To that end, a new approach to Operational Excellence is emerging. Operational Excellence is a fundamental aspect of every company’s management system. However, its usefulness diminishes if traditional approaches are not adapted to keep up with the rapidly shifting business landscape.
Let’s explore some of the main disruptive trends in business right now:
- Emerging Technology
- Shifting workforce demographics
- Rapidly changing customer expectations
Operational Excellence can act as a vehicle to respond to each trend. But how can you future proof your approach?
Consumer and business-facing technology continues to change everything. The widespread consequences of RPA, AI and IoT are prominent across most industries. It’s no longer just about efficient processes: businesses need to design digital end to end processes that unlock value for customers and employees through the use of these emerging technologies.
Take Robotic Process Automation. The potential gains often look exciting. Who doesn’t want to be freed up from the burden of boring processes? Who doesn’t want a rapidly-increased return on investment?
Yet RPA is simply another tool that can be used to eliminate waste and improve flow. Most of the gains we expect from it will only be unlocked if the capability is an integrated part of a wider approach to Operational Excellence.
Does the process need to be automated? Should it be removed, redesigned, standardised, outsourced? Only with a holistic approach to end-to-end design can you answer all these questions and deliver benefits that solve the right problem.
It's well documented that by the end of this year 50% of the workforce will be millennials. What’s the impact of this? There is a cultural shift towards millennials, who pursue work that is personally meaningful.
Operational Excellence is about unlocking increased business and customer value by creating the conditions for people to improve every day. It’s a mindset and habit where people feel empowered to constantly look for ways to increase value for customers. It’s not a function of Six Sigma belts who parachute in to solve problems.
As the natural inclinations of the emerging workforce increase in prominence this philosophy becomes even more important, so develop problem-solving capability throughout your entire organisation by embedding tools, techniques and thinking for people to solve their own day to day problems. You will be amazed how rewarding it is for people when they’re free to remove the barriers between them and their best work.
Customer & employee expectations: Go beyond process thinking to think outside-in.
Customer and employee expectations are shifting faster than ever. 70% of customers say that connected processes seamless hand-offs or contextualised experiences based on earlier interactions - are very important to them. Traditional approaches to Operational Excellence have tended to lean towards an inside-out view of improvement.
Consider building customer experience and service design capability into your Operational Excellence and improvement functions. Processes still need to be efficient. However, the ability to think outside-in, empathise with the customer or employee, and design customer journeys that transform the experience customers have when they engage with your brand are critical to achieving competitive advantage.
Typically, Operational Excellence and Customer Experience activities are seldom carried out by the same people or, in some cases, the same function, despite the fact the two activities are mirrors of each other. In my mind, if you bring these two worlds together, you have a powerful recipe to maximise customer value.
Whether you are an Operational Excellence professional, or are looking for ways to evolve your organisation's approach to Operational Excellence, a fresh perspective is needed. Future approaches to Operational Excellence won't be tied to a single methodology. It should be delivered through complementary methods which together solve the right problems and provide an answer to the ever changing business landscape.
