Operations Excellence in Malaysia

Let me share with you some instances of operations excellence I witnessed in Malaysia.  All in the public sector or Government offices.

The first was a couple of years ago.  I was delivering a session on Customer Service in the Public Sector to an international group of senior public sector officials at The National Institute of Public Administration (Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara or INTAN).  As part of the program, INTAN had organized a ‘show and tell’ visit to the National Registration Dept. (Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara or JPN).  I tagged along, curious to see what they had done.

Datuk Abdul Halim Muhammad

I was pleasantly surprised, first of all to see the (then) Director-General, Datuk Abdul Halim Muhammad (pic) take active personal interest in the visit.  He began by greeting us all and then making a detailed presentation of their quality journey.  The presentation was laced with performance metrics and showed how JPN had improved its performance over the years – in the process, winning several national awards.  Datuk Halim took great pride in showing us around.  Of special pride for him were the toilets!  Yes.  The building, several floors tall, had toilets on every floor and each one of them was maintained like bedrooms at home!  Not only were they spick and span, many of them had curtains and furniture and were decorated with pictures to give a pleasant experience to the users!  Apparently the D-G ran a competition every year for the best maintained toilet!


Another ‘show piece’ was the archive.  Here, the Datuk asked one of the visitors to give their identity card.  When a senior Malaysian produced one, he took it to the nearest officer and asked her to fetch the previous versions of that card.  He then asked us to note the exact time.  Mildly amused, I did as directed.  Less than a minute later, the officer was back with a small envelope containing all the previous identity cards issued to the lady!  These were old cards that were collected back by the Dept., when newer versions were introduced.  So, we had all the way from paper cards, to laminated, to magnetic stripe!  The Datuk told us that the SLA for the retrieval was 42 seconds (if I remember right)!


Finally, on our way back, we visited the Customer Center – this is where people come to have their cards / duplicates issued, get their marriages registered, etc.  Another delightful experience.  They even had a lovely chamber where the newly married couple was facilitated and could take pictures in studio-style settings!  At the waiting area itself was another great concept.  Like in most places, people were required to take a token from an automated dispenser when they entered.

Feedback Boxes

What was different and interesting was that after they finished their work, on their way out, they were asked to drop the token in one of four boxes, marked with icons, showing different levels of satisfaction – from smiley to grumpy!  The boxes were transparent and locked!  This is a simple way to collect customer feedback and no doubt, you may have seen it elsewhere.  Nothing could be simpler, more transparent and immediate than this.  I still wonder why more businesses do not follow this simple method.  It is amusing to think of the thousands of dollars many companies spend on seeking customer feedback in more complex and expensive, yet less reliable, ways!

OK, this post is not all about the JPN.  More recently I had to accompany my wife to get a duplicate driving license (original stolen).  So we go to the nearest Road Transport Department office (Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan or JPJ).  I am fully armed.  I have taken half a day off from office and equipped myself with multiple passport size pictures of my wife, her passport and copies of the same, etc.  When I reached the office, I found there was a photography studio on the premises which gave out prints instantly.  Next, from taking the token to walking out with the new license (renewed for 2 years) in hand took, may be 3 minutes.  Yes three.  Our token number was called almost immediately and the lady at the counter knew exactly what she needed to do.  She verified my wife’s identity, collected the photographs, asked the period for which she wanted the license renewed, collected cash and printed out the new license.   That’s all!

Having worked in the public sector for nearly two decades, let me tell you it is nothing short of amazing to ‘transform’ a government department to this level of efficiency and effectiveness!  To get everything from selecting the right IT system and vendor, implementing the system, hiring staff with the right attitude, training them on the processes and ensuring they deliver as planned, is not a challenge for the faint hearted!!  I hope the service is comparable at JPJ's other branches!

Of course, I have also heard and read of many mishaps -- in the press and in coffee shop gossip. However, what I also see is the push within the government to get things right.  Little pockets of success like the ones highlighted here should be celebrated.  

Celebrating success is an essential part of the process of transformation (see diagram).  I would urge the Malaysian Govt to pay more attention to this part: simple Public Relations.  Not, “in the face” blunt advertisements and slogans, but just getting the word out; to exploit "word of mouth".  I would even argue for putting in place a small team of "spin doctors" to focus on this.  The Govt. also needs to get a better handle on social media – after all this country is one of the biggest users of this media.  It’s time the Govt learned how to handle such soft communications better!

Sri
www.sigmax-e.com

Tackling Your Organizational Culture

I had an appointment with the Head of HR & Learning of a prominent listed company recently.  Upon announcing myself at the reception, I was told that ‘somebody’ will come down to escort me to the meeting room.  I waited.  Soon a presentable young lady showed up to take me to the meeting room.
Just as we were approaching the elevator bank, my escort pulled back and suggested we allow “him” – indicating a suited individual who was waiting for the elevator – to go first.  I obliged of course, but it piqued my curiosity. 
“Who is he?” I asked. 
“He’s our CEO”. 
“And why are we not waiting with him?”
“It’s not proper, right?  I always avoid going in the same elevator with top management”
 This was a young, up and coming technology company.  The CEO may have been 40 or so.  (Did he know what his staff was “doing to him”?)

Got me wondering.  What if my company was the same?  Would I even know?  What have I put in place – systems, processes, structures – to ensure this will not happen to me?

The fact is, I had never given this issue serious thought.  Just assumed we had the right culture!  So what can a CEO do to ensure the culture he wants to establish is seeded, nurtured and thrives in his organization? 
Luckily we have some help from the Gurus of Management!

Ram Charan

One of the best I have come across on influencing organizational culture, comes from Ram Charan, best selling author and consultant for the top F-100 companies and ex-faculty of Harvard Business School.  In his landmark 2001 article, Ram gives us some powerful insights:

1. It all begins with dialogue
2. The right social operating mechanisms (rhythmic meetings on strategy, performance review, talent, etc)
3. Follow-through and Feedback 
4. Rewards and Sanctions

When you read about systems and processes like these and compare them to a typical Asian situation, you will readily find the typical blind spots.  In my view, for

Asian companies, these are dialogue, feedback and sanctions.

• Dialogue

For some historic reason, Asia has a problem with open dialogue.  One could trace it to the culture of respecting elders.  But, to my mind, the more important problem

is the definition of elders.  Elder, in Asia, is defined as anyone in a position of authority; it could be the father, the priest or the king.  These people got into their positions the hard way and then do everything possible to keep it that way.

I would additionally argue that North Asia (India, Pakistan…) have been able to wash this away a bit better than the rest of Asia (Maybe, we should thank the British authoritarianism for this).  Proof of my ‘theory’ lies in the controlled economies of China and Singapore and to a lesser extent, even Malaysia.  Political leadership either abhors open dialogue or struggles to ‘open’ dialogue in selective areas.  This naturally carries into business management.  Having an opinion different from that of the Boss is equivalent to raising a rebellion.  Bosses are not told the bad news.  Rather the masses will somehow manage the issue, even if it means pleading with the customer, or other external organization.  Ram offers four ‘must haves’ for a culture that encourages open dialogue: openness (i.e., the outcome is not pre-determined), candor, informality, and closure (you don’t go home without reaching a decision).

• Feedback. 

I have spoken earlier about feedback.  Here, I will only add a quote from Ram: “By failing to provide honest feedback, Leaders cheat their people by depriving them of the information they need to improve.”  I will also go out on a limb and say that most managers do a poor job of providing feedback because they lack the courage to see the employee in the eye and give negative feedback.  This, in turn, is because they have not been trained in providing non-threatening, constructive feedback.

• Sanctions. 

Most companies lack both rewards and sanctions.  But things are getting better and many companies are introducing rewards systems.  Unfortunately, sanctions are still unheard of.  Many argue that lack of reward is a sanction in itself.  I would not agree.  To my mind, there have to be three classes, separated by the majority, who would be ‘average’.  X% above average, a large chink of average in the middle, and Y% below average. 
Why should we continue to tolerate the Y?  By doing this we equate them with average and are doing a major disservice to the average.  Of course, there is lot more to culture than what we've covered here.  Do expect more in forthcoming posts

Sri
www.sigmax-e.com

At The Heart of Change Management...

I think the essence of change that is accepted and adopted is that it is desired by the "Changee" - not the changer.  We all like to change.  But we want to change at OUR pace, in the direction WE like.  We do not want the other guy telling us what to change to.

Unfortunately most change management begins after some one up there has already decided what that change needs to be, based on what he wants.  Then he assumes people are resisting his change and sets about 'managing' the resistance, to ensure everyone adopts the change he wants.

In our work shops on change management, we do  two things differently and the results have been amazing.

1. We make sure the participants, mostly 'change agents' and 'solution developers', experience the pain of change directly, themselves.
2. We spend a lot of time understanding how change management needs to be built into the solution itself.  Understanding the life, culture, behavior and roots of the people impacted by any proposed change is part of the Analysis / Diagnisis phase of any change effort.  This has to precede the development of the solution.  When you understand that some of your audience may be asians, you build the asian-friendliness into the solution.  When you do this, you  don't need a separate 'change management' initiative.

Key to this type of Analysis is the fact that people develop roots in their current context.  When I take up a job in Brentwood, CA, I also get myself a home nearby and put my children into schools nearby.  These 'roots' cause me to 'resist' any change to my job location.  If this is understood, the change agent stops saying I resist change and starts exploring how he can solve the problem by adapting the solution or building facilitation of my move away from Brentwood into the solution and / or implementation plans.  Once the 'root cause' of my resistance is addressed logically, I do not resist the change any more.  I've become a partner - even a champion.

Sri

www.sigmax-e.com