Page 61 - QUALITY Magazine (Volume 03 - Issue I)

05. Based on your experience, how do you 06. How do you meet the customer
05.
06.
train and motivate your team to adopt requirements while maintaining
practices that promote operational operational efficiency in a baking
excellence? environment?
In our organization, promoting operational excellence In my organization, we prioritize meeting customer
begins with a strong focus on measurement. We expectations by actively engaging with them and
begin by conducting operational reviews to identify ensuring we understand their evolving needs. To
what needs to be measured on a daily and shift-by- achieve this, we’ve structured our team to have
shift basis. Once we start measuring performance, dedicated account managers for different categories.
we can uncover what goes wrong and why. Often, These account managers are the primary point
these issues arise from processes not being of contact for our customers, and they maintain
followed correctly or protocols not being clearly continuous communication to capture their
communicated. To address this, we emphasize the requirements. They focus on understanding not just
importance of clearly defined processes. One of the immediate needs but also the long-term goals of our
key initiatives we’ve implemented is visual process customers, including their growth projections for the
mapping, where we document each process step next six weeks, six months, or even the coming year.
using visuals and photographs. This provides a clear, By understanding their outlet expansion plans and
easy-to-follow guide for our employees, ensuring future demands, we are able to tailor our strategies
that they know exactly how to perform each task. By accordingly.
making the process visually accessible, employees
can better understand the correct procedure and We have a strong product development process
avoid mistakes. in place where we translate this “voice of the
customer” into actionable product innovations. This
Furthermore, when performance metrics fall outside could mean introducing new products or improving
the acceptable range, we can pinpoint where the existing ones through reformulation, ensuring we
process might have been compromised and train meet or exceed customer expectations. By aligning
the employees accordingly. This approach ensures product development with customer insights,
that operators are aware of their performance we ensure that we are always working toward
gaps and how to correct them. In addition to visual delivering the best possible solutions. At the same
process mapping, we incorporate a skill matrix. time, we remain proactive in staying updated on
Employees are evaluated based on their skills in global trends. We regularly benchmark our products
handling different products, and their compensation against international markets to stay competitive.
is directly linked to their training and performance. This includes visiting international exhibitions,
This creates a strong incentive for employees to analyzing competitor samples, and ensuring our
engage in continuous learning, adhere to processes, offerings are in line with global standards. Our
and improve their skills, ultimately fostering an senior leadership plays an active role in this, getting
environment where they are motivated to follow involved in international visits and maintaining
the right processes, perform efficiently, and are connections with global trends, ensuring that we
rewarded accordingly. In summary, our approach always stay ahead of the curve. Overall, we ensure a
combines clear process documentation, hands-on continuous loop of customer engagement, internal
training, and performance-linked compensation, innovation, and global benchmarking to remain
creating a system where operational excellence is competitive and exceed customer expectations.
not only encouraged but also rewarded.
(Interviewed by Mr. PHN Fernando)