Systems and processes play a significant role in the successful running of a company. Without them there would be no benchmark for best practises; they maintain customer service standards, justify areas of improvement, drive efficiency and determine development opportunities. They should serve as the foundations of any business and they should not be forgotten about nor remain the same, they should be worked upon and nurtured just like your employees in order to maximise operational strategy, reduce costs and drive growth.
It sounds simple enough right? However, every business process must include clear inputs and outputs in order to be effective. Each department will command different types of processes which will also have very different quantifiable results. For example, the sales team might evaluate the customer journey to understand which parts of the process contribute towards successful relationships as well as what might be delaying the process and restricting time and resources. The marketing team might consider their brand positioning, measuring the conversion of visitors to customers to understand how accurately they have targeted their audience in order to re-position. Arguably the most important; the management team might investigate the general wellbeing and development of their employees to understand if they are being competitive and supportive in order to retain their top fee-earners and/or marketeers to continue to be successful.
Starting at the very top, having outdated or mis-understood processes that lack any justification or ‘goal’ to work towards will be pivotal to the decline of any business. Whether new or old, it is very important to ask yourself and your team regularly and constructively, why you do things a certain way and how they contribute towards a longer-term vision of the business. Knowing these answers allow processes to thrive, people to learn and companies to grow and become better versions of themselves.
The main areas of process to consider are:
- Management processes – define the business expectations whilst measuring and controlling business activities and systems, providing value to the employees. For example: internal communications, strategic planning, budgeting or capacity management.
- Operational processes – the primary business objectives and value chain. Representing essential business activities, they help produce a product or service therefore achieving business objectives. For example: Generating revenue, sales order processing, customer services.
- Supporting processes – secondary supportive business objectives essential to the effective running of the business, without providing value customers directly. For example: Human resources, workplace safety, finance and accounting.
For many, the summer period brings a surge of activity that we all look forward to embracing and enjoying but monitoring your processes and finding time to review the effectiveness of your goals is just as important to continually improve and refine your strategy.
GKR London are property recruiters based in London and Manchester, offering a wide range of exciting opportunities for new and experienced individuals across the sector. Get in touch with us today if we can support you with your hiring and retention strategies!
