It is always a good feeling to complete
another year. Congratulations to Team Business Goa for another year
in operation, another year to look forward too. We too completed
another year, not from the day we were incorporated but from the day
we sold the first product. I believe any establishment worth its salt
can only be acknowledged if it is meeting a customers need.
So every Company should focus on
customers if it wants to stay in there and be relevant. There are
different ways or theories that companies will use, customer
satisfaction surveys, customer feedback or as in the case of Apple,
deciding what the customer needs and being right about it. I would
like to look at another aspect of being there to serve the customer
and that is building a “Second Line”.
Today, more than ever we have all types
of awards for Corporate excellence. To my mind awards come in the
following ways, 1) Analytical: CII Exim bank or Rajiv Gandhi
National Quality Award. 2) Perception: Corporate awards which
recognise excellence to promote brand attributes or positioning.
Business Goa or GERA Big FM awards etc.
3) Paid: Yes paid. This is where you get a letter saying you have
been selected and to be eligible you have to become a member.
We have had our share of the first two
and we have had offers for the last category they are not worth
talking about. It is the analytical category which is the type which
needs more visibility. Actually I would be happy if this visibility
helped more of my readers to apply for this award. Yes, this type
needs to be applied for. There are huge benefits in just applying,
the bonus would be if you also win.
Being associated with CII, which
handles the CII Exim Bank award, I got to see first hand the
advantages of how these awards encourage organisations to strengthen
their management systems, practices and capabilities to enhance and
sustain their competitiveness to become world class. This award is
based on the famous Malcolm Baldridge National quality award of the
US and other similar awards. I decided to take a baby step and
applied for the Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award of the Bureau of
Indian Standards.
The investment is lower but the process
is similar. The awards committee reviews every applicant on the
following points, Leadership, Human Relations Management, Process,
Customer Focused Results, Impact on Environment and Society and
finally Business Results.
After preliminary study of the
documents the company submits, some are shortlisted for a site visit.
Post the visit irrespective of the results, the team gives advice to
the company under review to improve. It is like hiring a consultant.
In our case while we scored well on all
aspects we had a low score on leadership. I was taken aback, I
fancied myself (kidding). The team leader explained their logic. They
felt if I as head of organistion was removed from the leadership, the
organisation would have difficulty to survive as there was no second
line visible. That hit me.
We did take note of this observation
and made the necessary improvements. Today we have that second line
in place, thanks to the third angle view we got a dozen years ago. I
can let you in on a secret, if the owner manager has a good second
line he can take a holiday. Go ahead pick some awards, it can surely
do your organisation a lot of good and see you through many more
anniversaries.
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