Develop a culture of CI where innovation and improvement become the norm.
There is no quick solution for creating a culture of continuous improvement (CI). It cannot be achieved in 6 months. In our experience, a program to develop a culture of CI takes between 18 months to 3 years.
Leadership is critical to ensuring your culture of CI develops in your organisation. It can’t just be developed from the ‘bottom up’. Leaders have to care about Improvement. It has to be just as important as Sales, Revenue, Cost and SLA’s. It can’t be forgotten in meetings and ignored in comms. It can’t be a footnote in an announcement.
But what does a culture of CI even mean?
It means that every single person in your organisation believes that it’s their responsibility to improve processes and the system of work. To speak up if there is something not working right. To say something if there is a better way to complete a process. To look at ways in which we can rapidly implement lean six sigma improvements.
“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.” – Lieutenant General David Morrison (Chief of the Australian Army).
Benefits of Continuous Improvement on an Organisation
Reducing Operating Costs
Retention of Customers and Increased Market Share
Higher Employee Engagement
Providing Exceptional Customer Service and Experience
Reduced Risk and Increased Governance
Higher Quality and Reduced Errors and Complains
Continuous Improvement Case Study
Vodafone’s Technology Division wanted to drive a culture of CI. They had drafted a strategy for how they wanted to approach this. However, the strategy involved running hundreds of half-day training courses – a scale beyond the capacity of the internal team. Vodafone needed to bring in a trusted partner to help facilitate these workshops and help drive a culture of continuous improvement in the division.
