Yes. And now it comes the annoying but: but a few principles must be followed.
Improvement is actually a desired change. Improvement is a complex system, so it is necessary to proceed systematically: thoughtfully – planned – organized – regularly.
Improvement is the only way to optimally develop a established company. Therefore, except for waiting for a miracle. Everything good and bad in a company is being created by people. That’s why prioritizing people is so effective.
The company, it is primarily the people, they create all the wealth of the company. More capable and willing people then improve everything necessary faster and better.
There are no two identical companies, because different people work in each company. Every person is unique and every company is unique too. Therefore, template improvement solutions do not work. The correct procedure is to create and implement a “tailor-made” solution for the company.
When improving people, it is important to choose the right balance of individual and general approach. Everyone is an independent person and at the same time part of a work team. The individual side of a person is often underestimated.
To develop and pay attention to a person’s talents and strengths. Helping people figure out what kind of job is right for them, because only that job can really entertain them. Then they can deliver high performance with little effort.
A good way can be to ask people for their opinion – what and how could be done better. Constantly show interest in new ideas and support people’s creativity. Provide people with positive feedback and adequately reward benefits of new solutions. Over time, these rewards can represent a significant part of total revenue, which is covered by actual additional added value.
A new approach to people like: decency – quiet – respect – trust, will lead to higher creativity, new ideas and solutions. In the practical life of the company, this will bring improved processes, products and services, reduced costs, higher productivity, higher profits and long-term prosperity.
In the first phase of a new type of improvement, fully people- focused approach, it can be very beneficial to clarify the interests of management and the interests of people and try to harmonize them. An improved or newly created corporate vision and strategy can serve well for this. Refine the direction of the company for the next few years.
Proper communication and achieving the acceptance of a strategic goal by most people are essential elements of improvement aimed primarily at improving people. The success of implementing continuous improvement determines what people think about it and what they are able and willing to do for improvement.
Leadership and management need to be adapted to the new role of solving and implementing a system of continuous improvement focused primarily on improving people. Optimizing the company’s organizational structure can be beneficial. We recommend to supplement it with a net-type part that better supports creative activities. At the same time, it is appropriate to adjust the motivation system and strengthen teamwork.
Well-done standardization of processes and main activities forms the basis of the current state. By comparing the new, improved condition with the original, it is possible to clearly determine the degree of improvement. Or find that there has actually been no improvement. Without documenting the current situation, it is practically impossible to evaluate the benefits of improvement.
An appropriately chosen structure of continuous improvement is a prerequisite for the good functioning of improvement processes. Its core is to focus on the priority improvement of people – their professional competencies and emotional intelligence. The benefits are better skills and greater willingness of people.
Optimized planning and measurement of people’s performance both enable fair remuneration and at the same time create an information base for improvement processes. It is important to ensure that the system of continuous improvement is balanced with other business systems.
Systematic education should take into account the strategic intention of the company and at the same time the personal interests of each employee. It is very important that the principle of voluntariness is respected in the choice of education.
Personal development plans are an essential document of the whole process of improvement, so to speak, the icing on the cake. They represent an employee’s agreement with the company’s management, combining common corporate interests with individual interests. In this way, they also include long-term prosperity planning and its implementation by all employees in the company. Well-executed personal development plans, which are properly evaluated and updated, also carry the message of the company’s management to each person that they are useful for the company and that they are expected in the coming years. And vice versa, the company’s managers and management will find out from the entire process of creating a personal development plan what the employee is about and what his level of involvement in the company’s life is. In other words – how an employee is able and willing to work on their own growth and improvement.
Leaders and managers should often ask themselves, “Are we doing enough for our people to improve?” This is closely related to the ancient question that people have: “Why should I do more and better?” If it makes sense to them, they will. People can calculate what will pay off for them.
Each person must be approached individually. To support him in creating his personal growth plan and to create conditions for its fulfillment. Everyone lives in their own world, which is different from the worlds of others. That is why it is very important to adjust the growth and development to each person.
People need to be led to solve the tasks themselves as much as possible, to come up with ideas and proposals themselves and implement them in their own way. Of course, standardized procedures must be followed.
It is very beneficial to lead people to their own solution. And then encourage them to implement his idea.
The more people we let develop on their own, the better the results.
Improvement should focus on what a person is good at and not on what he is not good at – do not let him do the thing he is not good at. The right way is to develop talent and strengths so that one can deliver excellent performance. By developing what he has no talent for, only an average result can be achieved.
It is beneficial to constantly remind people that change for the better is possible, although science and research have only confirmed this in this century. One can train the brain in almost anything, similar to muscles. Science has proven that the brain is malleable, improving its abilities in what one does repeatedly.
If you want to approach the improvement of integrity, it is very beneficial to include extracurricular activities. The reason is obvious. The same body and the same head go to work. When you are more comfortable at home, it will certainly affect your creativity and overall performance at work.
Much can be achieved by developing a triple combination of diet – sleep – peace. Whoever has it is even more effective in dealing with these three things in reverse order. But it turns out to be more challenging for most people. Basically, it is about increasing the level of self-awareness and self-regulation. The benefit is an improvement in vitality, health and a feeling of happiness and satisfaction both at home and at work.
Maybe change is difficult and not easy for your people now, and not fast at all. The stronger this feeling is in people, the more people need to be encouraged to grow and develop, because change for the better is possible. Everyone can do it.
There is a constant need to look for specific, tailor-made methods of leading and managing people in order to give their best of what is hidden in them. Then the improvement can be expected to run optimally. This is the main principle of continuous systematic improvement, fully focused on improving people.
Of course, several of these principles are already being implemented in companies. And some others may not be listed here.
A good principle is to keep what works well and add or improve others.
But let’s go back to the original question – is it really possible to improve easily and quickly?
The answer is – yes.
All you have to do is set your head on growth and development, find meaning in improvement and start working.
Ever since Einstein invented the theory of relativity, it has become even more clear that everything is related to everything. It may be that it is difficult and slow for some to improve and for others relatively easily and quickly. So it will be more apt to reformulate the answer as follows:
Yes, you can improve relatively easily and quickly.