The Problem
Organizations today suffer from what is known as efficiency gaps and in a lot of ways, it is unavoidable. Organizational efficiency gaps occur when an organization, or division of an organization starts to accumulate waste in many areas such as:
- Workflow processes,
- Hiring,
- Onboarding,
- Training,
- Servicing customers,
- Selling,
- Data systems,
- New business implementation, and
- Cross-company integration.
Root Cause
As a company’s speed of growth increases, the amount of knowledgeable employees and key members usually do not increase at the same pace. As a result, a company may attempt to ramp up by quickly hiring and training. However, many times the old workflow processes and procedures do not translate as well to larger, more diverse workforces. Consider the fact that on average the top 25 corporations in the USA have more than 200,000 employees. So, the biggest problem here is scaling. Figuring out how to keep that small company agility and leanness while continuing to grow at a breakneck pace.
Who is ultimately responsible for fixing the issues?
Leadership in any organization must be cognizant of this problem as a creeping issue. Inefficiency can and will lead to the stagnation, contraction and even collapse of an organization if not addressed quickly. CEO’s, presidents, vice-presidents and directors should be aware of this threat to their own personal success if structural issues persist within the interconnections of their organizations on their watch.
Men and women in leadership positions have to do more than make sure the organization is making money. Leaders are tasked with gaining trust and maintaining leadership, capturing more of the market and increasing profitability.
Inefficiency within an organization can represent 20-40% of total costs within a mature corporation. For profit, non-profit and government entities are all affected by this organic phenomenon because no organization can survive when expenses exceed income. This is the quickest way to bankruptcy, so a delicate balance must be maintained. It is not until the problem is fully understood and recognized by the organization as an existential threat that a solution can be formed.
Leaders must take a big step back to see the gaps before they can close them.
Total Solution Approach
Instead of band-aiding over the problem with increased hiring, consultants, new technology and point solutions (quick fixes), smart organizations implement strong efficiency programs that align top down complex and strategic goals that hone in on the efficiency gaps at every level of the organization.
It’s important that everyone affected by efficiency changes understand why these changes are happening because their participation is essential to any meaningful overhaul of the current system. This may require training and hands-on working sessions across the board to really identify the gaps before effectively closing them. This is by no means an easy process and requires a certain level of expertise and know-how. This is where we are helping leaders, with 4SightGPS.
4SightGPS is the only philosophy, framework and technology that addresses this issue for any organization. Great leadership should understand the philosophy to effectively implement a goal attainment program and capture dollars falling between the cracks; an amount that in some cases represent billions of dollars. A sustainable program; especially when rolled out across an organization can deliver cost savings, increased revenue and sustainable growth.
Many mature and admirable companies have intuitively implemented some form of the 4SightGPS philosophy which has enabled their success to date, but because of the ever-evolving complex environments and the complicated problems of modern business, a fully blown enterprise wide Goal Attainment Program is needed to increase their efficiency by an order of magnitude.
