Work as prescribed → work as done
It’s fairly obvious, on paper, what compliance means. A compliant organisation is operating in line with all relevant legislation, doing nothing illegally, all above board and by the book. To be compliant means lowering your liability and reducing the risk of incidents.
Of course, the difficulty comes when the rubber hits the road. What does compliance look like in practice? What does it look like for your specific organisation and operations? How will you implement your policies on the shop floor? When it comes time to change, how do you manage it to ensure a smooth process?
This article is for business owners and managers seeking to put all those extensive (and possibly expensive) templates to good and effective use. Each business is unique, so effective implementation and change management will require tweaking, customising, and probably some trial and error.
Why does your implementation need to be on point?
Getting it right on paper is certainly important. Particularly when it comes to things like certifications, inspections, prequals, and the like. However, it is clear when policies are not being put into practice effectively on the shop floor, and providing evidence that processes are in place is exceedingly difficult if they are not the right fit. We have seen time and time again that implementation is key and is also a major hurdle for new business initiatives and systems. Picture it: you roll out a crisp, clean, new policy document, ready to get the ball rolling. But now… what do you do with it? Put a copy on the wall for everyone to look at and expect them to immediately follow it down to the letter? Wait until the right time to implement it, and never get around to it?
Both options can lead to places you’d rather not end up. You introduce new and “improved” work processes to your employees with no consultation and inadvertently change fundamental employee conditions, or fail to have an adequate policy in place and lose a 20-year-strong bread-and-butter contract. These are true stories, if you’re wondering!
Compliance that fits means that your people are safe in their jobs. It means that your operations can run smoothly and as efficiently as possible. You can have the very best written policies—and even intentions—but without implementing them in a suitable way, they’re more or less useless.
What you’re aiming for is to bring the “work as prescribed” closer to the “work as done”, closing the gap and making sure you are compliant in practice as well as on paper. And as you make changes to achieve this, it’s important to make sure you’re bringing everyone along for the ride. Good change management is a sought-after thing; this literature review found that reviewed studies indicated a failure rate of organisational change as high as 60-70%.
Risks of bad implementation and poor change management include:
- Disruptions in processes that cost time and money
- Creating problems instead of solving them as you try to fit the round peg of your processes into the square hole of a fill-in-the-blanks template.
- Losing good team members due to issues on the shop floor.
- Destruction of your company culture.
The benefits of good change management and implementation
Taking steps to move from following the rules on paper to making them a real part of your processes is well worth the challenge. With thorough implementation planning, you can achieve true compliance and all the benefits of that: safety, efficiency, happier (more productive) employees, and a boost to your bottom line.
There’s an intersection between safety, quality and profitability, a place where they converge. If its unsafe, its likely to be inefficient, inconsistent, or inscrutable—and possibly all of these.
If you can get everyone in your organisation involved in identifying risks and potential improvements to processes, the entire team will have a better understanding not just of how things are done but also WHY they are done that way. Managing change is a valuable skill, and to ensure that everyone is on board is to set your organisation up for success. According to Gartner, only 34% of change initiatives are a clear success. If you want to effectively implement anything new, this should be a focus area.
Having your policies in line with your tried-and-true practices makes life easier for all involved. Training new staff members is smoother, and you’re future-proofing the business by ensuring that your paperwork acknowledges, reflects, and preserves the type of organisational knowledge that can only come from significant practical experience. Additionally, it shows in the customer experience. With the right processes and training in place, you can achieve greater consistency in your output. Going through the “motions” from paper to practice offers full visibility from end to end, highlighting where minor tweaks can be made to improve or perfect for either practicality or profitability.
Practical steps to implementing change
Time for the rubber to hit the road? Here’s how you can manage and implement change to bring your business in line with compliance requirements.
- Understand what is changing. Where are you starting, and where will you end up? Knowing this is a simple but important first step.
- Ascertain what will be affected by the change in terms of operations and processes, whether documented or otherwise. Be thorough!
- Figure out whether this change directly affects any job descriptions or employment agreements. Will it alter or increase the responsibilities of any teams or individuals?
- Is anyone affected up or downstream of the change? What are the far-reaching effects?
- Understand and be sure of the reasons behind the change. If you are proposing and encouraging the change, you must be solid in your understanding of it.
- Consider whether stepped change is most appropriate in the specific situation. It can be tempting to get it done all at once, but that can create other issues.
- Perhaps most importantly, don’t leave your communication regarding the change and implementation to chance. Consult those who will be affected or involved and take their feedback seriously. Seek their buy-in. Update people frequently.
TL;DR: Implement and manage change well
Compliance on paper and compliance in practice are two very different things. To get from the latter to the former, you must implement your policies and paperwork—making and managing changes to how work is done.
Compliance that fits means that your people are safe in their jobs and your operations can run smoothly and as efficiently as possible. Without implementing them in a suitable way, even the best policies are more or less useless.
Done badly, implementation can disrupt processes, create problems, drive staff away, and affect your company culture. With good change management, implementing new ways to do things allows you to achieve true compliance, have your “work as done” in line with your “work as prescribed”, and enjoy safety, efficiency, happier (more productive) employees, and a boost to your bottom line.
Here are some practical questions to answer for good implementation and change management:
- What is changing? Where are you starting, and where will you end up?
- What will be affected by the change in terms of operations and processes, both on paper and in practice?
- Does this change directly affect any job descriptions or employment agreements?
- Is anyone affected up or downstream of the change? What are the far-reaching effects?
- Why is the change happening? Do you have a solid understanding of the benefits?
- Is stepped change appropriate?
Most importantly, don’t leave your communication regarding the change and implementation to chance. Consult those affected, listen to feedback, and seek their buy-in. Need more guidance? Read the full article—or get in touch with the Emendas team!
Get expert help with implementation and change management
Emendas is cofounded by the dynamic duo of Emma and Ben with complementary skill sets in, essentially, the academic and practical aspects of compliance and governance. This makes us a fantastic place to seek help for creating and implementing good, tailored policies and practices at all levels of the business.
Capability uplift is our focus; we believe it creates sustainable lasting change and continuous opportunities for development within organisations.
Our Scorecard Assessment is a great place to start the whole process, allowing us to identify where the gaps are in your systems and where change would be unnecessary. Part of good change management is only altering where alteration is required! When the time comes to make change and implement what’s been written, we are ready and equipped to help you do it smoothly, effectively, and safely.