Metrics_ How to Improve Key Business Results - Martin Klubeck [116]
These are measures of quality. Errors, rework, defects, issues, and problems are all words that fit under process quality. Your job is to use the quality measures to find improvements to the process to reduce (and hopefully eliminate) them. This may include training or retraining your workers. It doesn't include “pushing” your workers to be more diligent. To be fair, you may need them to pay more attention to detail, to be more focused, and to be more diligent. The difference will be in how you do that. You shouldn't “demand, cajole, force, or manipulate” them. You should develop them.
Resource allocation is another measure you can use in Process Health. Besides the process steps, you may have the wrong mix of resources doing the wrong steps at the wrong times. Beware though. Throwing more resources (money, manpower, or equipment) at a problem rarely fixes it over the long term. You'll need to dissect the problem and find solutions that will stand the test of time.
A simplified set of measures includes the following:
The number of process steps
The number of handoffs between departments
Wait times
The time to complete (by steps/overall)
Touch time (how much time is active vs. the wait time)
The costs in the process Materials
Shipping
Storage
Production
Resources allocated (by steps/overall)
The number of defects per opportunity
The types of defects
Process repeatability Is it documented?
Is it done the same way each time?
Is it tweakable?
Is the process under control?
The Process Health quadrant, like the others, can be a powerful and meaningful tool for organizational improvement. The risk is that management will use the metrics to improve the worker (rather than develop him) or to influence behavior (rather than improve processes). If you are confident that these measures will be used properly, they can reap great benefits. Process improvement (and therefore Process Health) is at the core of most organizational development efforts.
Recap
Quadrants 2, 3, and 4 of the Answer Key provide important insights into the organization's overall health. Each has its own viewpoint—business, worker, and leadership—and each has benefits and risks. There are other measures you can collect, analyze and use to build metrics. The Answer Key provides a foundation and framework for a comprehensive metrics program.
Besides providing meaningful insights to the organization's health, these advanced metrics also help the organization mature into becoming a data-driven organization. The metamorphosis required to become a metric based organization is not an easy one. It requires patience and unwavering integ-rity on the part of leadership, management, and service providers.
After Product/Service Health, I recommend moving to Organization Health (Quadrant 3) in which you use measures like Employee Satisfaction, Training, Work Environment, and Reward & Recognition. This is the metric with the lowest risk factor and great potential to build a loyal, dedicated, and happy workforce.
I suggest tackling Future Health (Quadrant 4) next. The only problem may be that your organization isn't ready to look to the future. It may be struggling to maintain its status quo. I fully believe that organizations (and people) can't afford to “strive to survive.” To succeed you have to shoot for more than keeping your head above the water. You have to swim to shore. But, not everyone agrees. If your organization isn't concerned with the future, you may have to skip this quadrant. But if you have strategic plans, long-term goals, or have projects in the works—tackle Future Health metrics next.
Finally, I suggest you fully delve into Process Health. It's important to note that if you