Stop sloganeering excellence, implement it!
Most organisations are using excellence as a slogan, while they do parallel things! They are swamped in endless meetings discussing organisational problems that keep on recurring.
The wellbeing of their workers is neglected, yet they expect them to perform well. They do not care about the livelihood of their customers because they have normalised poor service delivery and when attempting to resolve it, they use opinions as opposed to facts and make misinformed costly decisions that haunt them on yearly basis.
This does not resemble excellence, it is mediocracy. S ome of the common organisational problems that are normally discussed without final closure include high operational costs, poor strategy implementation, poor service delivery and poor employee performance. To implement excellence, organisations should undergo mindset evolution ( mental renewal process) so that they stop resolving their problems with the same mentality that created them.
This process starts by chang ing management fundamental beliefs, attitudes, perspectives, and ways of thinking and aligning them with the modern way things are done, including accepting the reality of the world as it is today. It implies a profound transformation on how leaders perceive the world, their roles, the management practices that make them effective and their orientation towards the future.
It begins with becoming aware of how the existing management beliefs and thought patterns impact on the overall organisation effectiveness. Thereafter, it requires being open- minded and being intentional in developing the management mindset for them to lead effectively.
Similarly, it also requires employee’s mindset calibration so that they are equally fit to ascend to new world of excellence. For example, it is impossible to implement excellence in traditional hierarchical management unless there is a shift towards lean management which prioritises empowerment, innovation, and continual improvement.
This is a critical step before starting any excellence journey because it lays the foundation for sustainable transformation. Excellence is implemented using a management system called business excellence model. It is an integrated management system that consists of key management practices ( excellence principles) that build and sustain a high performing organisation.
The primary focus of this system is to foster a culture of excellence throughout the organisation, enabling it to adapt to changing market conditions, drive innovation, optimise processes, and deliver exceptional value to customers and stakeholders. It is the discipline and habit of consistently doing the right things the right way to achieve the organisational objectives. To implement this system, begin with an Organisation Excellence Assessment.
T h i s i n v o l v e s a comprehensive analysis of various system elements such as leadership, strategy, culture, business processes, customer focus, employee wellbeing, information, and knowledge management to gauge the organisation’s maturity level.
For example, a business may assess its leadership effectiveness by evaluating the alignment of leaders’ actions with the company’s vision and values. The corporate governance level which is the level at which set standards and rules are adhered to as well as the quality of the strategic plan developed and the implementation rate.
This will reveal leadership s t reng th and weakness areas. Every system element ( e x c e l l e nce pr i n c ipl e ) mentioned above is assessed in this manner to determine the overall health status of the organisation.
Once the root causes of excellence principal areas have been identified then the organisation can proceed to develop organisation excellence improvement plan.
An excellence improvement plan is a structured approach used by organisations to identify areas for improvement, develop and implement strategies to enhance performance and achieve excellence across various excellence principles.
For e x ampl e , i f the assessment reveals gaps in employee well- being, the management should develop initiatives that will improve the standard of employees’ quality of work life. Similarly, if the excellence assessment reveals gaps in organisation operations, the management should develop initiatives that will close the identified problems.
Some of the common ope r at i ona l i n i t i at ive s undertaken by excellent or g an i s at i ons i n c lude process reengineering, lean management, and development of s t andard ope r at i ng procedures. Following the development of this plan, the organisation must also plan for its implementation to operationalise the strategies designed to bridge the weakness areas.
For instance, it requires prioritization of initiatives and resource rationalisation. Every transformation requires a change management c ommu n i c a t i o n pl a n . Transforming the system is a mammoth task, it requires managing emotions of people, managing resistance behaviour, and taking tactical approach towards change on ad hoc basis.
T h e r e f o r e , c h a n g e m a n a g e m e n t a n d communication plan is critical to facilitate the adoption of new processes, systems, and behaviours. Building excellent organisations takes time, therefore, it is essential to use PDCA problem solving methodology because it is agile and iterative. Furthermore, to sustain excellence, organisation should have excellence awards and reward effective behaviours throughout the year.
The Author is a member of Organisational Excellence Specialists in Canada, holds Master of Science in Strategic Management, is a Certified Manager of Quality and Organisational Excellence from America Society for Quality. Contact: 72211182, Website: www. iqm. co. bw and Email: veronmosalakatane@ gmail. com LinkedIn: Veron Mosalakatane