Question

Why is it important to continuously develop and refine new approaches? List three things that management can do to encourage contributions to continuous improvement from internal and external sources.

Answer 1

Ans.)

Continuous development is a process which starts from a set of simple changes in the everyday work environment of a company and extends to some major shifts in focus, policies and procedures on a global scale, in every case, you will require the right tools and guidelines to achieve a successful transition and continuously improve the overall approach of the organization.

Organizations which concentrate towards continuous development and are dedicated towards change, recognize the necessity of these actions for improving the quality of their products, increasing customer satisfaction, and for becoming more efficient, productive and profitable.

Few reasons that make continuous improvement and development absolutely necessary are:

• Increasing Competition: The ever increasing competition in every industry makes it highly important for every organization to continuously improve their products.
• Globalization: These days globalization has made the world a huge marketplace where organizations frequently venture into new markets and new countries which makes it important for them to adapt according the socio-cultural environment of each market.
• Free flow of Information: The easy availability of relevant information has made it easy for potential customers to enquire and compare every product before the buy it thus making it essential for organizations to continuously improve their products and increase customer satisfaction.

Three things that management can do to encourage contributions towards continuous improvement from both internal and external sources are as follows:

• Create an Open and Transparent communication environment: This would enable efficient communication from all the stakeholders of the business, including employees, suppliers and customers.
• Employee Motivation and Collaboration: Motivation of employees and making them feel associated to the organization and interested and invested in the organization’s growth and development along with providing them an opportunity to collaborate and discuss their ideas with the management can work wonders.
• Linking Continuous development with and recognition and rewards: This will help provide a healthy environment enabling valuable, consistent and actionable contributions from the employees.
• Create an environment of continuous learning and provide relevant training to all employees: This would help the organization in improving the skills and capabilities of the employees, thus enabling better and more feasible contributions from employees.