Page 12 - BP Premiere

are in place is a recipe for disaster. Do you have the time - When the business was small, the principal could

right people internally? Will you need to go outside of ensure that things were done the same way each time,

your irm to ind the management talent you need? It’s because he or she was there to monitor the work. As the

a make versus buy decision and these choices can be business grows, that’s no longer possible. Good process

excruciatingly diicult. Layering or even dismissing documentation ensures that employees know how to do

loyal employees who simply do not have the skills to step the work.

into management roles can be diicult, but successful • Serves as the basis for continuous improvement – If each

entrepreneurs will make the hard choices. We have a bias employee does things diferently and one discovers a

for promoting from within. It is good for morale. It can better way to do the work, it will be diicult or impossible

help with retention and the new manager understands to spread the new knowledge to others. On the other

your company in a way that no outsider could. He or she hand, if all employees are following the same documented

is already imbued with your culture. We have a bias for process, changing the way things are done and capturing

promoting from within, but we also have a bias against the beneit across the organization is straightforward.

setting people up to fail. If you are going to promote from · Provides consistent training for new employees – Well

within, you will have to invest in helping your people to documented processes become training manuals for new

develop the skills they need to be good managers years employees, ensuring that their onboarding is consistent

in advance.
and that nothing is inadvertently overlooked.

• Documented processes – It’s not sexy and no one will pay a • Robust metrics – his is how business owners know

nickel more because you have well-documented processes. what is going on in the bowels of the business without

Even so, good process documentation is the best way to being there. It allows them to sleep at night. Financial

communicate to employees how things are to be done statements are an important part of these metrics, but

when you aren’t there. here are three reasons having well they are insuicient by themselves. By the time problems

documented processes is important: · Ensures that things show up in the P&L, the damage is oten already done.

are done consistently across the organization and over
What’s needed are operational metrics that are reported