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BENCHMARKING_AND_IMPROVING_MANAGEMENT_QUALITY
| BENCHMARKING AND IMPROVING MANAGEMENT QUALITY
Summary By defining Management Quality as an organizational
concept and applying established Quality methodology to the area
of management, a great potential for improvement becomes
apparent. This improvement translates directly to business
results or other major objectives. A model of Management Quality
has been developed, and used in practice to benchmark management
quality in more than ten Scandinavian and international
organizations. The results clearly show that even the leading
edge companies can take great steps forward, by using a
structural approach to management quality and by learning from
best practices of others.
What is Management Quality? Practically all management
development is aimed at individuals. Management Quality is an
organizational concept, which describes the organization's
capacity to meet high quality objectives in its management
functions. This leads to better customer satisfaction and
financial and other performance. Many enterprises and
organizations have programs for Total Quality Management. These
are supposed to cover management quality, as one of several
topics. In practice, however, improvements in this area are
often given a lower priority, than within processes, more
directly concerning flows of products and money. To apply
quality concepts and methods to the area of management includes
measuring present level of quality, establishing the desired
goal and necessary actions, and finally measuring progress. It
is not sufficient to address the symptoms, the obvious
deficiencies; you must also consider the fundamental values,
policies, systems, processes and programs, i.e. quality
assurance. Management quality is not synonymous with Quality
management (to manage quality improvement). Nor is it synonymous
with Quality of managers (a narrower concept, often represented
as "wish lists" of desired personality traits). Is Management
Quality really important? All enterprises or other organizations
with competition and/or pressure to reduce costs must find means
to improvement, that continuously give customers, clients and
other stake holders more value for money. The most common way is
to simply cut costs, which directly hits the employees and
indirectly the customers. In the area of management there is a
great, unexploited area for improvement. Such improvement has a
direct and positive impact on results. Those organizations that
are pioneers in using this opportunity will create greater value
for customers and clients, a better working environment and
competitive advantage. There are no real arguments for not
taking advantage of this opportunity.
Management Quality - is there need for improvement? Consider the
following illustrations as "evidence": Evidence 1. I have
conducted benchmarking studies in more than 10 major Nordic and
multinational organizations representing industry, commerce and
government. On a 1000-point scale for management quality these
enterprises end up in the 350-550 interval. The study includes
companies with an excellent reputation in the areas of general
management and human resource management. The conclusion is that
even those that are considered leading edge today have
substantial room for improvement -and there are thousands who
are lagging far behind. Evidence 2. Ask any group of employees
if, during the last year, they have observed examples of lacking
management quality, which have directly and negatively impacted
the performance of the organization. Almost all hands come up.
Then ask how many who, during the last three months, personally
have had such negative experiences, resulting in decreased
motivation or possibility to do a first rate job. About half the
group will confirm this. Evidence 3. Consulting companies have
conducted studies, reported in the press, indicating that
variations in management quality result in productivity
differences as high as 25 %. Evidence 4. Other calculations show
that the value of good management quality, as compared to poor
quality, is 1,8 MUSD per year in a marketing group of 10 people.
Corresponding numbers for a manufacturing group is 0,3 MUSD
annually, and for an administrative group 0,2 MUSD. Evidence 5.
In hundreds of interviews with employees and managers I hear
statements like: "Personnel policy is non-existent in this
division. I am not making an effort anymore" "Decisions are
taken and orders are given, but everyone does whatever he likes
to do. There is no follow-up, no questions asked." "You cannot
trust top management. Decisions are often reversed, without
explanation. I am not motivated to act strongly and promptly",
said one manager. Each of these and many other statements are
real-life examples of the negative impact on business of poor
management quality.
How good is your Management Quality? "How good is the management
quality of your organization?" When I ask this question, most
often I get an answer. But the answer varies from one person to
another, and is based on subjective impressions and feelings. In
some cases, reference is given to Personnel surveys. Such
surveys, at best, give an indication of how the immediate
manager is perceived, and only from the employee perspective.
The Management Quality benchmarking mentioned above is a
continuous project, all the time open to new participants. The
result is a comprehensive review of the management quality of
the organization, a detailed list of identified potential
improvements, and sharing of best practices with interesting
organizations. You can make a first estimate by making the
simple Self-assessment, below. (It is designed for senior and
Personnel management. Interpret the questions "from their
position" - or give them a copy. Use a scale from 1 (I do not
agree at all) to 5 (I fully agree)).
SELF-ASSESSMENT A. WE KNOW THAT OUR MANAGEMENT QUALITY IS
EXCELLENT 1.Every employee can identify their own and the
company's customers are and their expectations. Everyone can
describe his/her own responsibility and mission.
2.Everyone takes ownership of the company's vision and
objectives and of his/her own objectives.
3.Everyone is cost conscious and cost efficient (as if they were
"owners" of their area of the business).
4.Everyone has the right competence for today's mission and task
and develops their competence for tomorrow's needs.
5.Everyone possesses all relevant information for attaining
their own objectives and contributing to those of the company.
6.Everyone demonstrates excellent cooperation within their
organization and with other groups and departments.
7.Everyone demonstrates a high change competence.
8.Everyone strives for excellent quality in all respects.
B. WE HAVE AN EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 1.Our
company has clear, updated and documented mission statement,
vision and strategies.
2.We have consistent goals at all levels and in all parts of the
company. The goals include: Business results, costs, customer
satisfaction, employee satisfaction, competence and quality. We
track them and support the goals through our reward system.
3.We have rapid and efficient means of distributing and
collecting information to and from all employees.
4.Participation, cooperation and a high degree of independence
are corner stones of our management system.
5.We have a clear picture of our management quality, based on
several sources.
C. WE HAVE EXCELLENT LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS OF THE ORGANIZATION
1.We have defined the general requirements of all our managers.
2.We appoint leaders of high quality and development potential,
to all levels of the organization.
3.We give new leaders a good introduction and start in their new
management role.
4.We give all managers continuous development in leadership.
5.We create good opportunities for our managers to be highly
motivated in their task.
6.We phase out leaders who are inadequate in their management
jobs.
D. WE HAVE A MANAGEMENT POLICY THAT GUIDES US IN ALL ACTIVITIES
CONCERNING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT 1. The company's basic
values are clearly expressed.
2. The policy gives our view of our employees.
3. The policy describes our principles for leading and managing
the company.
4. The policy describes how we work in order to always have
excellent leaders in all positions.
5. The policy demonstrates that we focus on management quality.
6. The policy is well accepted by everybody and the practical
application is clear.
In evaluating your results it may be useful to know that very
sucessful organizations tend to rate themselves at the 4 level.
Most other companies in the 2,5-3,5 span. The external estimate
from a benchmark study usually averages 1 point lower than the
internal self-assessment.
How to improve your Management Quality The prerequisites to
obtain substantial and lasting improvements of management
quality are top management determination, time and perseverance.
1. Benchmarking of management quality is a structured comparison
with other leading organizations. This process identifies
strengths and weaknesses and allows you to learn from the best
practices of others. It is an excellent starting point for
decisions about ambition and priorities in the continued
improvement project(s). This is an ambitious approach,
recommended if you believe that you are about to start a
long-term development project.
2. A more traditional approach is to start such projects already
identified or in plan (e.g. management policy, management
review, and management development), but in such a manner that
each project becomes a building block, that fits with the other
blocks. Some kind of architecture is necessary. The model for
management quality, used for benchmarking, can be very useful as
a master drawing. 3. If you don't wish to use an "architecture",
but still desire quality assurance of ongoing or planned
projects (in the management area), the relevant sections of the
management quality model may be used. A "consultant" (internal
or external) who is independent in relation to the project
should carry out the quality assurance.
Management Quality - what are the first steps? Communication is
the key word in all stages of a project aimed at improving
Management Quality. The key issue at the start is the
involvement of top management. The self-assessment, made by top
management is often an excellent way to show what is meant by
management quality and the potential for improvement. The result
of the self-assessment can be made the starting point of a
management meeting or seminar, with the objective to reach an
agreement if and how to proceed with benchmarking or other ways
to improve management quality. There are other ways to make the
decision, but the management committee (or corresponding group)
must support the decision - this is the group which, as a next
step, has to commit to future plans and actions. The strong
conviction of the CEO or head of Human Resource Management may
not be sufficient to ensure a successful project. Middle
Management The middle manager - the manager of managers - is the
main implementer of Management Quality. She/he is responsible
for identification of new management potential, development of
those candidates, appointment of new managers, introduction and
continuous development of managers, and, if necessary, the
phase-out of inadequate managers. The middle manager rarely
receives any education or other support to fulfil these
responsibilities. It may be your first priority to set up such
education for middle managers.
About the author: Harje Franzén
Senior consultant, author, teacher, speaker, helping
organizations to improve management quality, mainly through
benchmarking, design and implementation of programs for
management policy, management resources and middle managers´
education.
I have worked with organizations of all sizes, from many
different cultures, in most industries, and at all managerial
levels
Contact me at info@inutsikt.se or learn more at the web-site:
http://forward.to/management_quality
About the author:
Senior consultant, author, teacher, speaker, helping
organizations to improve management quality, mainly through
benchmarking, design and implementation of programs for
management policy, management resources and middle managers´
education.
I have worked with organizations of all sizes, from many
different cultures, in most industries, and at all managerial
levels
Contact me at info@inutsikt.se or learn more at the web-site:
http://forward.to/management_quality
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