Process Maturity Audit: Organisational Readiness and Capability Assessment

Introduction

To plan the journey of process change we not only need a strategy to execute but a realistic assessment of where we are starting from. Organisations not only underestimate the nature of the changes they face in pursuit of process effectiveness but regularly fail to recognise that different areas of the business have diverse journeys of different durations to make. Acknowledging that the chain of change is only as strong as its weakest link makes the argument for embarking on an effective Maturity Audit at the beginning of the process.

A Process Maturity Audit for the Organisation enables an understanding of t he likely length and structure of the process journey which is broadly determined by

• the size of the gap between current and desired performance
• the leadership team’s willingness to close the gap
• the capacity of the organisation to absorb change

Discovering and acknowledging the current state (corporate honesty) is tough and politically demanding. Analysis is easier if it done against a background of honesty at the Discovery stage. Design is harder, I ntegration is challenging and Implementation is where the rubber hits the road.

Insights and Obstacles

The minefield that is business change has to be mapped and negotiated through and around. Mines may have been banned for battlefield deployment but there are many buried in the field of change – a key role of the business change professional is to find them, lift them and engage the organisation in dealing with them. Never underestimate the threats to process success embodied in the following:

• Silo behavior - undue preoccupation with organization structure
• Instinct to reinforce ‘command and control’
• Stifling of innovation
• Lack of executive support
• No strategy for change
• Difficulty in defining the best process projects
• Incomplete, inappropriate resources
• Resistance of turf protection politics
• Hard to get accurate baseline data from within functions
• Shifting priorities deflect efforts, disable consistency, impact schedules
• Delays in deploying needed technology
• Not enough focus on people

Starting Point – Assessing where we are Now

For many organisations the challenge is:

• Where are we starting from?
• How high is this mountain we are trying to climb?
• How do we start?
• What issues do we need to address?
• When are results and benefits likely to start to materialise?
• Who do we involve?
• How do they go about it? … etc; etc; … =

Aptitude & Attitude – Where Corporate Honesty Really Matters

Aptitude

Are you ready for this? Fully aware (and realistic about) your organization’s skills in process innovation? Where, in all honesty, do you sit in the following profile?

• Minimal awareness of the need to improve and manage business processes
• Broad awareness of the need to improve and manage business processes, but little action so far
• Some successful process redesign projects, but not much sustainable process management
• Several successful process redesign projects
• A few key end-to-end BP’s managed for continuous improvement
• The full set of customer-touching processes that are being managed for continuous improvement
• The entire business is being managed as a system of integrated business processes.

Attitude

Are you mentally prepared, individually and collectively, for process to drive your organisation?
Does the organisation believe that:

• strategy begins with the customer ?
• it is designed, led and managed so that it is easy for the customer to do business with the company?
• customer value is created through a company’s enterprise wide business processes?
• the need to manage business processes at 3 levels is fundamental to the approach?
• organisations are complex business and social systems?

Understanding and honesty – sounds simple – really?

Getting Real

No matter what your process aspirations are you must start from a realistic base. Understand and play the position you are in - that position is unique so make sure you understand that before making dramatic moves.

• Understand your current position with regard to process maturity and readiness for radical change
• Identify the gaps and their size - from where you are now, to where you would like to be
• Formulate a Strategy for Change - prepare a plan involving Strategy, People, Processes & Technology
• Grow the organization’s process competence - be pragmatic, realistic about the work to be done
• Make the right moves to align the different pieces
• Execute – refine – execute; this is a never ending journey but you need to settle with the end just over the horizon. Be a Challenger with aspirations to be a Leader, not a Sleeper, a frog in slowly heating water.

Variable Maturity Levels across Variable Criteria

Auditing the organisation’s current capability and identifying the gaps helps create the basis for the process review project plan. It is important to recognise that each part of a business unit is likely to be at a different stage of process maturity. The approach can be tailored to match the performance level and the ‘readiness for change’ that you find in your organisation across a range of criteria.

Baselining the organisation starts by deciding which measurement criteria are relevant to the organisation and its search to develop process-centricity. The following are representative but not unique factors for assessing maturity – develop a profile that suits the needs of your organisation.

• Commitment by Top Management
• Program Organisation & Structure
• Process Improvement Training
• Performance Objectives
• Functioning of Improvement Teams
• Tools and Techniques
• Stakeholder specifications
• Information Systems
• Accreditation/Certification (individual – enterprise – partners)

BPTG Maturity Matrix – A Measure of Competence, a Plan for Excellence

The audit helps build consensus – on where the organisation is, and where it needs to be. When planning the project roadmap based on the gaps consider the following questions:

• What economic advantage will be gained from the step?
• Are we looking to shoot too high in too many areas?
• Are we focused on the areas that will deliver the improvements in customer outcomes?

These questions are relevant to:

• the organisation’s position in the marketplace
• the number of individual steps that have to be taken to bridge the gaps
• the timescale over which change is to be made

Some of the key questions in progress self-assessment include

• Has the firm made the tough strategic choices?
• Can leaders express strategy in business process terms?
• Understanding which business processes have to be improved, by how much, to achieve strategic goals?
• What is your level of ‘aptitude’ in improving critical business processes?
• Do your leaders have a concise map of the firm’s enterprise business processes?
• Have they appointed process owners/stewards for key processes?
• Are there clear, usable process measures and metrics?
• Developed an enterprise view business process relationship map.
• Have business process owners/ stewards been appointed for major cross functional business processes?
• Have key performance metrics been linked from a customer’s point of view to key financial metrics?
• Has the organisation invested in training key people in a robust framework for change?
• Have we gone beyond one-time improvements to sustained management of continuous change?
• Have recognition/ reward systems been aligned with process objectives?
• Do the leaders see the business from the customer’s point of view?
• Do leaders believe customer value is created through a company’s enterprise wide business processes?
• To what extent is there awareness and skill in improving and managing the end-to-end business processes?

In Conclusion

Baselining the organisation is a vital reality check for organisations and all levels from senior to operational management. It provides the fundamental information vital to effective process review project planning including the justification of timescale and resources, both too often under-acknowledged.

Not to be underestimated is the important role that this exercise in corporate honesty plays in achieving ownership of the change process among people at all levels of the organisation.