Flexibility to Drive Greater Productivity

Companies hope and pray that they will prosper and grow when they empower their employees to drive results.  Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems today provide a wealth of applications and functions that can sometimes overwhelm the user and hinder productivity.  So what differentiates helpful productivity and being overwhelmed?

 

 
You have to ask yourself first and foremost is what my company is investing in, is it something that empowers the employees to deliver better, quicker, more accurate customer service? 

 

All the technology in the world will not improve a bad attitude.  It is akin to so many other industries.  30 years ago you would see a dozen or more guys swinging hammers to frame a house.  Today you see two or three using pneumatic nail guns.  These few guys do more work in less time, because they have the right tools.  Someone, somewhere figured out how to build a tool that would increase their productivity.  The first Salesrep had a challenge convincing the contractor that this “expense” was really an “Investment”.  Yet today you do not even consider it an option to equip the people working with the right tools.

 

Businesses tend to run in various degrees of one or two camps. 

 

The first is- show up to work, sit at your desk, answer the phone, key orders, do not talk to anyone else, keep to your break times and go home when your shift is over or later in case they need more from you.  These workers are not very inspired to do little more than the minimum.  If the customer is happy great, if the customer is unhappy, oh well.  What incentive do they have other than their own self esteem to do little more.  Where has this organization empowered them?

 

The auto industry faced similar challenges.  What they ultimately found out was they had people working the assembly lines.  When you treat people as intelligent humans they respond in kind.  The auto manufacturers added pull-stops along the assembly line.  Any worker, at any time could halt production.  Pretty scary.  What happened is the workers felt they made a valuable contribution and their opinion counted.  Productivity and quality both went up.

 

So in the second camp, what happens when you give your users the ability to configure their own screens with the exact applications and information that is important to their role?  Employee productivity increases which allows the user to react quickly to business demands. 

 

Who has not seen this when you call customer service at some company and the person at the other end of the phone says, wait, let me check on that for you.  Are you not impressed that you do not have to wait on hold, get forwarded to someone else, pray that they actually do call you back?  You respond in kind as does the customer service person.  How likely are you shop there again, even if you did have a problem.  Did you say thank you to that person, even though you called with a problem?

 

What happens when your ERP solution enables your people with:

·         Anytime, anywhere access?

·         Access from any device with a Browser?

·         Seamlessly integrates with other Web Applications?

·         Enables Social Possibilities?

·         Configurable to meet the user’s needs?

 

Ask yourself this basic question:  In business today does growth just happen?  Or, do you make it happen.
 

A key part of any organization's growth strategy should involve leveraging technology to transform the business.  With the right technology, you can improve operational processes, create efficiencies throughout the organization, expand relationships with suppliers, and continually improve customer satisfaction.

 

Staying ahead of your competition should not be just a wish. 

 

By providing a superior level of service to your customers, you let them know you care and their business is important.  If there is any doubt that this is the right strategy, just look back and think about how you have been treated, whether for a personal transaction or for business.  Who would you do business with again?

 

At Dolvin Consulting, we pride ourselves on doing the very best we can.  Every day we work harder, because like everyone else we are human.  We are here to help.  We have access to great solutions from key industry providers that will help you take the next step forward.  Contact us today to see what options you have.