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 Humanizing the Re&endash;Engineering Process - Winter 1995 PROBLEM: Re&endash;engineering is a very hot topic in business circles these days. Many organizations are reporting remarkable gains in productivity and quality from this process. Re&endash; engineering essentially involves re&endash;examining and redesigning the processes by which work is done and the way organizations are structured. All of this is very good. But the main problem I see is that the re&endash;engineering process is often spearheaded by consultants who make recommendations as to how things should change. When these changes filter down to the rank and file employees they often resist the process because it's being imposed on them from the outside. Change in general is difficult, but it's particularly hard when you don't feel involved in the process. So the question organizations have to confront is: How can the re&endash;engineering process avoid this kind of resistance and involve people more? SOLUTION: First, you need to understand that your people are not exclusively the problem here. Even smart, hard working people have a difficult time producing results in a bad system. Re&endash;engineering is a powerful way to change the system. So when you start the process, let your people know that you support them and that you're looking for ways to make the system work for them. Ideally, you should guarantee them that even if you delete their job positions you will find a way to retrain or reassign them. Too many times, re&endash;engineering gains initial savings by laying off a number of people. Tell your people they won't be re&endash;engineering themselves out of a job. Having said that, it's essential to bring your people into the entire re&endash;engineering process. Make sure that people representing all levels and functions are at all the meetings. And communicate the step&endash;by&endash;step results to everyone in your company so they know what's happening. Ask everyone what needs to change in the way things get done and use their feedback in the process. EXAMPLE: To use a "micro" example (rather than a company&endash;wide one), I was hired to work with the vehicle services of a large organization. The quality of the vehicles had improved so much that they didn't require much maintenance anymore. So, after 25 years of primarily servicing vehicles, they had to rethink how they did business. I involved all the members of the division in an off&endash;site retreat to explore what could be done. RESULTS: I assisted them in working together to create new processes for servicing their vehicles and brainstorming a marketing plan for gaining new customers. Based on what they did, their first year's operating costs were reduced by $140,000. SUMMARY: Don't leave your people out of the re&endash;engineering process. By including them each step of the way, you will gain their support &endash; and their ownership &endash; of the changes you create with them. |
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