Like a Swiss Watch

The Key to Running an Efficient Operation
Kevin Schneid
This article provided by the Engstrom Institute

A lean operation that works like a Swiss watch is something all good managers aspire to achieve within their organization. Improving internal business processes by eliminating waste and inefficiency has always been viewed as a key to improving ministry effectiveness, and thereby, providing greater ministry value to one's donors.

Yet, as we all know, one of the surest way to crush initiative and decrease job satisfaction is to introduce bureaucratic procedures, processes and policies. But this raises an important question; "Are more satisfied employees and more efficient business processes mutually exclusive?"

Giving employees the autonomy to take initiative is not only motivating; it creates a satisfying environment which is more productive, efficient and effective. All good managers aspire to have what this employee from Coalition for Christian Outreach said when asked what makes this organization a great place to work:

"The greatest thing for me about working with the CCO is the freedom I have to develop my ministry according to the needs of my students—not according to some mandated stereotype developed by organizational leadership. I'm treated with respect and dignity by senior management."

So where do we look for improvements: in our processes or in our people? We must first examine how improvements are realized in the present information age. According to management research, two areas account for most of the productivity improvements: technology advances and better human resources management. People provide the motivation, vision, initiative and innovation, while technology allows routines tasks to be done faster, better and cheaper.

Both these aspects are important, but the real key to operational gains is an engaged and motivated workforce with a high level of job satisfaction. Whether an organization is attempting to become more innovative, improve internal operating processes, or provide better customer care, employees are the key.

So rigid bureaucratic processes may be appropriate for areas where technology can most easily be applied, but how about applying processes to the human side of the equation as well? In fact, numerous studies and extensive popular literature, such as the book, In Search of Excellence, by Peters and Waterman, support this hypothesis.

Peters and Waterman claim that improved organizational performance and employee satisfaction come from autonomous employees and loose chains of command. A 1995 study by Findley and Martin, titled Organization Structure and Job Satisfaction, sheds more focused insight into this issue. They conclude: "Employees are more satisfied if their jobs have variety and afford them discretion in their decisions; but job ambiguity, where employees feel their authority and duties are not precisely defined, has a negative impact on job satisfaction." While incorporating more rigid systems to eliminate job ambiguity may be good, taking away discretion and variety is bad.

Let's take a closer look at the relationship of job satisfaction and internal processes by considering the approach detailed in The Balanced Scorecard, by Kaplan and Norton. They identify three internal business processes essential to an organization: innovation, operations and customer care. From their writing, we learn that job satisfaction is essential for improvement in all three areas.

So what are the factors that influence job satisfaction, and how can an organization improve performance in those areas? To better understand how to create an environment for job satisfaction, let's first clarify what it means. The term is often used inter-changeably with engaged or motivated employees. This relationship is best realized in a workplace environment that creates job satisfaction and leads to motivated employees, who become engaged employees, who then experience a higher level of job satisfaction, and the cycle continues to build. Therefore, satisfied employees are the key to building efficient operations and processes.

So how does this apply to Christian organizations? The parable of the good steward in Luke 16:1-9 provides a good model, where the steward is praised by the master for acting shrewdly in preparing for the future. In the same way, Christian managers should act shrewdly, using all available resources and tools, including modern management, to further the Kingdom of God.

For another view of why it's important for Christian managers to ensure they build great workplaces, we need to examine the results of the Best Christian Places to Work survey. This survey—the only survey we know of that measures exclusively Christian workplaces—reflects the attitudes and perceptions of over 15,000 employees with a statistically significant and high level of confidence. Using advancements from the Balanced Scorecard's model, the survey provides greater depth and empirical data concerning satisfaction levels.

The survey shows that the 40 Christian organizations with higher satisfaction ratings appear to be more effective and efficient, showing better performance in revenue growth, operating margin and voluntary turnover

These results are consistent with numerous management studies, showing a positive relationship between job satisfaction and results. The key to improving operational processes and ministry results is people, and their positive contribution is directly related to how you manage and motivate them.

The positive treatment of employees is an essential element of a Christian organization's mission, regardless of their stated mission. Christ's admonition, "to love your neighbor as yourself," certainly applies to the relationship between management and employees, and is a requirement for any Christian relationship.

We conclude that motivated and engaged employees with job satisfaction produce more efficient and effective processes, translating into better organizational results. Creating high workplace satisfaction is a good practice—backed strongly by research—for any manager, but for the Christian manager, it's also a biblical imperative.

Kevin Scheid is a partner in the Best Christian Workplaces Institute (www.bcwinstitute.com). He previously served in several leadership roles with the U.S. Coast Guard and his local church.