In an ecosystem everything is interdependent. If any one variable changes; the entire system is affected. Think of businesses as little independent ecosystems. However, instead of microorganisms and a food-chain, it is composed of operational systems and processes. Making process changes can completely alter the structure and workflow of your organization. Therefore, when undertaking a process change, great consideration needs to be taken for the entire vertical of the organization.
This translates to including everyone from the c-suite executives and management team to the ground-workers and front-line workers. While including the entire organization in process changes can be daunting and seem overwhelming, it actually leads to a myriad of organizational benefits.
The Domino Effect
The domino effect essentially boils down to one concept. A single action leads to an entire chain of results. In the context of process changes, the domino effect applies in both directions.
Firstly, if an organization undertakes a change without the integrated inclusion of employees from every level of the business, the domino effect will lead to a series of negative results. Some of the results that occur when employees are neglected to be updated on process changes are:
Employees attempting to use outdated processes which can cause double work and waste time, employees not knowing what the new process is supposed to be and again leading to wasted time and labor, and/or employees completely ignoring the new process and wasting material by creating unusable products.
On the other hand, when employees are included in the changes occurring within your company, the domino effect works in the reverse. Rather than leading to a negative chain of events, looping employees into the organizational decisions around process changes will benefit your institution.
Some of the benefits that come about from keeping employees informed on changes as they occur include: a better understanding of their roles, higher efficiency rates as employees don’t attempt to reiterate outdated processes, and a higher level of production and operational savings on time, labor, and goods.
Additional Benefits To Keeping Employees Aware of Process Changes
Keeping employees aware of process changes extends beyond benefits that are solely internal to the organization. Having employed a staff with better and updated training on new processes leads to a work staff that is more satisfied, takes more ownership over their roles, and is more empowered.
Ultimately, this leads to higher rates of customer service, higher rates of customer satisfaction, and higher rates of customer loyalty.
Wrapping Up
Businesses and companies are bound to go through evolutions. Changes are bound to occur, and systems will surely change, however, it’s up to the management and executive teams to keep the entire organization on board and up to date when these process changes occur. Plus, the benefits to keeping your staff informed about process changes are far and wide.
For more ways to keep your staff informed on process changes, or anything involving industry standards, or ISO consulting, visit Glacier Consulting and get started with an ISO consultant today.
