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The headline here doesn't mean quite what it says. It means that fixing process improves people in the sense that making changes to the way things are done can push performance to better levels. Because a lot of things we think are wrong with workers are more about bad processes and bad training. But it's also clear that many managers still think the big problem is people doing things wrong. That came through in a polling question during a Webinar Edi Osborne recently conducted in conjunction with the Progressive Accountant. Osborne talked about improving practice management performance through Kaizen, a disciplined approach to implementing organizational change.

Osborne commented that the latter often stems from the former. And I would add that in the use of software, problems often stem from users not getting enough training in how to use the application than in their using incorrectly through lack of competence. Take that further. How can employees be expected to do things correctly if the process is bad, or as is more often the case, no one knows exactly what the processes are? Or as is often the case of accounting firms, processes vary from partner to partner?

Having consistent processes makes it easier for workers to do things the right way and doing things over and over again the same way is a key to quality, productivity and increased profits. This is the assembly-line approach and while that can't be applied to everything done in a service business, it beats doing things randomly.

The tendency is to blame the worker because it's easier to do that that take a serious look at a firm's operations. It's easier to blame workers than admit the processes are at  fault. But ultimately, there's a lot more to gain by fixing processes because making employees better improves job satisfaction and the bottom line. It's certain cheaper than hiring and training new people.

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