A Client contacted us regarding assisting them with more clearly defining their Policies for their International Division. The Client’s Leadership Team was frustrated because they did not understand why their Leaders in their International Division were having so much trouble understanding the expectations within the documented Policies. A Policy’s purpose was to define the Company’s guiding principles and yet, the International Leaders continued to communicate that they found those Policies confusing.
The first thing we did was ask for a copy of their documented Policies. It did not take long for us to also find them confusing. For example, there were so many “governing bodies” that were responsible to define and oversee the Company’s Policies. There was Home Office, Corporate Office, Main Office, and Head Office. All of those were identified as being responsible for governing the Company’s Policies.
After a quick conversation with the Leadership Team, it became clear that all those various Offices were only one and the same. No wonder the International Leaders were so confused – and in most cases, English was not their first language which complicated their ability to understand expectations within the Policies.
Upon further review of the Policies, we discovered other terms and phrases that were used interchangeably to represent a single topic. Once Aldridge Kerr rewrote the Policies using only one term or phrase for each topic, the International Leaders were able to understand expectations from the Corporate Office.
Standardized reference to terms and/or phrases is powerful and diminishes confusion. Consistency:
- Simplifies training new hires
- Reduces errors and poor-quality products as Staff more clearly understand expectations and their job responsibilities
- Decreases audit and regulatory findings
- Helps reduce the cost of doing business
- Assists in reducing risk exposures
- Reduces rework and problem resolution that would have negatively impacted profit margins
- Eliminates confusion by Clients and/or Staff or avoids the loss of those Clients and/or Staff due to frustration, lack of clarity
- Builds repeatable processes, positively impacting the opportunity to create sustainability
Aldridge Kerr can provide the framework to build consistency throughout your Organization.