A traditional work background usually means someone gives you tasks to complete, and you do them, figuring out your own process along the way. The more I have engaged in business process management (BPM), the more value I see in it, making workers more efficient with their time, especially when dealing with large populations where problems must be addressed consistently and timely. Traditionally, people would work for a company for 40+ years and then retire, but the current workforce does not think in those terms.
The current generation of workers is always looking for new opportunities to increase their exposure to new technology and companies with additional benefits and flexibility. As a result, typically there is a higher turnover leading to people having 5-10 experiences with different companies before they retire. With job hopping becoming more prevalent, answering the question of “how do I do my job” is critical, especially to ensure the next person coming in can hit the ground running.
The work we do at netlogx not only makes the participants in our process more efficient, it sparks a new way of thinking for them. Some call this organizational change management (OCM), but that can be overwhelming for someone working at the detail level because the term can make a person believe they are going to be replaced or be moved into a different position. At the executive level, OCM is critical to help leaders plan and strategically implement change in a very consumable and positive way throughout an organization. We find OCM combined with positive business process mapping is a perfect blend to help clients move in the same direction at all levels within the organization.
One of the clients we assisted with OCM had an employee who needed assistance mapping out her job. She was very proficient at executing many tasks, addressing client concerns, and was an excellent problem solver. However, we found that all of the process and information was in her head and not written down, so it was difficult for anyone else to help out.
In the past, she had quickly become frustrated when she shared rules with her team and they applied them inconsistently, due to the varying demands of the clients. She attempted to outline her process via excel spreadsheets but ended up with numerous boxes filled out without a real decision-based process to follow.
When we introduced her to business process mapping, at first, she found it challenging to understand, but after a few one-hour sessions we had developed a data flow process to address each of the scenarios she encountered. It was then reviewed by her team and printed and placed in binders so that the users had access at their fingertips while on calls to address client issues very methodically. As a result, not only were the business rules applied consistently, she could go back to the process flows when they were not followed to retrain her team.
Our client’s employee did eventually transition out of the company, but she walked out the door with her brain power left mapped out on paper versus it walking out with her, as is often the case when someone exits a company. Although it seems so basic, we find many clients just do their job, without thinking about how they are doing their jobs and what could make it more efficient. Once they find the efficiency resulting from business process mapping, we find they come back and ask for us to do the same with other processes.
Through our business process mapping, clients have been able to focus more on the details of driving towards strategic goals set forth by leadership. It is easier to look at the big picture when the current day to day work is clear.
Change is inevitable in every organization. Embracing it at all levels so people can actually apply the change and recognize the advantages is a great way to continue maximizing benefits of our ever-changing organizations.
