Infographic: 5 Tips On How To Improve Your Business Operational Efficiency

Faced with the intense competitiveness and intransigence of today’s business landscape, securing a market share and keeping the company solid requires a lot of effort and action from its leaders and decision-makers. The concern with the evolution of the results of the enterprise must be constant, to reach the established objectives and to give greater profitability to the business.

In this context, operational efficiency in the production process emerges as one of the shortest ways to achieve good results and ensure the company’s differential with competitors. This is because today, the consumer values ​​a good shopping experience, as well as quality services and products at an attractive price.

However, for the company to be able to offer all this, it is necessary to balance costs, quality and productivity very well, that is, it needs to improve its operational efficiency. So if that is your goal, today’s post can help. Read on and check out the 5 tips we have separated!

What is the difference between efficiency and effectiveness?

Before we move to the practical side, we need to clarify a very common question in business: the difference between efficiency and effectiveness. These two terms are often used as synonyms, which is a mistake since they translate different notions. Let’s see:

• efficiency – is related to the idea of ​​producing more at the lowest possible cost but without giving up quality. Thus, we can say that an efficient company is one that, within its infrastructure and resources reality, can reconcile costs and productivity in the best possible way;
• effectiveness – is the ability of a given task to generate the desired result. For example, hiring a new employee may be the most effective measure to tackle the productivity problem at the company.

As you can see, although they are very close and even complimentary concepts, efficiency and effectiveness reproduce different ideas. That said, we can now proceed.

How to leverage the operational efficiency of the company?

Achieving operational efficiency requires joining a series of measures. The reason for this is that a company is like a system, in which each isolated phase contributes to the result. Thus, good efficiency is only verified if all processes – or at least most of them – are executed optimally. Here are some tips that will help with this task:

1. Have a plan for everything

Isaac Newton was saying that every action generates a reaction, doesn’t it? Well, with the right adaptations, in the context of companies, this logic also works. Every action taken within the enterprise must be capable of generating an expected result. For this, planning is fundamental.

Planning each action is undoubtedly increasing the chances that the desired results will be achieved. For example, if the company intends to replace equipment, it needs to plan for the replacement to identify its costs and benefits, and to assess the extent to which this measure can improve overall operational efficiency.

By acting in this way everything will be much more tangible, controlled and, consequently, the effectiveness of the defined strategies will be guaranteed. So plan it all!

2. Reduce resource waste

Another measure that directly and positively impacts a company’s operating efficiency is good resource management. At this point, we include not only financial resources but also human capital, physical infrastructure and valuable time.

Thus, the tip is to work for all these assets mentioned not to be underused or overloaded. For this you should, for example:

• keep close to the employees, evaluating and assisting the work, in order to identify any needs for staff relocation;
• gather feedback from professionals working in the company. They are the easiest and most agile way to identify inconsistencies;
• assess the quality of the company’s infrastructure, that is, assess whether the devices, systems, and machines are suitable for the good work;
• check employee satisfaction and motivation, as this directly affects operational efficiency and productivity.

That done, it is easier to prioritize change and better target financial resources to correct failures and streamline processes.

3. Improve the recruitment and people management process

When it comes to operational efficiency, there is no way to distance yourself from people management, after all, they are responsible for executing most of the processes. Therefore, this should also be seen as one of the points of attention within the company.

The tip here is to recruit your employees well. Seek individuals aligned with the company’s culture and also possessing the technical knowledge and personal attributes to ensure not only good productivity but team cohesion and engagement with business objectives.

Then improve the recruitment process. Take a deeper look at the candidate, considering more than your resume in isolation, but above all your personal qualities such as willingness to learn and grow, humility, humanity, etc. This is the way to identify the ideal professional profile – which will greatly facilitate people management  – and new talents that in the future can greatly improve the efficiency of the company.

4. Learn from market mistakes and hits

It is also possible to greatly improve the operational efficiency of the company by observing the market and competitors. For example, learning from the mistakes and successes of others can be an excellent opportunity to spot faults and improve your work.

In this context, there is no doubt that learning from competitors’ mistakes is cheaper, less harmful, and more beneficial to your business. After all, the necessary measures can be taken previously, avoiding losses and enhancing the results.

Thus, be in constant observation of the market, assessing well the scenario in which the company operates, always seeking to learn from the stumbles and hits of others.

5. Invest in innovation

Last but not least, investing in innovation is one of the most effective decisions to ensure business operational efficiency. Today, technology already provides all kinds of tools, systems, and solutions for the most varied needs of a company. And the focus of these innovations, as a rule, is to optimize processes.

So, following the path of innovation is undoubtedly a reinforcement in the company’s routine. Separating a portion of the budget for infrastructure upgrades, staff training, and adoption of new methodologies,  for example, has a major impact on process quality as well as productivity.

So if operational efficiency is your goal, technology, coupled with all the other items listed in this post, can transform your business operations, maintenance planning training bringing optimizations in different ways. Put these teachings into practice and prove it!