Why Operational Excellence
IBM defines Operational Excellence (OpEx) as "an approach to business management that emphasizes continuous improvement across all aspects of the business and within all business processes by creating a culture where management and employees are invested in business outcomes and empowered to implement change." That is a wide-ranging definition for a critical approach. A portable definition of OpEx could be summarized as "continuous improvement through employee empowerment." Public sector enterprises can reap the benefits of investing in OpEx if they can see how it applies to the public sector, who must drive the implementation, and the overall advantages of OpEx pursuits.
Operational Excellence initiatives can be applied to both sides of the public sector / private sector divide. The presence of a profit motive does not dictate whether an organization can define or measure success. It doesn’t determine whether the organization is strategically aligned. Public sector organizations can make data driven decisions just as well as other organizations. Public sector orgs can deploy any of the well-known OpEx management models such as Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizan and Shingo. However, differences do stem from lack of competition in public sector monopolies, such as tax agencies. Few external stakeholders will demand OpEx implementation. Therefore, the drive must come from inside public sector organization itself.
Specifically, the deployment of OpEx in public sector organizations depends on sponsorship from the top. Leadership matters, especially in the public sector. Teammates throughout the organization will detect hesitation or higher priorities. They notice a clarity in objectives, executive follow-through and intentional resource allocation. They notice cancelled meetings, absences, the depth of questions and who has completed the pre-reads. In OpEx, degrees of engagement matter.
A disciplined, executive sponsored OpEx implementation enables the organization to accomplish multiple objectives with sustained OpEx initiatives. With a dedication to OpEx, executives demonstrate that they care about employee development and the customer experience. Investment in OpEx provides teammates with a new set of practice and marketable skills. OpEx aligns teammates to the organization's strategic objectives. It enables teammates to impact daily performance and achieve strategic objectives. It measures customer satisfaction and others metrics of success. It builds a community that values individual initiative and celebrates the team's achievement. Put simply, the OpEx juice is worth the squeeze.
OpEx is not an implementation that promises to solve problems overnight. It is not a "check-the-box" initiative. Degrees of engagement matter, both for executives and for frontline teammates. Employing OpEx methods serves as a foundation for higher structures and better results in the future. OpEx can equip your team to drive, carrying the organization forward and creating more opportunities in the future.
