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10 benefits of creating a continuous improvement process
One of the founding pillars of ISO certification is continuous improvement: the concept of continually reviewing and improving internal processes, policies and procedures to ensure your organisation is the best it can be.
Implementing a continuous improvement strategy is the easiest way to ensure your company adheres to continuous improvement. Getting intentional and strategic about your continuous improvement will bring far more benefits to your organisation than simply leaving it to chance.
Continuous improvement definition
Continuous improvement in business refers to the process of continually reviewing and improving internal processes, policies and procedures to ensure your organisation is the best it can be. The easiest way to ensure your company adheres to continuous improvement is by implementing a continuous improvement strategy.
Embracing the continuous improvement cycle
The thing about improving your organisation is that it will never be “done”. Much like a city is constantly in a state of repair, knock down, rebuild and upgrade, so will your organisation’s policies, procedures and processes.
A cycle of continuous improvement sends an organisation through the phases of improvement in a never-ending loop. Think of it as an upward spiral: each time the cycle begins again, you’re higher than you were before.
This diagram of the cycle of continuous improvement shows the phases of continuous improvement leadership must undertake to ensure it keeps up with the organisation’s changing needs.
Alt: continuous improvement cycle
10 benefits of creating a continuous improvement process
- Enhanced collaboration – A continuous improvement strategy ensures that your company always strives to be the best it can be. It can also help to improve communication and collaboration within your organisation by giving everyone a centralised hub and framework for communicating improvement ideas.
- Identify problems before they occur. By proactively reviewing and improving internal processes, you can identify areas where your company may be falling short and take steps to rectify them before they become a serious issue.
- Consistent improvement company-wide. With a continuous improvement process in place, every department and branch of your organisation can work to the same framework, ensuring consistent improvement across the board.
- Enhanced leadership involvement. With a continuous improvement process in place, your leadership teams will be prompted to improve. Part of the ISO ethos of continual improvement is a top-down approach whereby leadership teams take ownership of improvement processes and are responsible for getting all employees to participate in improving the company’s policies, processes and procedures.
- Keep your team motivated. Employees will feel more empowered and motivated to perform at their best if they know their input is constantly sought after and valued. A continuous improvement process will put in place measures to allow easier collaboration and communication from workers, such as incident reporting and regular meetings with senior management, giving greater ownership to employees over the organisation’s improvement.
- Improved product or service quality. Embracing the continuous improvement methodology allows for a constant bettering of your products or services. It allows you to identify areas for improvement proactively and deliver a higher quality product to your customers.
- Enhanced customer satisfaction. A continuous improvement strategy can help increase customer satisfaction by anticipating customer needs and ensuring they’re always met. A continuous improvement process can incorporate gathering client feedback to ensure a constant improvement cycle and better customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Improved efficiency. A continuous improvement process can help identify inefficient areas within your company and eliminate them, minimising your environmental impact and reducing costs.
- Keep up with new challenges. Stay relevant and keep ahead of the curve by continually improving your processes. Waiting to improve your business until you’re already falling behind will leave you scrabbling to update your processes. A proactive approach to innovation will keep you ahead of the competition.
- Create a culture of excellence. Implementing a continuous improvement process can help to instil a culture of excellence within your organisation. Staff will feel motivated to keep striving for greater results, leading to an internal culture and an external reputation for excellence.
Continuous improvement and ISO
Continuous improvement is a pillar of ISO certifications like ISO 9001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and ISO 14001. Implementing a standard continuous improvement process across the board can make ISO compliance easier.
There are many benefits to be gained from implementing a continuous improvement process within your organisation. These are just some of the ways you can reap the rewards of a well-run continuous improvement strategy. If you haven’t already, now is the time to start putting one in place.