the impact that is a reflection of your leadership.
Need some help? Reach out to experts in the field of business performance. Call us at ASIL, Inc. Our mission is to enable you to meet your objectives in a focused and timely way.
Contributed by Warren White
April 2008 Spotlight:
The Silent Killer of Change
When we think of the Silent Killer a variety of images may come to mind. For some they are images of a medical nature, and others perhaps changes in our environment. Today, my focus is on a different silent killer. It is a growing business challenge that continues to gain momentum each day in the business world.
This silent killer is the manager that routinely kills new ideas. They are the stoppers of innovation and the limiters of potential. Their impact is typically the same (killing an idea), although the approach employed can vary widely. It could be through their lack of involvement and support that an idea is never realized. Perhaps it is because the environment is not conducive, or even simply because they are uncomfortable with change.
True or false? All environments are equipped to encourage and handle new ideas. False. Perspective can dictate whether a new idea has merit. The broader your perspective the more likely you will consider new ideas. In cases where management is restrictive or inflexible, new ideas can be like swimming upstream and very difficult to get accepted.
So as a Manager what can you do about it? If you want to stimulate new ideas and approaches for achieving greater results, build an environment that invites participation and supports taking a risk. As a manager seek out different thinking to gain a broader perspective, look to understand diverse approaches and solutions. There are usually many ways to solve today's business challenges.
By challenging people to solve, you will also expose them to failure. How you respond to failure will determine how the people will step up to solve. Use the lessons learned to become stronger and wiser vs. being punitive and restrictive. The outcome will be a stronger organization that is able to address challenges in a thoughtful way with an increased probability for success.
Contributed by Peter Pazmany
Industry Trends
Challenges of Multi National Logistics
Executives of multi national companies face many challenges. They try to take advantage of increased scalability and synergies while protecting the value of local activities, separate product lines, production facilities, and supply chains. The difficulty of integrating the diverse activities is complicated by having to adapt processes to local law and culture, as well as, adapting product lines to converging consumer requirements.
Many times a company will assume that supply chain processes that have been developed and proven effective in their U.S. headquarters, will enjoy the same effectiveness in moving across international borders. There are many areas where this is not the case. A few of the more common areas of misconception are:
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Shipping – Shipping across the U.S., in hours, days, or weeks can be accomplished by many carriers to meet customer needs. International shipments, however, have the complication of requiring additional documentation, Denied Parties List compliance, payment of import tariffs, customs clearance, and delays imposed by local governments in order to deliver their product to the customer. These factors can add a week or more in delay and must be accounted for in setting customer expectations.
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Technology – High-tech products can be shipped anywhere within the U.S. without additional tracking requirements. Many of these products cannot be shipped to certain countries or customers and those companies dealing in the export of high-tech products are responsible for tracking those products to the end user. This can require additional systems and resources to meet government regulations as well as having to refuse orders for certain customers/countries.
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Staffing – Companies with international offices must be able to hire and train local management that can communicate with both local staff and headquarters. Many times there is a cultural divide that can be misinterpreted and cause strained relationships and misunderstandings between the offices.
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Accounting – Many governments require receipts, shipment, and inventory transactions to be tracked on local systems for taxation purposes. This causes companies to maintain dual (headquarters and international office) systems in order to satisfy both corporate and local government requirements.
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Policies and Procedures – Corporate policies and procedures may not be directly transferrable to an international office. Each policy and procedure must be reviewed by local management and adapted to local laws and culture in order to be legal and effective.
Companies that have been successful in navigating the complexities of the international supply chain have enjoyed increased business opportunities and growth. Those who have not are exposed to problems ranging from having to pay fines to losing their license to do business. Once you have the recipe for success, be sure to monitor processes and adapt to changes in governing law in all of the countries that are a part of your multi national network.
Visit ASIL, Inc. to review our case studies and results in dealing with logistics challenges!
Contributed by Michael Singleton
Our Software Products
Click on the below links to view ASIL, Inc.'s MAX Partnering® self paced software demonstrations:
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Self Assessment Sample Questionnaire - This demo will enable you to respond to a small sample of self assessment questions focused on change management and create a heat map of your responses to see areas that may need attention. The Driving Complex Change® methodology addresses the six areas of Direction, Ability, Incentive, Resources, Structure, and Action that can impact your effectiveness of change management.
About ASIL, Inc. - ASIL, Inc. provides Change Management, Outsourcing, Supply Chain Management, and Business Performance consulting services and software. Visit www.asil-inc.com or call (888)878-ASIL (2745) for additional information about the company, its services, and products.
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Change Happens
Are you ready?
Click here to read the first four chapters of Driving Complex Change.
After you've read Driving Complex Change chapters one thru four, click here to generate your own Change Readiness heat map based on the Driving Complex Change® methodology.
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Supply Chain Headaches?
ASIL Can Help!
Place your greatest challenge on the professionals at ASIL, Inc.
We will quickly assess the situation, develop a solution and deliver results. Call ASIL to get the support you need to ensure success!
Click the link below to contact us.
Contact ASIL
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Partner
How To Become An ASIL Partner
Can ASIL help you to increase the value proposition of your customer offerings? ASIL partners with leading companies that offer complimentary services to provide customers with a complete solution. Join the growing network of ASIL Partners and gain a competitive advantage today!
Click HERE to find out more about partnering with ASIL, Inc.
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Key Terms
Vision-Mission-Strategy-Goals
Vision – A vision is a sound byte, short, crisp to the point on the desired future state, it defines the desired direction that the business is heading. The vision draws the future landscape for the organization, so that momentum can be build to drive the future directions.
Mission – A mission captures an organizations unique and enduring reason for being, and energizes stakeholders to pursue common goals. It also enables a focused allocation of organizational resources because it compels an organization to address some tough questions: What is our business? Why do we exist? What are we trying to accomplish?
Strategy – A strategy sets the pathway to achieve the future vision. By having a series of strategies supporting the future vision, the entire organizations can align goals and objectives to drive the strategies in order to achieve the overall vision.
Goals – Used to enable/attain the company’s strategies. Goals should be SMART – specific, measureable, attainable, realistic and time-based. They describe what is meant to change, how it is meant to change, a unit of measure for the change and a target for the change. Once achieved, goals enable a company to realize the strategies supporting a future vision.
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ASIL, Inc.
2901 Tasman Dr., Suite 117
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Phone : (408) 980-9904
Toll Free : (888) 878-2745
email : sales@asil-inc.com
www.asil-inc.com
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