Situation

Determined to achieve superior quality in a company that was already one of the most successful and profitable in the world, the Chairman of this exceptional service company initiated an effort to achieve Six Sigma quality. His aim was to produce virtually defect-free products, services and transactions within five years.

The division described here provides financial services for equipment manufacturers and distributors. Rath & Strong was selected to launch the Six Sigma effort in several divisions because of our global experience, proven models and technology and record of sustainable, transferable results.

Solution

Successfully improving processes requires a focus on the entire system. We began with the customer. In trying to determine the critical-to-customer "defects " for each process, the organization discovered that, despite its success, it knew little about what customers truly valued. Rath & Strong teamed with the client to conduct a Customer Loyalty Assessment, to identify the specific drivers of customer disloyalty and the financial impact of those drivers in Net Present Value terms. This customer perspective and the information on financial impact became the engine of the quality improvement effort.

Leadership is sine qua non for becoming a Six Sigma organization. We conducted quarterly Force Field Analyses so the management team could assess progress and array the forces for and against change. Consensus was reached that their deal-making orientation was working against the process focus they needed to develop. We helped them clarify their values and determine the leadership and management behaviors that would be needed to achieve Six Sigma. We implemented a 360° feedback program to keep them on track.

For a financial services firm to improve the quality of services, the culture must change–often dramatically. We helped them develop a new communication strategy and training program for all associates to teach the quality improvement process and tools through a simulation. This made quality real for everyone and built interest and involvement throughout the organization. In addition, the Courier Simulation became one of those symbolic, shared experiences that abet successful change efforts.

With the teams, we developed a quick-hit opportunity assessment that measured processes, identified opportunities and suggested improvements. We then worked with the organization’s quality staff to implement the opportunities identified. We also applied our Load Shedding (Lean) methodology to drive non-value-added work out of administrative processes.

At the end of our involvement, we took the leadership team through our Leadership and Quality Assessment. The gap between where they were and where they had to go became clear. By the end of the meeting each understood what they personally had to do to continue their Six Sigma journey.

Results

Not only did we jumpstart our client’s Quality effort, but the way we went about it showed this services organization that organizational change efforts must be approached systemically – across the process, customer, leadership and culture dimensions. The organization is already seeing changes in its culture and leadership, increasing the likelihood that the gains it is achieving on the process improvement side will be sustained. No small feat.

Lessons Learned

Process improvements force you to be disciplined. They force you to start with what is important to customers, be precise about what you are looking for and make fact-based decisions.

Changes in culture can’t be mandated. Instead, you leverage the things that change the culture indirectly: measurement systems, leadership behavior, voice of the customer, team empowerment.