Achieving sustainability excellence in business continues to be a frontline challenge that impacts leadership and management, and if not addressed early on will greatly hinder a company’s core assets – its people. By unifying a culture, specifically the frontline employees, supervisors and managers, it lessens the impact on operations.
According to Lynne Buchanan, Americas Region Manufacturing Excellence Lead, Shell Oil Products, there are four elements that will meet this challenge: hard assets; processes; structure; and people.
At a recent Petrochemical & Refinery Asset Management Conference in Houston, Buchanan spoke about the integral role of leadership in driving organizational capability. “A leadership team wants predictable, sustainable operational excellence with good results and consistent performance,” she said. “. While leaders also work in the organizational system, it is the leaders that create and shape the system. Leaders are responsible for understanding the context, set direction and design the organizational capability to deliver business outcomes.”
One develops leaders through fully conveying the organization’s operational vision to ensure that the objectives and priorities are aligned while ensuring that each employee is driving the culture. The supervisory level is the team that has the most impact on the company’s culture as they interact with both the frontline employees and management. If they understand the vision, then they can build on what the organization has.
“A frontline employee will listen to a frontline leader when the guidance – vision, purpose and empowerment – is aligned,” Buchanan stated. “By giving the tools and support that each individual needs, you build a culture that reinforces the vision that was set in place.”
She added that leadership success is largely due to communication. Having a vision for an organization is needed but achieving it requires the organizational capability needed to reach it.
“Employees don’t have to love every decision that a company makes but they do have to understand the why behind the processes and procedures that were set in place.”
Buchanan stated that most organizations will create a new process and procedure to address a situation that occurred, that affected the bottom line but will lose focus when a new situation arises, and then communication gets lost through the pipeline.
“We need to follow the plan and deal with the structure in a more unified way so that everyone can understand the processes that were originally set in place before we add new procedures to the list. The stronger the focus, the more vibrant of the vision for all involved.”
Any pattern, system or structure can be improved in order to perform efficiently. When possibilities are seen beyond the boundaries of problems, then a frontline leader will understand how to use this to sustain quality, service and financial performance. By observing an organization, its structure, one can learn the intricacies that may hinder a business and how individual decisions contribute to the growth and reputation of a business, which impacts operational performance.
“Leadership development is purposeful, focused and tenacious,” she added.