Six Sigma in organisational culture
Concretising desired behaviour brings efficiency and synergy.
Management terms such as customer sensitivity, cooperation and security are
i m p o r t a n t t o e v e r y o r g a n i s a t i o n . H o w e v er t h e i r a b s t r a c t i o n c a n l e a d t o t h e s e
terms being interpreted in different ways and to a confusion of tongues – and
result in waste and ineffective cooperation. Managers who succeed in focussing
o n p r i o r i t i e s i n b e h a v i o u r w i l l r e a p t h e b e n e f i t i n t e r m s o f co o p e r a t i o n , c u s t o m e r
satisfaction and financial results.
T h e p o we r o f a n o r g a n i s a t i o n i s d e f i n e d b y t h e b e h a v i o u r o f i t s e m p l o y e e s – t h e
wa y i n wh i c h t h e y wo r k t o g e t h e r a n d s o l v e p r o b l e m s . I n s h o r t : t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n a l
c u l t u r e . H o we v e r , d o e m p l o y e e s a l wa ys c o n c e r n t h e m s e l v e s wi t h t h e p r i o r i t i e s o f
the organisation and do they derive benefit from effective cooperation? Are they
a c t u a l l y f u l l y a l i v e t o t h e p r i o r i t i e s ? A n yo n e wi l l a g r e e , f o r e x a m p l e , t h a t a
c o m p a n y m u s t b e s e n s i t i v e t o i t s c u s t o m e r s , t h a t t h e t e a m m u s t wo r k t o g e t h e r
e f f e c t i v e l y, t h a t g o o d c o m m u n i c a t i o n i s i m p o r t a n t . B u t t h e n i s i t a l s o c l e a r t o
everyone what terms such as these actually mean in everyday practice?
S o , b e s i d e s ‘ c u s t o m e r s e n s i t i v i t y’ , t h e r e a r e n u m e r o u s ( a b s t r a c t ) t o p i c s wh i c h a r e
o f i m p o r t a n c e t o a n o r g a n i s a t i o n : c o o p e r a t i o n , s e c u r i t y, q u a l i t y, e t c e t e r a . T h e
diverse possibilities for interpretation often lead to a confusion of tongues, at
b o t h m a n a g e m e n t l e v e l a n d i m p l e m e n t a t i o n l e v e l . F i r s t l y , t h a t wi l l r e s u l t i n wa s t e :
e m p l o y e e s a r e o c c u p i e d wi t h t h e i r i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e g o a l , n o t wi t h t h e r e l e v a n t
p r i o r i t i e s p e r s e . S e c o n d l y , d i f f e r e n t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s wi l l l e a d t o r e s i s t a n c e wi t h i n
the organisation, resulting in time and energy being lost due to the attendance of
unnecessary meetings and organisational politics. Thirdly, a lot of opportunities
wi l l b e l o s t d u e t o t h e i n a d e q u a t e e f f i c i e n c y o f i n t e r n a l c o o p e r a t i o n .
T h u s wa s t e a n d l a c k o f c o o p e r a t i o n a r e t h e b i g g e s t c o s t i t e m s f o r o r g a n i s a t i o n s .
Six Sigma is a quality management method based on measurements of the
n u m b e r o f e r r o r s i n a s e r i e s o f p r o c es s s t a g e s o r e n d p r o d u c t s . ‘ S i x S i g m a ’ a l s o
r e p r e s e n t s t h e h i g h e s t l e v e l o f q u a l i t y , wi t h 3 . 4 e r r o r s p e r m i l l i o n p r o c e s s s t a g e s
or products. So almost perfect. Could the basic considerations of Six Sigma be
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a p p l i e d t o o r g a n i s a t i o n a l c u l t u r e ? I n o r d e r t o m a k e p e o p l e a wa r e o f p r i o r i t i e s , t o
e n a b l e t h e m t o wo r k t o g e t h e r m o r e e f f e c t i v e l y a n d t o s u r p r i s e c u s t o m e r s b y
providing an extremely high level of service?
T a k e ‘ c u s t o m e r s e n s i t i v i t y’ a s a n e x a m p l e . C a n t h a t t e r m b e c o n c r e t i s e d i n t e r m s
of desired behaviour? In the case of a call from a customer, for example?
E m p l o ye e s wi l l i n t e r p r e t i t i n t h e i r o wn wa y . F o r e x a m p l e : ‘ I a n s we r t h e q u e s t i o n . ’
T o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t , t h a t i s b e i n g s e n s i t i v e t o t h e c u s t o m e r . B u t wh a t i f t h e a i m i s
for the customer to consider the company as customer-sensitive? The priority can
t h e n b e c o m m u n i c a t e d c l e a r l y: yo u a n s we r t h e q u e s t i o n a n d a l s o a s k wh e t h e r t h e
c u s t o m e r i s s a t i s f i e d – f o r t h e n y o u wi l l k n o w f o r s u r e ! A n d wh a t i f we g o o n e s t e p
f u r t h e r b y l i n k i n g t h i s wi t h i n t e r n a l c o o p e r a t i o n : yo u a n s we r t h e q u e s t i o n ,
establish that the customer is satisfied and also update the customer management
s y s t e m s o t h a t c o l l e a g u e s k n o w wh a t i s h a p p e n i n g . S o t h e a b s t r a c t m a n a g e m e n t
t e r m ‘ c u s t o m e r - s e n s i t i v e ’ c a n b e e x p a n d e d i n n u m e r o u s d i f f e r e n t wa ys . F o r
e x a m p l e , i n t h e c a s e o f a c o m p l a i n t , wh e n a p r o d u c t i s i n t r o d u c e d a n d s u c h l i k e .
That is how an organisational culture becomes concretised, measurable and
manageable! In the example given above, for instance, customers can be asked
f o r t h e i r o p i n i o n wh e n t h e y c a l l b y a s k i n g a q u e s t i o n : ‘ I a m g i v e n a n a n s we r a n d
a m a l wa y s a s k e d wh e t h e r I a m s a t i s f i e d . ’ S o , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e p r i n c i p l e s o f S i x
Sigma, it is possible to measure how employees score in terms of behaving
c o r r e c t l y i n a wa y t h a t wi l l m a k e a n o r g a n i s a t i o n s t a n d o u t .
D o e s n ’ t t h i s wa y o f wo r k i n g c r a m p t h e i n s p i r a t i o n a n d r i c h n e s s o f i d e a s f r o m
e m p l o y e e s ? O n t h e c o n t r a r y : b y c o n c r e t i s i n g b e h a v i o u r a t p r i o r i t y l e v e l , t h i s wi l l
e n a b l e t h e m t o d i r e c t t h e i r i n i t i a t i v e s c a r e f u l l y a n d a d d t h e i r o wn i d e a s . I n t h e
e x a m p l e g i v e n a b o v e , a n e m p l o y e e a s k s wh e t h e r a c u s t o m e r i s s a t i s f i e d . H o w t h a t
customer is satisfied is still a question of initiative and the personal responsibility
of that employee!
M a n a g e r s wh o h a v e c o n c r e t i s e d a b s t r a c t m a n a g e m e n t j a r g o n a t b e h a v i o u r l e v e l
h a v e f o u n d t h a t t h i s i m p r o v e s c l a r i t y wi t h i n t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n wh i c h i n t u r n l e a d s t o
i n c r e a s e d p r i d e , b e t t e r c o o p e r a t i o n a n d l e s s wa s t e . I n s h o r t : a s t r o n g e r
organisational culture.
Drs. Theo Kroese (theo@kroese-bb.com) is the founder of Kroese brands &
behaviour.
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