Thursday, May 6, 2010
Welcome to our Blog
NeuraMetrics, Inc. provides Web Based, On Line Survey Services (SaaS) that help organizations drive performance improvement and better decisions by measuring, benchmarking and analyzing process and behavioral data from industry sectors, customers, markets, employees and suppliers. There will be many subjects explored here and we encourage you to participate. Since this blog will cover a wide range of subjects we ask that you always precede your comments with a subject line so that our readers will find it easy to navagate. Thanks in advance for participating. NeuraMike
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How do you discover behavioral reasons for poor process execution?
ReplyDeleteOrganizations utilize “hard data” systems to tell them about their performance in terms of cost, quality, delivery, compliance and cycle time. These systems do not tell them how their processes and tools are being used by their people. Their “on the job” behaviors create performance gaps that must be understood and analyzed to drive prioritized corrective action and improve performance. So, what’s a company to do?
I have explored this question at length and the answers just keep coming.
For the most part, managers and their consultants seem to feel that you can learn what you need to know by just walking around. Good advice? Probably not bad advice…but…
Of course, if you are reading this blog you probably know what type company NeuraMetrics is and therefore you probably think the deck is stacked and the answer is obvious. Survey! Survey! Survey!
Well, almost.
We at NeuraMetrics do listen to our alliance partners and our friends, and we do respect the opinion of others. And besides, we really think that there is a big difference between a survey and an assessment. We build assessments.
The majority of those we have asked have responded that being with the people who do the work, and developing a solid relationship with them is the answer to the question about discovering behavioral reasons for poor process performance. However, more than a couple answered that you have to perform some sort of survey.
Automated surveys can provide a lot of information in a short amount of time, but some people pose the question of reliability. People believe that no amount of reassurance from management will convince people that the responses are confidential.
Consultants sit with people and observed them as they do their jobs, and we maintain that the act of observation changes behavior and alters normal performance. Most consultants agree.
NeuraTool is used by companies in several verticals and by lots of consultants. It is unique in that it truly keeps the respondent confidential and offers them the opportunity to be very candid without fear of retaliation. We have done this with some clever programming and a methodology that stresses attention to the issues above. We ask people only the questions that they should be expected to be able to answer and we aggregate the answers by respondent type; not by some unique login. An assessment could have 600 questions, but no respondent might answer more than 20 or 30.
I agree that we cannot control people that want to use the opportunity to complain etc., and we have had those people participate in our assessments. However, in every case the client learned something from the complaints (attacks) and they were better off for it.
Our philosophy is that a survey (assessment) does not replace a consultant. It enhances what he does. It allows him to be able to remove biases and fear of retribution. And, it allows him to sample a much larger population (quicker and more accurately) therefore uncovering the client’s “current reality” with his Quality, Automation, Process, Culture, Strategy, Customer Satisfaction, etc. Probably the biggest advantage to the consultant is that our analysis engine quantifies the information collected and presents it in a fashion that is dynamic and impressive…automatically. Our tool has been described by the CEO of a Fortune 100 company as “A happy meal for CEO’s”.
Okay, I’ve opened up the discussion. I hope that you are ready and willing to respond with your ideas, biases, theories, and experiences.
Hi people,
ReplyDeleteCalling me and e-mailing me is fine, but you need to express your thoughts here so other people will also benefit from them. Thanks.
I just joined the Advisory Board Members Group on LinkedIN. This is a group of C-Level people that are willing to share their knowledge to help businesses succeed. We would be honored if they begin contributing to this blog.
ReplyDelete