Business excellence, in general, has several interpretations, varying according to the business leader's vision and the prevailing business environment.
Market share, turnover, margins, profitability, capacity, capability, and most preferred workplace, financial and operating ratios are some of the key parameters being measured and monitored continually. Employees are pushed to achieve them at any cost.
These critical success factors decide the future and longevity of the employees.
Are such parameters individually or in total, the only way to measure business excellence? Does business excellence only mean growth in the listed indicators?? Is financial growth true business growth?? Is stock price a measure of business excellence?
Real business excellence is far away from financial and operating indicators, where the number game becomes secondary.
Business excellence can be understood in many other intangible ways:Business excellence is consumer comfort with the products or services, resultant of the trust generated due to repetitive usage. This trust shifts the consumer paradigm away from price competition to an emotional everlasting bond (not to forget that the promised characteristics are sustained). Business excellence is growth in consumer self-esteem aligned with organization growth. With passage of time, consumers gain more value out of the product, feel more secure and create legacy of recommendations.
Business excellence is business continuity over the generations - grandfathers recommending a brand to their grandchildren with pride.
Business excellence is empowerment to all employs to enable take decisions as required within their domains. Each one is a mini CEO of his job function.
Business Excellence is a culture, which has room for the employees to make mistakes and create a learning organization - leading to integration of multi skilling and mastery.
Business excellence does not mean doing more out of the available resources; rather utilizing resources optimally, to make a lean, fit, flexible organization working as per customer demand. Lowering operating costs by high capacity utilization for higher margins are a thing of the past.
Meeting customer demand on time, in full, error free is more crucial than anything else. Organization survives only when customer survives. Customer survival is more variety, low volume, speed to market - Product life cycles have shortened, innovation is key.
Business excellence is employee happiness and sense of belongingness. More so, the joy and security which their families enjoy being associated with the organization and considered as the larger family.
In a nutshell,
"Life is beyond money"
"Business is beyond Excel sheets"
