Implementing ISO in Spirit

I joined our family managed business for the sake of flexibility. I thought I will have the freedom to come and go as I want and be able to spend more time with my son who had just started school. But God (as always) had a different plan. Within a short span of 4 years, a lot changed in our business. There were rapidly shifting dynamics and one day I realized that I was no longer in the fringes but was expected to be at the thick and thin of daily operations.

Within no time I was expected to get on top of things and understand the business as much as I could. Having worked in an ISO certified company earlier in my career, I thought of going through the documentation of our business to get a fair idea of the subtle details. (Till that point I was only involved in costing and basic support work to our Marketing personnel. There was absolutely no interaction with the customers or suppliers.) I decided to use the Quality Manual as my road-map and go through the functions one-by-one to get a hang of it.

To my utter surprise I found very little correlation between the documents and the actual processes at the functional level. Designations were wrong, flow of material and information was either wrong or disjointed, documents were obsolete or some new formats were being used which were not included in the QMS.

The gist was simple. There were documents maintained to adhere to ISO certification needs and actual additional documents which were helping in routine operations while fulfilling information needs.  The system was in place only in letter and not in spirit. The sole reason for this apathy that I figured with our ISO consultant was very hard-hitting. No one in the organization management was truly focused or invested in the idea of acquiring this certification for systemic betterment. It was clear that we had to take charge immediately and address the issue.

The astuteness of our ISO consultant came in handy. I took charge of the ISO maintenance of our organization. Being a part of the promoter family, I was (am) in a position to take serious decisions and work diligently to reap the benefits of this beautiful framework. I read through all the documents, walked through every function/ process/ documents, asked questions, took notes. We scrapped all the formats which were not part of our actual process and included those which were missing. Processes were rewritten; links were established to show how data/ information flow in the organization. Everything is now system-based – input – process – output.

The process is still far away from being perfect or adequate but atleast now we write what we do and do what we write. This is a system that gives us huge scope to streamline business processes, helps in documentation, create checklists to error-proof systems, establish synergy between processes and organization on the whole and most critical – helps build a knowledge-base that is not person dependent anymore. 

Today I am doing all the documentation independently and the consultant helps in auditing my work as well as the effectiveness of the processes. In the future, we aim to do our internal audits all on our own.

It is an uphill journey but we are proud to say that now our organization is ISO certified in the truest sense. We are gearing up for ISO 9001: 2015 which we now look forward to as an opportunity to become still better.

Book Review: From Planning to “Getting Things Done” - EXECUTION by Ram Charan and Larry Bossidy

From Planning to “Getting Things Done”  

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan with Charles Burck.

EXECUTION – The Discipline of Getting Things Done

Random House, London. 2002. pp. 288, Rs. 591 (Flipkart)

 

There are many books available on Strategic Planning, Human Resource Management and Development, Employee Recruitment and Motivation, Retention Skills, Change Management, Leadership Skills and Competition etc.

Bossidy and Charan’s Execution however talks about the crux of all organization’s path to excellence – the ability to Execute the Well-laid Plans to Realize the Vision. 

This book has nicely divided into three logical parts that talk of the need for execution, the basic ground requirements and the three core inter-linked processes for successful execution.

Most often we use a lot of data, numbers are crunched, scenarios built and multivariate forecasting done to create a grand plan but in the end it falls short of expectations. We end up achieving too little; projects are riddled with cost overruns, or in worst case scenario lose our competitive edge in the market. The problem lies with the capability of the leader to execute larger strategic plans into operational deliverables at each and every functional level with the same amount of tenacity and pace. A leader’s responsibility is to get the job done and not sit back to take feedback while pondering on mega issues. She or He has to be at the scene taking stock of the situation and making rapid course correction. In today’s world, we are talking of weeks or months to make or break performance. The luxury of an entire financial year or more is long gone. The book echoes the message that it makes a lot of difference when people see the person in action regularly monitoring and maneuvering progress. This is the key underlying message in the book.

The authors have very aptly pointed at three core necessities to build an execution-driven environment.

The Leaders’ behavior is of prime importance. How well the leader knows the business and people will decide the depth and breadth of strategic planning and operational execution. A leader should be able to set clear goals; break it down to tasks and assign the right priority to each task. The ability to mentor subordinates, decide an apt reward system and follow through at every level of execution is critical for success. A leader should be visible hands on person and not a hallowed figure accessible to a selected few. The ease with which leaders are able to make decent connect with the people and processes will be the defining factor for the business outcome. And here the authors also stress on the ability of the leader to honestly and objectively be aware of his/ her capacity and capability.

Another crucial factor is a culture that drives the need to be execution – oriented. Leaders have to bring in the necessary cultural change in the organization setting it in a framework for implementation.

But the most essential part is staffing each position with the right person. The authors point at the need for leaders to know the people before recruiting them so that the leadership gene pool is strong and vibrant. Thus, HR’s role becomes more critical and serious in these circumstances.

In the third and final section of the book, the authors stress on the linkage of three core processes – people (structure), strategy and operations. Strategy can be executed if the people who are assigned the task are suitable and have the same culture of urgency to deliver. Manning right people means both in terms of quantity and quality. This is a very good point since often companies are understaffed and performance falters. The role of HR is more dynamic today than the earlier times when they had a more passive function. Not only are they responsible for recruitment and retention but to manage the non-performers.

The ultimate goal of the people process is to create a “leadership pipeline” that is always green. Often organizations are single leader dependent which is an unsustainable proposition.

Execution can be fine tuned when people, strategy and operations are intertwined and planned in conjunction. The strategy to make the business grow based on competitive forces or decision to expand and in which direction depends on the vision of the leader. What are the issues in making the strategy work and how can it be counteracted is part of the strategy thinking process. Operation is more hands – on about budgets and building the operational plan. The section on operational plan is very apt and worth emulating.  

This book is quite refreshing and unique in this genre as it has been written by drawing the strengths of people from both ends of the spectrum – one who is a business advisor, author and speaker and other is a man who has worked in stellar organizations with remarkable performance record. Ram Charan is a well-known business advisor, speaker and author, admired for this practical real world perspective and solutions. He was a Baker Scholar at Harvard Business School where he earned his MBA with distinction, as well as his DBA. Lawrence Bossidy (Larry) has worked in companies like Honeywell International and General Electric Credit (now GE Capital Corporation) as their CEO.

This book is highly recommended for established and existing business leaders and young upcoming leaders who are being groomed for greater responsibility. The dialogue of both the authors interspersed in the book removes the monotony which usually plagues most of the business books.

Invisible but Ubiquitous - Organization Culture (TISA Magazine Jul 2011 Issue)

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for SMEs: Random Musings

Today with advancement in technology, the conventional chopdi is steadily getting replaced by applications to fulfill similar aims albeit with greater efficiency and effectiveness. What does a chopdi generally do? Casting a cursory glance will reveal that it helps manage the receivables, payables and highlights the gain or loss position of the business.
The complexity and the environment of conducting business are getting proliferated. Establishing systems to manage enterprises from its fledgling days is becoming paramount if we look around for examples. The effort pays off handsomely in the long run. This compounded with use of technology to manage the systems can be a marvelous arrangement.
Published in SMEWorld March 2011 Issue
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