Run Wild or Run Optimally

Is this scenario alarmingly familiar? Every day in the workplace, hours of time are unnecessarily wasted by inefficiencies. These inadequacies, whether simple or complex, lead to errors, poor performance and compromised quality. This waste can be avoided by having a more streamlined, accountable and dependable process. Operations can run more efficiently, getting more done in less time and saving companies money. Yet very few companies are running optimally, and time and money continue to be sacrificed.

We Try and Try Again

We've all tried to eliminate these inefficiencies before. After many efforts, why do we fail? Where is the breakdown?

For one, companies believe they can fix it themselves from the inside. Unfortunately, they are too close to the process, living and breathing it every day, and this subjectivity gets in the way. Tackling the issues objectively through a third party takes pressure off the company and awards the third party freedom to explore the ins and outs of organizational operations.

Second, daily work will always take priority, so when organizations choose to address it themselves, this type of work gets thrown on the back burner time and time again, and full attention is never dedicated to it.

And even when companies do seem to get it right and fix the problem, they don't implement tools for continuous improvement, so a few months later, they are right back where they started.

Getting it Right

UHY Advisors, a leading provider of business and tax consulting services, has recently launched Enterprise Optimization, a methodology that defines and provides sustained value for companies by eliminating inefficiencies in business processes.

UHY Advisors first identifies and assesses waste in the organization. This knowledge then enables the firm to determine the ideal approach to creating a solution. Together with the client, UHY Advisors develops and implements a plan that will yield the biggest return to the organization. Finally, UHY Advisors leaves the company with the tools and training to create a culture of continuous improvement so it can systematically keep striving to eliminate waste and improve its bottom line.

The result is straightforward: improved company performance.

The key to making it work is to make processes more predictable and reliable. This raises productivity levels and ultimately results in increased profits.

"The methodology behind Enterprise Optimization is different from what you'll find at other organizations," said Juergen Meyer, Principal with UHY Advisors. "First, we draw on knowledge that already resides with the organization. Through their day-to-day work, the employees know the product, the customer and process particularities better than anyone else. We leverage that collective organizational knowledge."

UHY Advisors also develops and engages a cross-functional team of the client's employees to ensure all departments are working as effectively as possible on both an individual level and as a whole. By taking a look at the supply chain, accounts payable and field operations all together, for example, UHY can see how many touches a process has and then try to consolidate and reduce that number.

"We also address implementation very differently than others do," added Meyer. "We implement the changes together with the client, and do so very quickly. By incorporating the changes this way, we build ownership with them. This plays a huge part in the sustainability component of the process once we have stepped aside."

A Painless Process

Companies looking to streamline their processes and eliminate waste need not go through an arduous, drawn out process to optimize their efficiencies. It is a relatively quick process to implement.

"This is not something that takes years to implement and even longer to see results," Meyer explained. "We are typically implementing our improvements within three to six months, and clients start to see results immediately."

By taking a critical look at how companies run, UHY Advisors identifies the problem areas and highlights what works well. The firm then maximizes the value-added processes and reduces or eliminates the non value-added elements of operations.

A big relief to companies is that this is all done with minimum disruption to staffs' schedules and operations. UHY Advisors involves employees through studies and observation, while they are working, to get a genuine understanding of what they do and how they do it. There are no big conference room meetings where staff members tell stories of what they do from 9 to 5. Instead, UHY Advisors consultants observe firsthand.

On the managerial side, UHY Advisors meets with supervisors at the beginning of the process to ensure both sides understand the strategic goals of the other. This ensures that UHY Advisors' plan aligns with overall client goals and objectives. This fact-based approach equips the team with the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions on areas on which to focus. Supervisors are then brought back in at the end to review the findings and implementation plan and timeline. Other than that, it's business as usual.

Results You Can Measure

After undergoing this process, companies immediately see a real change in their efficiencies – and in their bottom line. In fact, even before a company has implemented the recommended procedures, UHY Advisors assigns a monetary value to what the company should expect to save.

In addition to the financial savings, it leverages associates' skills, encourages constructive cooperation and enables associates to take ownership of their work. The process permanently impacts company culture for the better after integrating UHY Advisors' continuous improvement methods.

Sustaining the Changes

UHY Advisors ensures these newfound efficiencies will be sustained for the long-term, well after implementation is complete. The company's trademarked Optimal Performance Management System™ (OPMS™) is designed to do just that through a combination of performance metrics, goals, visual controls and behavioral routines. These metrics are meaningful to the individual at an organization as well as to larger company goals. Instead of arbitrarily developing a goal of "improvement by five percent" for example, goals are based on true process capabilities and customized, realistic objectives.

Meeting these goals requires accountability and reporting. Immediate root-cause identification and addressing of issues is critical to success. As part of the OPMS, associates identify the root causes to any performance shortfalls within their area before they report on the prior day's actual performance. They will also report on any corrective action taken, and can ask for qualified help if they require resources from areas outside their jurisdiction. This timely corrective action returns performance back to the expected level, and there are no surprises about productivity or quality losses at the end of the month or end of the quarter.

The OPMS provides feedback in an objective and factual way, and measures performance against goals that are based on actual process capabilities. The behavioral routines installed with the implementation of the OPMS ensure timely corrective actions, creating a non-punitive environment of continuous improvement.

At a manufacturing plant, for example, employees on an assembly line might report performance against established goals on a color-coded dry erase board in hourly increments. Supervisors can capture those details hourly, assess if corrective action taken by the line is sufficient, and focus their energy on areas of true concern.

The Bottom Line

UHY Advisors provides each of its clients with solutions to improve company performance. What's more, clients receive the framework to fix these problems on their own to carry them into the future and sustain these results. Interestingly, very few companies are doing this. But those that do are experiencing more streamlined processes, increased productivity and higher profits. In addition, running more efficiently means less headaches and bumps in the road, and happier employees and satisfied clients and customers. What's not to love about that?