Ing. Juan José Macías Compian
CROSSING THE RIVER OF CHANGE
More and more companies are daring to cross the river of change; implementing ISO management systems in their organizations; this in order to improve their results at the corporate, organizational and cultural levels, and to become more competitive in the market.
Implementing a management system entails a revolution of changes that IMPACT all the structures of an organization. Awareness plays a key role in the success of this process.
SETTING NEW STANDARDS
The implementation of ISO standards is usually related to the company's line of business, whether in the areas of safety, quality, environment, food safety, etc. Based on these standards, processes can be traced, aligned or improved, achieving the planned objectives and goals.
For the correct implementation of a new culture and to adapt to the new standards, it is essential to have knowledge of the standards and their applications at the enterprise level.
WHAT IS NOT TAUGHT IN SCHOOL
In this space I do not want to talk about regulatory guidelines or management issues, rather I want to share some of my own experiences in the process of implementing a management system.
When it is time to provide training on management issues to a group of people who have never worked or who do not know what it is about, the first impressions are: "They are going to make our work more complicated", "they are going to start reporting us for everything", "they are going to evaluate me", "this change is only going to stress me more".
One of the most important challenges is when implementing measurement systems. When we learn to measure something, we can improve it and improvement is always the key to success; however, when something is not measured, it is not improved and what is not improved... lags, stagnates, becomes obsolete.
Another very important challenge is the change of focus, since this means having to attend to new priorities; it implies a new awareness of our activities and responsibilities. The change of focus has been one of the most important and challenging challenges, and for each company the adaptation process is different. Everything will depend on the importance and relevance given to it in all hierarchies and positions.
A STORY OF CHANGE
Some years ago, in a company where I worked, the adaptation process was taking longer than expected. The implementation process had already concluded, certification had already been achieved; however, there were still adaptation barriers among some employees who had been resisting since the beginning of the project. After a few months, after going through a period of performance evaluation and with established objectives and indicators, things began to get complicated for them and this forced them to undergo training, to commit themselves more... and some preferred the easy way out and decided to change jobs.
NEW BUSINESS VISION
No one said that change is an easy task, but not embracing it will only make it more difficult. Working with a management system implies standardizing, measuring, complying, evaluating and improving. Large corporations have bet and continue to bet on change, continuous improvement, management systems, and new business cultures.
In this new stage of change and challenges, collaboration and commitment at all levels is fundamental to achieve success.
Working hand in hand and all looking in the same direction, we will succeed.
Let's cross the river of change together.
"If you want to make small changes in your life, work on your behavior. But if you want to have significant and amazing accomplishments, work on your paradigms."
Stephen Covey
Comments