Developing a continuous culture of improvement is fundamental to an organisation’s long term success. With a shared mindset of innovation and the right system of behaviours to drive it, organisations can experience consistent and stable growth.
Continuous improvements lead to dramatic and long lasting change that can give companies an edge over the others in an increasingly competitive landscape. By creating a culture that instills this practice, improvement becomes something that is ingrained in the behaviours and habits of the employees.
Encouraging employees to instill this practice may require effort at first, but over time it becomes second nature. Building a continuous improvement culture includes plenty of benefits, such as boosting employee productivity, improving product and service quality, and improving overall company culture.
Reaping the benefits of an established culture sounds easy, but establishing such a culture that sticks is not so. Some tactics may work in the short term, but will soon fade away when not emphasised and encouraged. There are some fundamental steps that can be taken to instill cultural change for good.
Instead of dictating the new initiatives to be implemented, seek input from employees to hear their opinions regarding them. Different perspectives and the collective intelligence of the entire workforce can be used to implement initiatives that are positively received. This approach will be met with less resistance from staff and encourages adoption from the very beginning.
Change needs to happen from the top. When the employees see that top level management and leadership are not committed to an initiative, then they are less likely to follow along as well. This causes adoption and adherence problems from the very start and can hinder successful implementation of improvement culture.
Upper level leaders need to set the tone by following the initiatives set out, and then staff will be inspired to follow suit. When employees see that their leaders are investing time in an initiative, they will be more inclined to respect its value and invest time as well.
Implementing ideas that directly impact profitability or those that can show a tangible return on investment is tempting, but ultimately will drive away employees. Although organisations’ bottom line is numbers, improvement ideas need to be welcomed with an open mind.
Suggestions that improve customer satisfaction, boost efficiency or increase staff engagement is just as valid. Instead of fixating on the bottom line, ask for ideas that make employees’ jobs easier, safer or better in some way. Being open minded and welcoming to all sorts of ideas will see improvements across the board.
