Why Must Organizations Streamline Business Processes?

Every company is built on business processes. They’re the repeatable tasks we have to carry out on a regular basis – anything from shipping out a product to onboarding a new employee. How well these processes operate can be the differentiator between a good and a great company. By streamlining our processes, we are making sure that they’re operating on maximum efficiency, which improves company performance.

A business process is a series of repeatable steps carried out by an individual or team that accomplish a certain business goal. It’s something that every business does, whether they do it consciously or not. What differentiates a process from a task is the fact that it’s repeatable – it’s not a one-time thing.

For example:

Task – Can be an individual part of a process or a single one-off to-do. Think, having the new employee fill in Joinee form (part of a process) VS follow-up a potential client (one-off task with no concrete follow-up).

Process – When onboarding a new employee, you need to have them sign certain documents, show them around the office, introduce to other employees, etc. You go through this exact process (with minor variations) each time there’s a new hire.

A process can both be formal or informal. The difference between the two is documentation. A formal process is called a procedure and is documented in some form (on paper, software, etc.). Informal, on the other hand, means all the processes that exist but have not been documented.

Company processes are rarely as efficient as they could be. Not a lot of companies practice continuous improvement – most are simply contempt with how they operate. They start off doing something one way and never actually consider that there might be other options.

Streamlining business processes, however, will ensure that you’re doing the very best you can be. By definition, streamlining a business process means improving its efficiency by either removing any unnecessary steps, adopting other methodologies, or using new technology.

Efficient processes can help your business in several ways:

Higher Profits and Productivity – The end-result of process improvement. This is achieved through lower defect rates, higher output per input, etc.

Improved Employee Morale – By streamlining your processes, you’ll be getting rid of any steps or tasks that don’t contribute to the businesses bottom line. Meaning, your employees will be able to spend more time on work that actually helps your business grow (as opposed to waste time on useless tasks).

Happier Customers – Through lower defects, faster delivery time and so on, your products and services will improve. This, of course, strengthens the image of your brand.

Steps in Streamline Business Processes:

a.      Understanding Business Operations in detail:

Detailed study of Business, People, Processes, Challenges, Work environment, Org structure and Role clarity through Job Descriptions – all levels. Identify any work related challenges employees have in doing their job by having a one-on-one discussion with them.

b.     Analyze & Identify Areas of Improvement

1. Are there any steps in the process that are too time-consuming? Are they taking more time than we would consider to be reasonable?
2. Does the process often result in missed deadlines or delays? What could possibly be the reason?
3. Are certain processes or process steps more expensive than what would be reasonable? What could be driving the price up?
4. In every process, there are key steps which determine the output. Is there any way to make such steps faster or more efficient?

c.      Streamline HR & Operations

By actively anticipating your future growth, we can help you improve your current operations and create strategies to grow your business. Identify Stagnation point & identify operational pain points

•         Recommend Practical solutions

•         Create Metrics and controls

•         Create a Holistic Performance Appraisal system

•         Simplify way of work: Working practices and processes that enable people to work in a simple way without complication / duplication of work. It’s important to be adaptable in the business world. Create a unique Standard way of operations Processes for your organization and create customized HR Policies that work for your organization. 

Regards,

Aparna Subramanian

#transformhr#

#businesstransformations#