Ready to start crushing your goals? Improving your processes is the first step. These 5 strategies will help you shift gears and become more efficient.
Key takeaways
- Signs you need a process update
- 5 ways to improve processes
- Start with goals
- Know the right metrics
- Set relevant benchmarks
- Identify weak areas
- Focus on employee engagement
- Get started with Crewhu for your engagement program
Your processes drive everyday business success. But they also determine whether you’re reaching your long-term goals, which goes hand-in-hand with fulfilling your vision. When daily tasks and procedures move smoothly, workers are engaged and productive, customers are satisfied with their experience, and the bottom line sees healthy growth.
It’s easy to overlook process updates when employees and teams are used to doing things a certain way. But failing to update systems and integrate the right tools can slow down the company as a whole and get in the way of development, which impacts the bottom line.
Efficient processes are an integral part of forward movement, but how do you know when you need to update them? We’ll take a look at common warning signs and walking through five ways to improve your business processes now.
Signs you need a process update
Sometimes there are clear warning signs that can point to process weaknesses you need to address. Some of the most common indicators include:
- Customers are complaining about poor service
- Customers are getting lost in the resolution process
- Profit has decreased
- Daily tasks are taking longer to complete
- Ticket resolution time has increased
- Employees productivity is decreasing
- Employees are unengaged or frustrated
- Employee turnover has increased
- Processes are getting bottlenecked and outcomes are delayed
- Coworkers are showing signs of frustration with one another
- Resources are being wasted
If you’re experiencing any of these issues, it’s time for a process update.
5 ways to improve processes
Identifying that there’s a problem is the first step. The next is implementing the right tactics to improve it. Here are five ways to do just that with simple, straightforward strategies.
- Start with goals
Creating SMART goals is a must to streamline and improve processes. These goals should be Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Timely (SMART), meaning you put significant thought into the measurable components of your desired outcomes, and the goals always related back to what’s going on now.
An example of a process-related SMART goal is to improve customer satisfaction by speeding up the time it takes for customer service tickets to be resolved.
Once you have your specific goals, you can identify points within your processes and key individuals who will be instrumental in reaching these goals and improving procedures.
- Know the right metrics to track
The next step is to align those SMART goals to metrics that will let you objectively measure your progress. The ideal metrics will vary depending on the department or process you’re looking to improve. Using the above example, to increase customer satisfaction with the customer service team, track key performance indicators (KPIs) like customer satisfaction score (CSAT), ticket resolution time, ticket escalation rate, and team member response time.
Whether you’re refining customer service, accounting, sales, or other processes, nail down which metrics will reveal whether you’re progressing and how. KPIs will show objectively whether your efforts to improve are actually working.
- Set relevant benchmarks
A benchmark is a number that represents the minimum of what your business should be achieving to stay competitive.
For example, a benchmark for your CSAT would be based on your industry’s average. The overall CSAT average in the U.S. is 74.4%. For more context of how industries vary, internet retail companies average 81% and hospitals are at 69%.
If you decide your industry benchmark is 75%, for example, your CSAT should never dip below that number. Keeping track of these metrics and benchmarks give you additional visibility into whether your processes are working.
- Identify weak areas
Setting goals, identifying KPIs, and setting benchmarks are three steps that will help you identify new areas that need improvement. This could be a particular function that would be streamlined with automation technology or an employee who needs additional training or resources to complete tasks. Or, you may quickly realize that a certain team is becoming more and more unproductive and needs to be engaged in new ways.
Without this knowledge, you won’t be able to accurately assess where the problem is within a process. But the right numbers and focus will show you exactly what needs the most attention.
- Focus on employee engagement
One of the most important aspects of improving processes and increasing productivity is focusing on engaging your employees, no matter the department. When employees know what they’re working toward and have the tools necessary to reach goals, they’ll feel more accomplished. And when you integrated a rewards and recognition system, they’ll feel appreciated by company leaders.
An engagement program may consist of frequent contests, peer-to-peer recognition initiatives, public recognition of a high-performing employee, or a gift after a successful quarter. Incorporating techniques like gamification can also foster a sense of friendly competition with your teams, which will keep them focused and engaged on the task.
These five tactics will help you improve your business processes in no time. Focusing on your numbers and your people will help identify areas that need improvement and provide the right solutions to move your goals forward.
Starting an engagement program with Crewhu
To improve your processes and boost productivity, start focusing on employee and customer engagement techniques with Crewhu. Our platform helps you increase retention and reduce turnover with feedback collection, reward initiatives, goal-based contests, and more.
Schedule a Crewhu demo today to learn more about what the platform can do for your business’s processes.
Topics: employee engagement, KPIs, improve business processes, business growth, setting goals
