4 Practices                                

 

4.1 Good pratices

Good practices, testimonials

 4.1

Theoretical knowledge is a treasure to which practice is the key. Tom Fuller

Some examples of good practices and testimonials in liberated companies (or on the path to liberation):

True story

AES, an energy giant with 10,000 employees, wanted to:

•    give local sites more autonomy
•    reduce bureaucracy to speed up decision-making
•    improve safety (high accident rate)

Actions to free up the company:

•    site autonomy: each plant makes its own local decisions
•    reduce lead times and improve responsiveness
•    budget and strategy defined locally
•    "advisory" system (no managers): employees advise each other
•    promote collaboration
•    project-based decision-making circles
•    safety training: each employee can stop a dangerous operation
•    reduce accidents
•    financial transparency: all employees see the costs and benefits
•    involve everyone in performance
•    dashboards accessible to all

Results achieved:

•    accident rate reduced by 80%
•    productivity increased by 20% (faster local decisions)
•    employee satisfaction: 90% (compared to 60% previously)

True story

Buurtzorg, a Dutch home care organization, wanted to:

•    improve the quality of care while reducing costs
•    give nurses more autonomy so they can focus on patients
•    reduce bureaucracy and unnecessary administrative tasks

Actions to free up the organization:

•    self-organized teams of 10-12 nurses: no managers, collective decisions
•    eliminate intermediate hierarchical levels
•    eliminate administrative reports: nurses manage their own schedules
•    reduce time wasted on administrative paperwork
•    use of lightweight software for coordination
•    interpersonal skills training: focus on listening and patient autonomy
•    improve the quality of care
•    regular communication workshops
•    trust-based compensation system: no time tracking
•    strengthen intrinsic motivation
•    fixed salary, no individual bonuses

Results achieved:

•    40% cost reduction compared to other care organizations
•    patient satisfaction: 9.3/10 (compared to the national average of 7.5/10)
•    virtually zero turnover: nurses stay on staff for an average of 10 years
•    rapid expansion: growth from 10 to 10,000 employees in 10 years

True story

FAVI, a French SME specializing in automotive parts casting, was facing:

•    a cumbersome hierarchy and slow decision-making processes
•    high turnover and low employee motivation
•    long production lead times and a lack of innovation

Actions to free up the company:

•    elimination of hierarchical levels (from 5 to 2 levels)
•    greater team autonomy
•    creation of self-organized teams
•    introduction of "decision circles": each team makes its own decisions
•    staff empowerment
•    team training in collective decision-making
•    elimination of fixed schedules: employees manage their own time
•    flexibility and trust are encouraged
•    implementation of a total trust system
•    creation of an "internal marketplace": employees choose their assignments
•    innovation and engagement are stimulated
•    internal platform for proposing and selecting projects

Results achieved:

•    production lead times reduced by 50% (from 6 weeks to 3 weeks)
•    turnover reduced by 4
•    productivity increased by 30%
•    increased innovation: development of new products in collaboration with customers

True story

Gore-Tex, known for its waterproof fabrics, wanted to:

•    avoid bureaucracy to foster innovation
•    empower employees without traditional managers
•    improve responsiveness to customer requests

Actions to free up the company:

•    structure into "associated teams" (no hierarchy, max. 150 people per site)
•    promote collaboration and autonomy
•    each team manages its own projects and budgets
•    sponsor system to guide new employees
•    quickly integrate new recruits
•    mentoring by experienced employees
•    free time for innovation (10% of working time)
•    stimulate creativity
•    encourage personal projects
•    total transparency: access to financial information for all
•    build trust
•    quarterly meetings on the company's health

Results achieved:

•    employee retention rate: 95% (one of the highest in the industry)
•    world leader in technical membranes for 40 years
•    innovation constant: more than 2,000 patents filed

True story

Morning Star, a world leader in tomato processing, wanted to:

•    eliminate hierarchy to foster innovation
•    empower each employee as an "entrepreneur"
•    improve responsiveness to customer requests

Actions to liberate the company:

•    complete elimination of hierarchical titles: everyone is responsible for their own missions
•    creation of a culture of self-responsibility
•    each employee negotiates their objectives with their peers
•    system of "relational contracts": employees define their mutual commitments
•    clarification of expectations without managers
•    workshops to learn how to write contracts
•    free access to financial information: total transparency
•    involvement of everyone in performance
•    training in reading balance sheets for all
•    investments decided collectively: no imposed budget
•    stimulation of innovation and efficiency
•    consensus-based decision-making

Results achieved:

•    productivity 2 to 3 times higher than the industry average
•    constant innovation: development of new products without a management committee
•    employee satisfaction rate: 90% (compared to 60% in the sector)
•    organic growth: no debt, fully self-financing

True story

Patagonia, a company committed to sustainable development, wanted to:

•    reduce absenteeism and improve employee engagement
•    promote work-life balance
•    stimulate innovation while remaining true to its environmental values

Actions to liberate the company:

•    "let my people go surfing" program: flexible hours to enjoy the waves
•    improved quality of life at work
•    complete confidence in time management
•    team autonomy: no control over schedules, expected results
•    empowerment and motivation
•    elimination of time clocks and activity reports
•    encourage environmental activism: paid time off to engage in environmental causes
•    alignment of personal and professional values
•    dedicate 1% of work time to civic engagement
•    total transparency: sharing financial information with all employees
•    strengthening trust and involvement
•    quarterly meetings on the company's health

Results achieved:

•    among the lowest absenteeism rate in the industry
•    employee engagement: 95% internal satisfaction
•    average annual growth of 10% despite a competitive market
•    constant innovation: development of recycled and sustainable materials

True story

Poulpeo, a digital services company (DSC), wanted to:

•    break down silos between technical and sales teams
•    give more meaning to work by involving employees in strategy
•    reduce turnover in a highly competitive sector

Actions to free up the company:

•    eliminate managers: replace them with "facilitators"
•    promote autonomy and collaboration
•    train facilitators in agile methods
•    participatory budgeting: employees decide how to use 10% of revenue
•    involve everyone in strategy
•    co-development budget workshops
•    holacracy system: distribution of roles through self-organized circles
•    clarification of responsibilities without hierarchy
•    holacracy training for all
•    salary transparency: everyone knows each other's salaries
•    strengthen trust and fairness
•    internal publication of salary scales

Results achieved:

•    turnover reduced from 20% to 5%
•    revenue growth of 30% in 3 years
•    increased innovation: launch of new services thanks to employee ideas
•    customer satisfaction: 95% recommendation rate

True story

Sun Hydraulics, a company with 1,000 employees, suffered from:

•    slow decision-making processes (cumbersome hierarchy)
•    lack of innovation (ideas came only from top management)
•    high turnover (20% per year)

Actions to free the company:

•    elimination of hierarchical titles (everyone is a "partner")
•    promote autonomy and responsibility
•    create self-organized circles per project
•    participatory budgeting: employees decide how to use 10% of profits
•    involve everyone in the strategy
•    co-development budget workshops
•    contribution-based compensation system (no fixed salaries)
•    incentivize innovation and collaboration
•    peer review and complete transparency
•    self-management training for all employees
•    development of decision-making skills
•    continuous training program

Results achieved:

•    turnover reduced to 5% (compared to 20% before)
•    average annual growth of 15% (compared to 5% before)
•    constant innovation: 30% of products are new each year

True story

Valve, creator of games like Half-Life and Portal, wanted to:

•    eliminate managers to foster creativity
•    give employees the freedom to choose their projects
•    avoid silos between teams

Actions to liberate the company:

•    completely eliminate managers: employees choose their projects
•    maximize intrinsic motivation
•    freewheel system: everyone works on what they want
•    offices on wheels: employees move their desks to work with whomever they want
•    encourage spontaneous collaboration
•    flexible workspaces
•    peer review system
•    recognize talent without hierarchy
•    twice-annual peer reviews
•    complete transparency: salaries and performance accessible to all
•    strengthen trust
•    open internal database

Results achieved:

•    commercial successes: Steam (gaming platform), Dota 2, Counter-strike
•    employee satisfaction rate: 98%
•    continuous innovation: regular new games and technologies

Top of the page

 

4.2 Solve problems

Problems, improvement, conditions, solutions

4.2 

Where there is a problem, there is potential for improvement. Masaaki Imai

The problems can be classified into:

A problem can be compared to an illness. To heal you have to go through five stages:

For a problem that appears in production or during a service, we can transpose these steps into:

Do not confuse root cause and source of the problem (the place where the problem manifests itself).

Some classic problem-solving tools with common points and specific points are PDCA, A 3, DMAIC and 8 D (see § 8.3 and § 8.4).

Analyzing the necessary information helps us understanding the meaning (the why) of each decision.

Working as a team and using the weighted voting method without moderation is a guarantee of making the right decisions and obtaining good results.

An example of decision-making using the weighted voting method can be found in annex 03.record

Some conditions conducive to solving problems:

The WWWWHHW, brainstorming (see § 8.4) and the Ishikawa diagram (see § 8.2), will help us identify and visualize the root causes of the problem.

The tool most often used to classify causes by priority is the Pareto chart (see § 8.2).

Choosing an appropriate solution can be done using a tool like the decision matrix (see § 8.3) to definitively eradicate the problem.

An activity in which the leader excels is teaching the tools, methods, best practices and tips to find the root causes of each problem that arises. Even if sometimes the solution is not obvious and requires a lot of effort, time and will.

Each failure has a root cause. Connie Borror

Failing to apply familiar solutions to problems is well illustrated by the joke of the drunk looking for his keys under a lamp post. When a passerby asks him what he is looking for the answer is. “My keys to get into my house”. The passerby asks. “But where did you lose them?” to which the man replies. “In front of my house”. “But why look here?” “Because I can see well here!”

Some basic truths about problems:

Top of the page

 

4.3 Future of the quality

Quality department, of and by quality, manager and leader

4.3 

Quality is when the customer likes the product and the employee likes making the product

Thinking that doing quality means obtaining a certificate is a practice of the past. Sometimes it is necessary but it is by no means sufficient. This can be a good start, but it cannot be an end in itself.

Soon risk management will be widespread. Little by little, efficiency, performance and excellence will be essential. Compliance obligations will be replaced by the evaluation of the means put in place and the measurement of the results obtained. From constraint the notion of quality must become an axis of progress. Moving towards integrated QSEquality, safety, environment management (quality, safety, environment) facilitates the response to various regulatory requirementsexplicit or implicit need or expectation (see also ISO 9000, 3.1.2) and makes it possible to optimize (simplify) the management system.

Operational excellence (the EFQM approach) has become popular as a way to self-evaluate and compare yourself to the best, you should not deprive yourself of it, it can only be beneficial.

The sustainable development concept helps us to have a global approach to the business environment. We can look to the future with confidence by meeting the expectations of all stakeholders. To do this, we must review our copy (vision, mission, values, strategy, policy, etc.) and find new compromises on new bases.

The future of the quality department is summed up in its purpose: to permanently reduce the gap between the quality achieved and the quality expected by the customeranyone who receives a product (see also ISO 9000, 3.3.5) or in other words to do better, cheaper and faster than competitors thanks to management by quality.

From quality department we move towards a network:

Just as internal audits are carried out by members of all departments, problem solving, handling of customer feedback and nonconformities must be done by the teams who are at the origin of the root causes.

Some differences between quality management and management by quality are shown in table 4-1 (see also table 3-1).

Table 4-1. Management of and by quality

Domain Quality management (system approach) Management by quality (excellence approach)
Purchasing  Forecasts Customer demand
Goal  Improved effectiveness Improved efficiency
Approach Changes Improvements in small steps
Documentation  Static Dynamic (visual management)
Requirements Product, system Customer, company
Hierarchy Organization in silos Transversal structure
Way to explain How Why
Measurement  Compliance with requirements Evaluation of results
Orientation Products, customers Market, sustainable development
Problem solving Quality department Team members
Responsibility for quality Quality department  Team members
Style  “Carrot and stick” Team involvement
Management system Policy, management review Vision, mission and shared values

We can find differences between manager and leader. The manager is rather classified in the traditional company, the leader is rather classified in the liberated company.

Figure 4-1 shows the boss (manager) compared to the leader (from the page):

4-1

Figure 4-1. The boss and the leader

Table 4.2 shows some differences between the manager and the leader.

Table 4-2. Manager and leader

Manager Leader
The manager takes care of the how The leader explains the why
The manager commands The leader asks questions
The manager says “I”  The leader says “we”
The manager filters the information The leader shares the information
The manager evaluates suggestions The leader encourages suggestions
The manager is focused on actions and performance The leader is focused on people and autonomy
The manager plans The leader experiments
The manager tackles the effects The leader tackles the root causes
The manager does things right The leader does the right things
The manager accepts and maintains the status quo The leader manages change and innovates
The manager relies on control  The leader relies on trust
For the manager people are a resource For the leader people are unique
The manager determines the rules and methods The leader creates favorable conditions for people to give their best
The manager is responsible for achieving results The leader develops the vision of the future, shows the right direction
The manager spreads the corporate culture The leader builds the corporate culture

smile  Minute of relaxation. Cf. joke “Every Wednesday?”.

The rest of the T 50 Happyness in the liberated company training is accessible on this page.

Top of the page