Why do we consult?

Traditionally in product-led industries, top management knew the customers and made the strategic decisions, while people at the bottom shifted the products. In a skills-led business, the people at the top realise that they are too far from the customers to have day-to-day input. This is a cultural shift that cannot be made by training alone but let’s look at the benefits of such a paradigm shift:- it is those who are nearest the customers that own the relationships and have the knowledge to decide what is best for individual customers.

How do we consult?

Generally, we would suggest a series of surgery-style meetings with all staff involved. The qualitative research findings of the surgery sessions would be reviewed by a team comprising experts from EPC and key staff-members, which would normally be assembled to oversee the consultation process, and follow through with proposal and implementation.

This initial step of consulting with staff performs a number of functions:

• We understand practical use in full depth.
• Members of Staff become project owners rather than users.
• Under expert guidance, members of staff are better placed to conceive improvements to current process;
• Staff-conceived ideas in turn add weight to staff role as project-owners.
• Strategic relationships are formed, which aids the communication process for the duration of implementation and ongoing management.

Rationalising Process

This period of discovery offers a unique opportunity for the assembled team to promote enhancements, innovations and improvements, not only to the products or the method of production but also to delivery methods, ordering, approval, sign-off and distribution. See our case-studies for examples of how, in partnership with an appropriately skilled team of staff, a thinking partner approach has helped uncover savings in time and money.

Smooth Integration

Having reached at least proposal stage as a team, any subsequent implementation plan can be staged with mutual agreement. This pre-emptive change management move is all the more valuable when staff-conceived ideas or innovations are followed through to implementation, so that any foreseeable changes to staff working patterns or overhaul of manual workflow practices will be seen as value-enhancing by all parties.

Ongoing Support

This consultative approach, whereby we endeavour to fully understand the impact on our customers’ customers of the products and services that we produce, tends to provide a great building block for ongoing support and phased improvement to procedures.