Business Process Management Blog

Mastering Business Process Management for Growth and Efficiency

What Gets Reinforced Gets Repeated

Over the last four newsletters, we've talked about what it takes to actually implement SOPs in a growing business.

Not just write them.

Not just put them into a folder somewhere.

But actually get your employees to use them.

That brings us to the fifth and final rule. And, in many ways, this may be the most important one.

Rule #5: What Gets Reinforced Gets Repeated.

Here's something I've learned after working with growing businesses for more than 20 years:

Your employees figure out what's really important by watching what their managers do and pay attention to.

  • You can tell an employee that following your processes is important.
  • You can train them on those processes.
  • You can even have beautifully documented SOPs that are easy to find.

But then something goes wrong. And the manager says:

"Why did you do that? We've talked about this before. You need to be more careful. Don't let this happen again."

Sound familiar?

The employee walks away knowing the manager isn't happy. But have they learned anything that will keep the problem from happening again?

Probably not.

Manage the Process... Not Just the Person

Let's say an employee is repeatedly showing up late.

The manager could say: "You're late again. We've talked about this. You need to get here on time."

Or the manager could pull up the company's documented Lateness Process and say: "Okay. You're late again. Let's go through our process."

Now something very different happens. It stops being about the manager being irritated with the employee.

The process becomes the standard.

That's a distinction we teach managers inside TouchStone. Their job isn't simply to manage the people who report to them. Their job is to manage the processes by which those people produce results.

The same principle applies everywhere.

A customer complaint?

  • Pull up the Customer Complaint Process.

An estimate was prepared incorrectly?

  • Pull up the Estimating Process.

A salesperson didn't properly follow up with a lead?

  • Pull up the Lead Follow-Up Process.

Don't just correct the employee.

Go back to the process.

Ask One Simple Question

When something goes wrong, train your managers to ask:

"What process produced this result?"

Then look at the process together.

Usually, you'll discover one of three things:

  1. There is no documented process.
    • Great. You've just discovered a process that needs to be created.
  2. There is a process, but the employee didn't follow it.
    • Now you have a training or accountability issue.
    • Retrain the employee. Reinforce the standard. Then follow up.
  3. The employee followed the process... and you still got a bad result.
    • Now you may not have a people problem at all.
    • You may have a process problem.
    • Fix the process.

That's how your business gets better.

This Is How Processes Become Culture

This is where SOP implementation becomes much bigger than SOPs.

Imagine what happens when every manager in your company begins doing this.

Instead of constantly solving problems for employees, they point employees back to the process.

Instead of repeatedly correcting the same mistakes, they identify the process producing the mistake.

Instead of employees depending on the manager to tell them what to do, they learn to depend on the company's systems.

Over time, something changes.

Your employees start asking themselves: "What's our process for this?"

That's when you know you're building a process-dependent business.

And that's also when you begin to experience something much bigger...

Operational Independence.

A company that doesn't require you to be the person constantly answering questions, solving problems, putting out fires, and making sure everything gets done correctly.

A business that can scale with control and confidence.

A thriving company that can operate whether you're there or not.

Ultimately, a business that serves you... instead of a business you're constantly serving.

Action Item

At your next management meeting, introduce one simple rule:

When something goes wrong, don't start by asking, "Who's responsible?"

Start by asking:

"What process produced this result?"

Then determine:

  • Do we have a process?
  • Was the employee trained in it?
  • Did they follow it?
  • Did the process produce the result we expected?
  • What needs to happen next?

Then reinforce it.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Because eventually...

What gets reinforced gets repeated.

And what gets repeated eventually becomes the way your company operates.