In today’s economy, it has become expedient for organisations to take a deeper and more critical look at their operations with a view to achieving optimisation through the efficiency and effectiveness of its workforce. Why? Organisations with goals such as improved quality, better customer experience, reduced operational or overhead costs understand that their processes, and the people who drive those processes, are not a one-size-fits-all, thus giving room for improvement.

Where deficiencies are identified, it behoves management to seek out ways to improve on them. This could come in different ways and may be as varied as the business models, structures, processes and even external factors such as the industries where these organisations operate. One common denominator when optimising or revamping operations for better performance is the need to document and measure existing procedures and processes such that it forms the baseline from which assessment and improvement can be measured.

Measuring is a critical factor in the quest for improved operational efficiency. However, many organisations still struggle in this area and it is not for lack of trying. Measuring, as a tool for improving operational efficiency, is only as effective as the data processed. Where there is no baseline, there is nothing to measure current performance by; no ‘ground zero’, if you must. There must be a point from which you can say, “This is where we were before. This is where we are now”.

But having that baseline alone cannot bring the improvement every business craves. There must be periodic assessments. For instance, are we looking at employee performance? How can one ascertain if an employee is doing well if, for example, he was not given a job description when he joined the organisation, and such employee is not appraised at intervals to determine if they are indeed living up to the organisation’s expectations? How can we know if our products or services are what they should be if there is no quality control process in place to measure our delivery against our service promise?

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