Measurable performance

Manufacturing, retail and FMCG companies understand that they need processes and systems and they are relatively easy to implement because there are tangible products whose quality can be monitored. Operations mostly flow smoothly in these organisations, but in services-centric companies it is a science that is both forgotten and only emerging. Forgotten in the sense that directors have left it out of the equation that makes up a successful business and emerging in that they are realising the error.

It may seem difficult to forget operations, but what often occurs in small and medium businesses is that entrepreneurs, people who are chasing deals and growing the business, head them up. These exercises do not involve pulling together the various segments that form the delivery component of businesses, and putting the processes in place to see they keep operating smoothly.
But the ability to deliver exactly what the client is promised, in a standardised format so that it is repeated no matter which staff are involved, deliver at the right price and the right time according to the clients' needs, requires that the service be measured - currently one of the most difficult operations to achieve. It is the fact that there is no tangible product involved that makes it difficult, because on what do you measure staff and how do you check the quality of the service, their goals and objectives?

It is possible and has been done. The first step to achieving it is defining roles for employees, setting specific goals and objectives, assigning measurable criteria to those, tracking delivery on a master production schedule and following it up with proactive reporting when goals and objectives are not achieved. Staff should also be given incentives for when they do achieve their goals and objectives, motivating them to leave the blocks running.

The net result is that the business is measurable and staff feel more secure because everybody is aware of exactly what they must achieve and because it is measured along the way, and all staff meet their goals and objectives, processes flow smoothly. There are no gaps in the service delivery and ultimately the client gets what they want, when they expect it, in a way they come to know and trust.
Achieving this becomes a feature of the service sold to clients. Guaranteeing delivery becomes a competitive advantage, one many clients are willing to pay for, and it enables a company to assist clients in refining their own processes and highlighting problem areas.

In a public relations business, this may take the form of strategic consulting under a programme designed to help companies articulate and rectify, where necessary, their strategy and take that into a congruent set of actions that will make clients more efficient, effective and profitable in their chosen markets. For IT companies, where sales are tougher and take longer to close than ever before, there is an opportunity for just such a service, although at least one company has already seized it.

It is important then to ensure that even services-based companies apply the same rules that manufacturing adheres to, because like manufacturing, services organisations need inputs, transformation and outcomes that are measured.
Often the inventory is staff, assets are human capital and services companies must manage the capital in the same way a company may service machines, such as putting budget aside for maintenance, which in public relations becomes staff incentives to improve motivation.

Services companies are noting this, but many companies still fall prey to too little training. A professional may be trained in all the aspects of the business but not softer business issues such as how to engage with clients, how to manage finances, dealing with HR and maintaining good administration and information systems.

If more services companies paid attention to operations and respected it for being a science on its own, then they would have fewer problems, more clients, a standard service and happier workers.