Developing the Next Layer of Leaders

The problem Where are the people? The leaders? The workforce? The frustration to find people is building in organizations everywhere.  The focus for the last two years has been and still is on finding a viable workforce. We can’t find the people we need to produce our goods, deliver our products and operate within the margin goals we have set. What is left out there is, as one client has so eloquently stated, only the “cream of the crap”.  Compounding the issue is the lack supervisory staff and

Lean Laundry – Approaches that Work

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about Lean in the laundry industry. Some of your customers in industry or healthcare are very likely to be using Lean principles and techniques in their own businesses. This article will describe three basic concepts of Lean, and three Lean techniques that laundry operators can use to improve efficiency, performance, and quality. Lean is built on some fundamental concepts, from which all the tools and techniques derive. These concepts are Value, Flow, and

Secrets of a Successful Organization: Looking for the Answer

This article looks at the results of our research and identifies five factors that the top 25% of businesses have in common. We will examine each of those five factors and we will show you how to use them to your advantage in your business. Our research set out to find the answer to one question: Which factors have the biggest impact on success in small to mid-sized organizations? Before we get to the answer, let’s first take a look at the background research and what prompted it. General

A Discussion About Baldrige with Casey Mackert

I had the opportunity to have coffee with Casey Mackert, our Director of Baldrige Services, to discuss her work with the Baldrige Framework and why organizations should consider embarking on a Baldrige journey.  With more than 20 years of experience in the Baldrige community, having served as the CEO of The Partnership for Excellence; as a national examiner, team leader and case study author; as a state-level examiner, judge, board member and facilitator; and as a coach to scores of

Building Team Performance – Your Plans Require Your Attention

“Plans are everything, planning is nothing” – Dwight D. Eisenhower In my experience, there are two types of organizations. Those that plan and those that do not.   Unfortunately, the ones that do plan tend to lean toward a once-a-year frenetic, got to get it done approach with nothing to back it up once the plan is done.  It becomes a “check the box item”.  So then we have a plan but no specifics as to how the plan will come to fruition or how to deliver the goods.  It is not a criticism but

Execution - Doing the hard work to achieve the results!

If it was easy everyone would be doing it. Let’s face it, for most organizations executing the planned strategy is the biggest challenge in goal achievement.  It all sounds good on paper but when it comes to translating a plan into action most organizations fall flat. Here are some fun facts. Over 90% of well-formulated strategies fail due to poor execution. Only 5% of employees understand their corporate strategy. More than 75% of business improvement (change) initiatives fail due to lack