Give Your Team a "Time Out"!

Performance improvement is about improving work flow of operations. However, sometimes it is necessary to take a break and reflect. If you have ever gone to the gym or hired a trainer, you know that constant training, without rest days, leads to fatigue. Furthermore, if one continues at the same rate and without rest, then progress turns to regression.

The same concept holds true for operations improvement initiatives. Performance improvement efforts start to produce diminishing results if the team does not take a break from such activities. A good performance improvement should include “forced rest” a.k.a time-out build in to the process. Let me address the following two questions that I come across:

1. Where does one build time-outs in process?
2. How many time-outs are sufficient in any given cycle?

Let us take a look at these questions individually:

Performance improvement is a cyclical process. There is a start and there is a definite end before the cycle repeats. A typical cycle includes the following stages: Analysis, Re-engineering, Testing, and Implementation. Some organizations may have more stages, and others may have less; but these are the core stages in any performance improvement initiative.

Time-out, in this context, means to “reflect”. A proper definition of a “time-out” would be:

“A period of compete intra-cycle disengagement”

Every stage within the performance improvement cycle has a process in its self that involves review of the current state, application of tools and techniques, an expected outcome as a result of the application of those tools and techniques, and an evaluation of the result. I would like to add here that the first and last processes mentioned here are not the “time out” periods we are referring to. Rather it is a period between the first and last “stages” of the entire cycle.

Let me simplify it a bit more. The core stages mentioned were: Analysis, Re-engineering, Testing, and Implementation. The time out should be inserted between “implementation” and “analysis” resulting in the cycle having an additional “forced” step: Analysis, Re-engineering, Testing, Implementation, and Time-Out.

This should now have provided an answer to the second question, i.e. 1 time out is sufficient per cycle.

So how many cycles are required in a given initiative? Well! this is a whole other topic, but let me end with this thought. Performance improvement also means to increase efficiency while reducing complexity. With an optimized process it is not possible to have a complicated process. Therefore, if a cycle introduces added complexity of a given process; then one needs to really take a time out!

Question of the week:
Do you build time-outs in your performance improvement initiatives?

Please comment on this and other posts.

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Till next time….

Sal
CEO & Senior Advisor
skk@skkservices.com

Talent Aquisition & Organizational Performance Improvement

Recently, at a conference of C-Level executives I was asked the following question:

“What contribution does the organization’s Human Resource department make towards the performance improvement initiatives within the organization?”

This was a very interesting question. Why? Because many-a-times the Human Resource department of the company gets over looked as being an integral part of the company. Yes, the HR department is responsible for finding candidates, making offers, developing employee related policies and procedures, etc. -And one job that the HR Manager always gets involved (unwillingly) is the termination of employees. Aside from the above mentioned tasks (and a few others) the HR Manager is seldom brought in to operational meetings that relate to performance improvement initiatives within the organization.

In this blog, I will explain not only why is it important to keep the HR Manager involved in such discussions but also why such involvement by the HR Manager is a critical piece of the overall organizational performance improvement efforts.

The job of the HR department is a critical one. The HR Manager is the first line of defense against an organization’s poor performance. Let me explain. One of the key functions of the HR department is to acquire the right talent for the organization so that the organization is able to reach its objectives “with ease”. The most valuable assets of any organization is not its tables and chairs, nor is it the products or IP’s; in fact it is it’s workforce or in other words the organization’s Human Capital.

The HR Department along with the operational folks need to hire the right type of people. However, it does not stop there. They not only need to hire the right people, but also need to align (staff) the abilities, i.e. strengths, accordingly with the job at hand. As any human resource (and hiring manager) will tell you “this is easier said than done”.
companies that have a low turnover rate are able to retain talent due to proper planning and proactive staffing. Generally speaking, high turnover can be seen within organizations that have a reactive approach to hiring. This means that such organizations wait too long before they staff-up. When this happens they not only need people but also they need them fast (-and in some cases yesterday). In such environments, managers are being pressured to produce results faster and with limited resources. During the same time the HR Manager is working overtime, just trying to find the first “some what” good fit; but not neccessarily the “best fit”. Needless to say, the requisition turnaround time is high and due diligence is not optimum. Reactive hiring usually results in low performance of the company because the wrong talent was placed or the talent acquired quit due to unrealistic expectations. Even worse, in some cases, wrongful termination lawsuits could bring the company to a screeching halt.
Therefore, in order to plan effectively, the HR Manager needs to be involved in some key operational meetings where the strategy for the business is being developed. If the HR Manager is aware of the business direction, then he/she can work proactively with the department managers to formulate a staffing plan in accordance with the strategic goals of the company. If this is done in advance, the HR department can then perform effective searches and present “the best fit” candidate to the hiring managers. In a proactive approach, ample time can be given to aligning the candidate’s skills to the job; which eventually will affect the performance of the company.

If you think that this is not being realistic; that many jobs do not directly affect the performance of the organization, then consider this. A proposal for business comes via mail to the mail room. The person you hired was “just o.k.”. You thought, that the mail room job is not that important, so anyone who can file will do. The person you hired was more interested in the clock out time and not so much in timely mail delivery or “information distribution”. So, the delivery was delayed by a day. Unfortunately, the client wanted a 24 hr intent letter for this multi-million dollar project. This is only an example. The point here is, EVERY job is important; otherwise, why have the position?

It is unfortunate that many executives discount the role of HR and merely see it as an employee policy enforcement unit. As such many HR Managers are often left out of the critical initiatives of the company. Yet, they are held responsible for finding the right talent; and are often criticized for finding the wrong candidates.

A company’s performance is directly related to its Human Capital. The right employee, in the right job can produce millions in revenue. At the same time the wrong talent can reek havoc at the bottom line of the company. Therefore, staff requirements need to be planned ahead of time, and the HR Department needs to be kept in the loop of the major initiatives so that they can acquire and retain the “best” person for the job. -And this is why HR does play a vital role in a company’s performance.

Question: How involved is your HR department in strategic planning initiatives within your company?

 

 

Do you Need help with Performance Improvement within your organization? Give us call at 866-361-1275 (toll free)

Till Next time….

 

Salman Khan

CEO & Senior Advisor

skk@skkservices.com

www.skkservices.com