Business process mapping workbook improving customer satisfaction

Preface viiExercise 2.1 Identifying Inputs, Exercise 2.2 Identifying Units within a Process 23Identifying Inputs and Outputs to Units 24 Exercise 2.4 Identifying Tasks, Actions,... Com

Business Process Mapping

Workbook

IMPROVING CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION

J Mike Jacka Paulette J Keller

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

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ISBN-13 978-0-470-44628-7

Preface vii

Exercise 2.1 Identifying Inputs,

Exercise 2.2 Identifying Units within a Process 23Identifying Inputs and Outputs to Units 24

Exercise 2.4 Identifying Tasks, Actions,

Comprehensive Example 27

Exercise 2.5 Drilling Down a Human

Solutions 32

Exercise 3.1 Identifying the Process Trigger 51

Exercise 3.2 Determining Which Actions

Exercise 3.3 Identifying All Customer Trigger Points 53

Exercise 3.5 Naming All Potential Triggers 55

Exercise 3.7 Additional Supporting Processes 58

Exercise 3.8 Defining the Hiring Process 59Solutions 63

Exercise 4.1 Improving Process Descriptions 77

Exercise 4.2 Providing Process Descriptions 77

Exercise 4.3 Matching Owners to Processes 79Interviewing the Process and Unit Owners 80

Exercise 4.4 Identifying Good Objectives 80

Exercise 4.7 Determining Risks to Objectives 82

Exercise 5.5 Building Your First Complete Map 116

Exercise 7.2 Analyzing Process Map Loops 170

Exercise 7.3 Analyzing Delays, Rework,

Exercise 7.5 Analyzing Unfinished Activities 173

Exercise 7.6 Analyzing the Hiring Process 174Solutions 177

Exercise 8.2 Identifying Key Tasks 191

Exercise 8.3 Actions, Inputs, and Outputs 192

Exercise 8.4 Determining Measures of Success 194Ranking Measures and Determining Success 196

Exercise 8.5 Completing the Customer Profile

Exercise 8.7 A Comprehensive Customer

Solutions 207

Exercise 9.1 Identifying the Key Steps 226

Exercise 9.2 Building the As Is Spaghetti Map 228

Exercise 9.4 Spaghetti Mapping the Hiring Process 230

Exercise 9.5 Determining Responsibilities 234

Exercise 9.7 Analyzing the RACI Matrix 240

Process Mapping skills are best learned by actually doing the mapping

However, when we provide training to individuals on the process of Process

Mapping, we fi nd that people are always looking for additional

opportuni-ties to practice

With that in mind, we have developed this workbook as a companion

to the book Business Process Mapping: Improving Customer Satisfaction Yes, you

can learn quite a bit about Process Mapping from this workbook, but much

more information resides in the parent book Yes, you will have learned a

lot about Process Mapping from the parent book, but this workbook will

provide you the hands - on applications that can help lead to success

In the fi rst chapter, you will not only be provided an overview of Process Mapping, you will also be introduced to the human resources depart-

ment of JayKayCo Throughout the workbook we will set up and apply a

number of different scenarios However, the JayKayCo case study will be

the basis for most of the exercises

In subsequent chapters, you will be introduced to the details of Process Mapping and will be provided exercises intended to help understand the

specifi c requirements within the Process Mapping project At the end of

each chapter you will get an opportunity to put details together by working

through a comprehensive example And don ’ t worry, there will also be an

opportunity to work — start to fi nish — on an entire Process Map This

work-book has been developed to include all the information from the latest

edition of the parent book, so you will also get the opportunity to explore

those new applications

As with any workbook, we encourage you to actually work through the exercises, not just read the solutions The primary key to success for

a Process Mapping project is the knowledge and skills of those doing the

mapping And this workbook has been developed to come as close to

the real experience of developing Process Maps as possible We hope you

have as much fun with these exercises as we have had in our various Process

Mapping projects

1

C H A P T E R

Process Mapping

AN INTRODUCTION

Mapping It is intended to give the reader a familiarity with the overall

approach Each section of this workbook provides more information and,

of course, additional details can be found in the companion book Business

Process Mapping: Improving Customer Satisfaction

The specifi cs and ramifi cations of a successful Process Mapping project can be very involved Yet, the concepts behind Process Mapping are quite

simple And it all starts with a process

If you have been through any training on business or communication, you have seen the classic model of a process: input, action, output And

this is at the core of Process Mapping — the understanding that any activity

within a company (including the overall activity of the company itself) is

nothing more than a series of processes By recognizing these processes, a

detailed analysis can be completed that will lead to a better understanding

of how the process works and, maybe more important, how to make that

process work better

And right at the beginning, let ’ s make one change to the defi nition of

process Rather than using the word action , we will use the word

transforma-tion When we talk about the analysis of processes, what we are really

dis-cussing is how that process adds value to the overall success of the entity

Therefore, taking action is not enough To paraphrase Seinfeld : Anyone

can take an action A process that does nothing but cause action is not a

So, with this refi ned defi nition of process, we next want to determine how to drill down into the process to fi nd the appropriate layer for analy-

sis Toward that end, each process can be divided into units These are the

major subsections that make up the overall process Each unit will also have

inputs, a transformation, and outputs Breaking this down further, each

unit can be divided into tasks These represent the appropriate subsections

that make up each unit Likewise, tasks can be divided into actions, which

represent the subsections of each task As with the overall process and the

units, tasks and actions will also have inputs, a transformation, and outputs,

albeit at a more granular level The fi nal drill down in this approach is to

the actual procedures (whether in writing or just used in practice)

Keep in mind when you are making this analysis, the determination if an operation represents a process, unit, task, or action level is at the sole discre-

tion of the individual doing the review There is no hard - and - fast rule

deter-mining the appropriate level Rather, just like every aspect of Process Mapping,

it is a tool to be used by the reviewer to better understand the overall process

Process Identification

The fi rst step in the Process Mapping project is the identifi cation of the

process under review This may seem self evident but can be the true make

or - break moment for the project Without a clear defi nition of the process,

as well as what makes up that project, reviewers will fi nd themselves fl

oun-dering, unsure which direction to go and what information to obtain

The fi rst thing that must be identifi ed is the beginning and end of the overall process under review Previously, we noted that every process must

have an input and an output, and that is a good start toward providing the

boundary for your process Another important aspect that can be

consid-ered is what trigger actually starts the process

The trigger can actually be the same as the input However, the input can also be an indication of the trigger For example, an input to an

expense payment process might be the bill However, the actual trigger

to start the expense payment process could be defi ned as incurring the

expense, receiving the bill, the due date for the bill, or (in a worst case

sce-nario) notifi cation that the bill is overdue

The previous example provides an indication of why bounding the process is so important Without that boundary, the reviewer may be tak-

ing on more than is necessary (incurring the expense) or may be missing

important details in the process (notifi cation the bill is overdue)

One of the best approaches for identifying the process and how it is constructed is to look at it through the customer ’ s eyes (We will do a much

more focused analysis of these customer interactions during our

discus-sion of Customer Mapping.) Using this approach in Process Mapping is

fundamental to understanding why a process exists and why it is

impor-tant to the success of the company Using the trigger points of customer

interaction (those points where a process, unit, etc is triggered by the

cus-tomer interaction) can provide the underlying steps within the process

Once each of these interactions is identifi ed, the underlying processes should be named This is another one of those operations that seems sim-

ple but can turn out to be harder than imagined Very often, names for

processes are defi ned by the department that handles them However, as

you begin to look at processes, you may fi nd ones that have not really been

identifi ed by the entity, in particular, ones that cross departments In those

situations, there may not be a handy name for it The name you fi nally

deter-mine is not important What is important is that it portrays the activity that is

occurring, and that all parties involved understand and agree to that name

Once the customer - focused triggers are identifi ed, the next step is to identify the supporting activities — those that occur within the entity that

are not (and should not) be seen by the customer These may be some of

the more important processes for analysis because they represent areas

where streamlining of operations provides the most value to the customer

(The less it can be seen, the better the customer service.)

Information Gathering

Once the processes (and associated units, tasks, etc.) have been defi ned, it

is time to really begin talking to people to learn as much as possible about

the process (It should be noted that, while we are describing these as

spe-cifi c steps, the actual Process Mapping project will result in overlap An

understanding of what is needed for each section is important as you will be

getting this information throughout the project.) To better understand the

process under review, there are some specifi c areas that should be included

At this stage, the process has probably been named to the satisfaction

of the reviewer and the client It is now time to provide a little more

sub-stance to that name — a short one - or two - sentence description of the

proc-ess This helps to defi ne better what is being reviewed and helps to ensure

agreement with all parties

Another important consideration is the process owner This can become problematic if the process covers more than one business unit or depart-

ment The true ownership may be unclear; either more than one person

claims ownership or no one takes ownership This issue should be clarifi ed

as soon as possible

Related to this is identifying the underlying units (which should have occurred during the Process Identifi cation phase) and owners of those

units While this may be the same as the process owner, it very often is

someone who reports to the owner If, at the unit level, the process goes

between departments, it may be that a unit owner does not report to the

will want additional detail regarding these items This includes the event

beginning trigger, the event ending process, any additional events within the

process, the input items and sources, and the output items and customers

It is important to understand what the process is actually meant to do

We indicated that a process must include a transformation Accordingly, that

transformation is intended to achieve some purpose That is the business

objective This may be tricky because most clients have not thought of their

processes as having an actual objective Identifying the objective will help

focus the review and provide a better understanding of the process itself

There are three factors that are related to the business objective The

fi rst is the business risks, that is, the events that could occur that would

cause the process to not achieve the overall objective (Again, most clients

have not thought in these terms, but it is an important consideration in

evaluating how the process works.) The next factor is key controls, in

par-ticular, those that are put in place to ensure proper mitigation of the

busi-ness risks Finally, the measures of success — the indication that the process

has met its objective — should be identifi ed

Interviewing and Map Generation

Yes, it ’ s fi nally here — time to make the Process Maps But there are important

guidelines to keep in mind for conducting interviews The fi rst is to ensure

that there has been appropriate buy - in from upper management Although

you have been working closely with these individuals up to this point, they

may not fully realize what you are trying to achieve and how much time it

will take Ensure that this has been appropriately communicated

You must ensure that you have set aside enough time to conduct the views An individual mapping interview can take anywhere from fi fteen minutes

inter-to four hours Have a good understanding of the individual ’ s responsibilities,

how those responsibilities relate to what is being mapped, and determine the

maximum amount of time that may be required Then, be sure that such an

amount of time is available Uninterrupted interviews are vitally important

The interviews should be held in a private area — ideally in a private offi ce or meeting room where the reviewers can complete the maps on an

ongoing basis Successful Process Mapping builds those maps as the

inter-views go along Accordingly, this private area not only allows the person

being interviewed to be more candid in his or her comments, but facilitates

construction of the maps

Finally, basic interviewing techniques should be used, including proper preparation, setting a friendly tone, and actively listening Be sure you have

the right people performing the interviews These are people who

under-stand the Process Mapping approach and who underunder-stand how to

inter-view In addition, they must be able to think on their feet We have found

that the best practice is to have two people conducting the interviews — one

handling the discussions and the map building, and the other taking notes

are necessary to understand the real process, and move quickly when the

interview takes an unexpected turn

As already mentioned, Process Maps are created in real time This is itated by the use of sticky notes that are applied to poster - sized sticky notes on

facil-the walls Each poster - sized note represents an individual unit or task within a

process, and the small sticky notes are used to record each underlying step

In general, there are only two types of fl owchart shapes that are required for process mapping: the square for process and the diamond

for decision Enhancements can be made as necessary (e.g., start and end

identifi ers), but the fewer used, the better Two enhancements related to

analysis that may be useful are D for delays in the process and R for rework

Each individual involved in the process will be listed at the top of the map Processes should then fl ow down the map This results in a document

that is readily understandable by all parties and facilitates analysis of

proc-ess fl ow in identifying areas of rework As much as possible, the fi rst step of

the process should be on the left - hand side of the map

Analyzing the Data

Analysis should be occurring from the moment the Process Mapping

project starts The reviewer should be thinking about each discussion as

it occurs, each document as it is prepared, and each piece of information

as it is obtained to see how they affect the success of the overall process

A fi nal assessment (including pulling together the earlier assessments)

should be undertaken once all maps are complete However, this fi nal

analysis should not be restricted to just the maps As will be shown, analysis

occurs throughout the entire Process Mapping project Following are some

of the important points to keep in mind

As was discussed earlier, make sure that the appropriate triggers have been identifi ed Obviously, this helps ensure that the Process Mapping

project is appropriately focused But it also ensures that the client truly

understands the way the process works This can be analyzed in

conjunc-tion with the objective If the triggers (and, accordingly, the start of the

process) do not match with the objective, then the process owner has a

fun-damental misunderstanding of what the objective is about Closely related

to this is ensuring the client properly understands the inputs to the system

Proper identifi cation of the outputs also relates to the success of the process and the understanding of the objectives It is also good to think in

terms of outputs that may not have been planned for: waste, surprises, and

invisible consequences Specifi cally, waste represents rework and

opportu-nities for improvement; surprises represent unexpected results and can be

either good or bad; and invisible consequences are the unknown effects

and that everyone understands them In addition, make sure all people

involved understand how their work relates to these areas

Many of the best suggestions and analysis actually come from the people being interviewed Their comments help build the maps, but the additional

information they provide may result in the really good ideas When looking

at the actual maps, there are a number of additional quick hits to look for

Keep a wary eye out for approvals, forms, and hold fi les An instance of any of these three is not bad in and of itself However, a large number of them

may be indicative of overcontrol In fact, anytime they are seen, the reviewer

should dig deeper into why they are occurring and if they are really necessary

Look for looping errors, delays, rework, and numerous handoffs These all represent situations in which the process is being delayed For example,

looping errors represent those situations where something is returned, but

there is no feedback on what is wrong The item could be returned again

and again just trying to be completed correctly

Also look for situations in the map where an action is taken but there is

no conclusion to the process (output) or there is a decision with only one

branch On the one hand, this may mean an incomplete map (the need to

ask more questions) On the other hand, it may represent steps that are no

longer necessary As previously stated, if there is no transformation, there is

no outcome, and there may be no need for the process

Customer Mapping

When we fi rst started describing the approaches used in Process Mapping,

(in particular, the approach in process identifi cation,) we indicated that you

should look at the process through the eyes of the customer Then we began

to focus on the processes as they exist within the entity To truly make a Process

Mapping project customer focused, the next step is to continue this analysis of

processes through the eyes of the customer and complete Customer Maps

Any time a customer buys a product or service, they are effectively ing that product or that company to do some job for them Understanding

hir-a process from the customer ’ s perspectives mehir-ans understhir-anding whhir-at job

the process is Therefore, the fi rst step in Customer Mapping is identifying

what job the customer wants done This is akin to determining a process ’ s

objective, but it focuses on the customer

The next step is to identify the key customer tasks and the actions required to accomplish these tasks Effectively, these are the moments

when the customer must be involved in order for the process to move

for-ward Identify the inputs (what the customer has to bring with him or her

to ensure the process moves forward) and the outputs (what the customer

should receive at the end of that task or action)

Next, determine the measures of success for each of these tasks or actions It is important to keep in mind that this success is measured by the

customer, not the entity In other words, what is the customer looking for to

This type of information may come from internal or external sources, but

is most valuable when coming from the customers themselves

Once the measures of success are identifi ed, rank the importance of these measures Trying to satisfy all of them is a fool ’ s game Rather, determine the

ones that are truly important so appropriate focus can be applied Then,

determine how successful the entity is at meeting each measure (Again, the

customer will be an invaluable resource for determining all these.)

Once these determinations are complete, combine the importance with the success measures and look for any disconnects, for example, high

success in a low importance measure, or failure in an area that is key to the

customer These represent the areas of focus for the Customer Map

When constructing a Customer Map, the steps the customer must take run across the top of the page Then, the steps and actions the entity com-

pletes between those steps move down the page The fi nal Customer Map

will start at the upper left of the page and end at the lower right As it is

con-structed, indicate cycle times and issues that arise during the discussions

Using the Customer Map in conjunction with the information regarding

measures of success will result in areas of focus for Process Mapping

You can see how each of these steps mirrors the process mapping approach — with one major difference Customer Mapping focuses on what

the customer wants to achieve rather than what the entity wants to achieve

Spaghetti Maps and RACI Matrices

While not technically Process Maps, Spaghetti Maps and RACI (Responsible,

Accountable, Consult, and Inform) Matrices are two tools that can be used

in conjunction with Process Maps to provide additional analysis

opportuni-ties for any process

Spaghetti Maps are a visual way to show the fl ow of materials or information through a particular process They have been primarily used in manufacturing

organizations to determine if the fl oor plan is confi gured in a way that

opti-mizes effi ciency However, they are also useful in understanding how a process

(and the associated information) moves around a department or entity

The Spaghetti Map is constructed by indicating each business unit, department, or individual involved in the process Then, developed chrono-

logically, each step of the process is given a number and indicated on the map

under the appropriate entity Lines are drawn connecting these steps This

creates a visual representation of the fl ow If it looks like spaghetti, there is

a good chance effi ciency improvements can be made In practice, there are

generally two maps created The fi rst is the “ As Is ” map and the second is

the “ To Be ” map, effectively before and after pictures

A RACI Matrix is a method of visualizing the roles and responsibilities

Responsible is the person with ultimate responsibility (There should be only one such person for each step.) Accountable are the individuals who are

actually doing the work One person can be both accountable and

respon-sible for an action Consult are those people who need to know what is

going on and have a say in those actions The process stops until someone

in the consulting role provides approval for it to proceed Inform are those

people who need to know the status, but do not need to provide approval

The process does not stop for their input

Once completed, RACI Matrices can show a number of issues within a process, including a lack of responsibility, too many people with responsi-

bility, too many stops because of consulting roles, too many people needing

to be informed, accountability and responsibility throughout the process is

concentrated with one person, and responsibility is assigned when there

is no authority (just to name a few) In particular, the RACI Matrix is a

good tool to use in matrix organizations, specifi cally those situations in

which no one has actually determined responsibilities

The following diagram shows how these concepts relate, and how they will be explored in this workbook Chapter 2 focuses on how the process

is defi ned Chapters 3 and 4 ( “ Process Identifi cation ” and “ Information

Gathering ” ) work together to provide the information needed for the

Process Maps Chapters 5 and 6 ( “ Interviewing and Map Generation” and

“Building the Map ” ) show how the information is used to complete the

Process Maps Chapter 7 brings the previous chapters together to

com-plete the analysis Finally, Chapter 8 ( “ Customer Mapping ” ) and Chapter 9

( “ Spaghetti and RACI Matrices ” ) describe additional tools that can be used

in conjunction with the Process Maps

Process Mapping Drilling Down Into the Process

Analysis of the Process Maps

Process Identification

Information Gathering

Interviewing and Map Generation

Building the Map

JayKayCo Case Study

We will be using various examples and case studies as we work through

the steps of Process Mapping However, we will have one comprehensive

example we use throughout this book: the human resources department

of JayKayCo Most people think of process analysis in terms of production

situations However, any activity is a process Accordingly, we have chosen a

service provider (human resources) to better explore how process analysis

works in these situations

Following is your initial understanding of how JayKayCo ’ s human resources department is structured, as well as details on some processes

There will be more information here than you need But such is the life of

process analysis, trying to separate the wheat from the chaff On the other

hand, you will need additional details to fully complete the maps Each

exercise will have the additional necessary materials

JayKayCo is a company that focuses on sales and service Since we will

be reviewing human resources department operations, the types of

prod-ucts and services are not important to this discussion However,

under-standing the structure of the company is Starting out in the small town of

Nuevo Rochelle, California, the company has been in operation for over

fi fty years It now operates in the forty - eight contiguous states and is

look-ing toward expandlook-ing into Canada

Its home offi ce is still located in Nuevo Rochelle and it is the largest employer in that municipality While half of the company ’ s fi ve thousand

employees work from this offi ce, the remainder work out of the local sales

and service centers throughout the United States These are one to fi ve

person shops, half of which are sales centers (made up of independent

contractors who work on pure commission out of company - owned offi ces)

The other half are service centers (employees working out of facilities

rented by the company) The centers are grouped by zone, which are then

grouped into three national regions, all under the direction of regional

vice presidents Therefore, there are three regional service vice presidents

and three regional sales vice presidents

As JayKayCo has grown, so has the human resources department And it is because of the resulting growing pains that an analysis needs to be completed

Just as with any growing company, JayKayCo has invested heavily in

comput-ers, mechanizing many of its operations However, the human resources

department is just an afterthought Every year the company spouted that

people were its number one priority, but it was always listed as number nine

on annual objectives So, the mechanization of human resources services is

always promised, but never delivered It is still a very manual operation

Human resources is composed of 40 people who are all based in the home

The vice president of human resources, Mel Cooley, the CEO ’ s brother

in - law, has been in the job for ten years and has three directors who report

to him: Sally Rogers, Bud Sorrel, and Robert Petrie There is also a human

resources administration manager, Mildred Helper

The current structure of the company is the result of a tion that was completed three years ago Prior to that time, the same three

reorganiza-directors were in place, but their duties were intertwined Ms Rogers was

in charge of all service and sales employees, Mr Sorrell was overseeing

over half the home offi ce employees and part - time employees, and

Mr Petrie was responsible for the other half of the home offi ce employees,

as well as temporary workers and contract employees In doing preliminary

work for the potential of a mechanization project, everyone realized that

the structure was far too disjointed and the vice president came forward

with his proposal for the new structure Everyone seemed accepting of the

approach and it was quickly implemented However, during the transition

it was also noted that some areas had been left out It was also apparent

that these areas did not fi t nicely into the new structure Within six months,

the administration manager position was developed to help fi ll that gap

Subsequently, as gaps in process are identifi ed, they are either fi lled by

an existing director (if there appears to be a fi t) or given to the human

resources administration manager

Currently, the breakdown of responsibilities for the directors and ager are as follows:

Sally Rogers is the director of talent management She focuses on the

development of employees once they are hired She is responsible for all performance planning and reviews In addition, programs related to succession planning, leadership development, and men-toring are under her direction Affiliated with these duties, she is also charged with all corporate training — internal and external

Finally, although it didn ’ t fit naturally with her duties, she is sible for employee surveys This came under her control because the first surveys related to individuals interested in promotion and quality of performance planning

Bud Sorrell is the compensation director His primary duties focus

on salary administration and benefits packages processes Salary administration includes coordinating budget activities related

to salary for the company, handling the processing of annual raises, conducting external surveys for salary comparison, and ensuring promotions are within company guidelines The ben-efits package processes include pay, insurance (health, life, den-tal, vision, short - and long - term disability), sick leaves, vacation, and pensions (including 401(k)s) He is also responsible for time sheet coordination and processes related to education and

Rob Petrie is the director of on - boarding (he devised the title himself)

He is charged with all activities related to bringing new people into the company and will be the primary focus of our review The pro-cesses under his control include recruitment, screening of applica-tions, administrating the selection process, initial interviews, and new employee orientation He is also responsible for the internal job posting procedure Though not really part of on - boarding, he also picked up responsibilities for progressive discipline and terminations

In addition, because of the use of employment agencies and search firms, he is responsible for all human resources vendor management

Millie Helper was promoted to the position of human resources

admin-istration manager when it was recognized that a number of sibilities had been missed during the reorganization Much of her job has to do with paperwork and monitoring She is responsible for all regulatory compliance and document retention issues, which includes handling paperwork related to hiring, terminations, pro-motions, performance planning, and anything else that might wind

respon-up in a personnel file Monitoring responsibilities primarily relates

to reporting on key performance indicators such as percentage of hires, turnover, and results of employee surveys She is also respon-sible for tracking items that come through on the employee ethics hotline as well as any other complaints or items arising from the company ’ s open door policy All this leads to her responsibility for ensuring the proper updating of human resources handbook used by all employees as their primary reference related to human resources policies and procedures

One of the particular challenges for the human resources ment is the employee structure The company is made up of an interesting

departcombination of full time and part time employees The majority of part

time employees work in the service centers as clerical support for service

employees (Since individuals working in the sales centers are independent

contractors, clerical support is their responsibility.) Because of changing

work conditions within California, the home offi ce workforce also includes

some temporary and contract employees Most of these are handled

through a hiring agency Finally, as noted earlier, the sales force is made

up of independent contractors All these various types are administrated

through the human resources department

What follows are specifi c details for some of the processes we will be reviewing

Recruitment

site advertises that it matches job seekers with hirers In general, it is a

nationwide site that accepts all resumes and accepts all job postings The

agreement JayKayCo has with HaveWeGotAJob4U is unlimited postings for

a one - year fee This includes strong search engines that search the current

database for selected keywords and sorts by federally allowed demographics

and location

There are at least three types of jobs for which JayKayCo keeps manent postings These are introductory positions related to their sales

per-offi ces, service per-offi ces, and management positions in their home per-offi ce Any

other positions (e.g., accounting, human resources, etc.) are posted on an

as - needed basis The Web site has also been used for higher - level positions,

although it has never been used for executive search

The other approach to recruitment is through colleges While not a fundamental source for hiring, JayKayCo has a working relationship with

a few local California colleges It has also just started two relationships

with colleges in Chicago and Houston These are test cases, based on the

fact that there are a number of service/sales centers in those locations In

general, all college relationships are directed by human resources They

attend job fairs and, in one instance, have dabbled in internship programs

They also offer professionals from JayKayCo to talk to classes on an as

needed basis The program has been going on for about four years

Executive searches have all been handled through a third party — Executive Search, Inc — human resources has only helped ensure accurate

job descriptions and paying bills

New Hires

The initial posting of job opportunities is ultimately the responsibility of the

hiring department Any opening (whether a new or existing job) requires

a Request for Open Position form be completed The form is completed

within the hiring department (including necessary approvals) then

submit-ted to human resources Rob Petrie ’ s department takes over from there

Next steps are based on the type of request — internal, external, or dual An

internal posting results in a listing on the JayKayCo ’ s job board — an

inter-nal center where all employees can view opportunities within the company

If there is a request external sources be used, the human resources group

begins going through its sources (see the recruiting section) The offi cial

JayKayCo Web site has an option to post your resume Human resources

will go through all posted resumes to see if there is a fi t JayKayCo has

two recruiters that work with HaveWeGotAJob4U and the local colleges

The recruiters work closely with the Web site There are standing postings

for some jobs, but the recruiters will have to post job descriptions for other

positions They provide a collection of resumes from these sources after

the request is received

Once applications are in hand (internal and external) and the posting has closed, human resources does the initial screening For outside appli-

cants, this means reviewing resumes and applications to ensure that basic

requirements (experience, degree, etc.) are met This also includes

ensur-ing there are no issues with the resumes such as incomplete sections,

sal-ary demands too high, large gaps in experience, and so on Those that are

rejected, while available to the hiring department, are not submitted

For internal hires, the same type of screening is done All applications, even if experience and background requirements are not met, must go to

the hiring department Applications are fl agged if they do not meet the

standards

The hiring department, after receiving all applications, tells human resources which individuals they want to interview All internal applicants,

no matter their background, must be interviewed For each individual not

interviewed, an explanation must be provided

For external applicants who have been selected, human resources does

an initial screening interview and background check Human resources

then provides recommendations to the hiring department The hiring

department will let human resources know whether to proceed with setting

up the second interview

All questions to be asked during the hiring department ’ s interviews must come from the approved list of questions All interviews are to take

no more than one hour and no less than forty - fi ve minutes The hiring

depart-ment will work with human resources to identify the questions that relate best

to the needs of the department for that particular job Every applicant must

be asked the same questions, and the hiring department must document the

responses Every answer is rated on a one to fi ve scale (fi ve being best)

Once all interviews are complete, the hiring department prepares

a hiring matrix document For external candidates, the fi nal

evalua-tion is a combinaevalua-tion of scores based on the interview and on the

previ-ous job experience To help ensure previprevi-ous experience is correct, human

resources contacts prior employers for information relating to the

appli-cant For internal applicants, the score is a combination of interview scores

and prior years ’ evaluations The fi nal matrix should include a notation if

there is anyone on the list who should not be offered the job, including the

reasons why Human resources double checks the matrix for completeness

and accuracy The person with the highest score is offered the job If they

turn it down, the person with the next highest score is offered the job, and

so on Proper documentation is required if the person declines the job

The human resources department contacts all accepted applicants (external and internal) For accepted external applicants, human resources

provides all necessary information regarding salary and start date and

they are considered to have declined the offer For internal applicants,

human resources must fi rst advise the applicant ’ s immediate supervisor and

determine a date when the applicant can transfer The applicant ’ s

depart-ment may hold the person for up to one month, or may claim a hardship

situation and remove the person from contention Hardship claims require

approval by the vice president of human resources After this has been

cleared, human resources calls the employee and offers him or her the job

Acceptance must take place at the time of the call If the person declines,

the individual ’ s immediate supervisor is advised, and human resources

moves to the next person If accepted, the applicant is advised to talk only

with their supervisor about the situation for one additional business day

That allows human resources to notify other applicants When either an

external or internal employee is accepted, a memo (e - mail) is sent to all

other internal applicants advising who got the job External applicants are

never notifi ed if they do not get the job

When a position is fi lled (from internal or external sources) a Job Fill Completed form is required This form outlines all the necessary informa-

tion and is used to set the employee ’ s pay status correctly as well as for

sta-tistical analysis For internal hires, no further work is required from human

resources

For external hires, human resources is responsible for initiating all paperwork and fi rst day/week/month orientation At the time the exter-

nal applicant accepts the job, the day of fi rst employment is established

and a meeting is set up between the new employee and a human resources

assistant (usually one hour after normal starting times) At this fi rst

meet-ing, all the necessary paperwork is completed (e.g., benefi ts selection, tax

forms, employee database information, acknowledgment of documents)

The employee is introduced to and given the employee handbook The

employee is advised of their probationary period and systematic

perform-ance review process Monthly one - day orientation training is also

sched-uled This all takes about an hour At the end of this meeting, the new

supervisor is called to come get the person At that time, the supervisor is

given the introductory checklist (a form that provides approximately thirty

fi ve areas that should be reviewed with the employee in the next fi ve days)

When hiring employees for the service centers, more of the processes are actually handled by individuals in the service center The details differ

depending on the location All documentation is submitted electronically

When hiring in the sales department, everything is the same until after the

interviews are completed The sales manager submits the matrix to human

resources, but the manager is the one who makes the offer by presenting

the candidate with a contract (Remember, these are independent

contrac-tors, not employees.) The contract is signed by the sales manager

(rep-resenting the company) and by the sales agent There is no orientation

training Instead, sales training is handled by the sales managers who

com-plete the orientations as they see best for their territories (Some managers

may hold training sessions with the full group, others may do remote

train-ing.) Human resources maintains the documentation of any training and

follows up on missing training This is the primary training area in which

human resources is not involved

Probationary Period

All employees go through a three - month probationary period During this

time, supervisors provide updates on the individual ’ s progress The fi rst is

due in one week and includes the completed introductory form The next

is due at two weeks, and then one is due at the end of each of the fi rst three

months At the end of the third month, an acceptance form (to be signed by

employee and supervisor) indicates that everyone is happy with the situation

Training

Most training is developed internally, but external sources are used based

on the degree of expertise necessary The fi rst area of training is new

employee orientation This was developed in - house and is intended to

reinforce the areas reviewed in the introductory checklist, as well as other

areas the company feels are important for the new employee to

under-stand Training is held once a month and all new employees are expected

to attend Topics include the company history, company structure, policies

and guidelines, benefi ts, and performance planning and review If

possi-ble, the CEO is included for a brief half - hour talk When he is unavailapossi-ble,

other senior executives will take his place

Quite a bit of time is spent on training for supervisors — new, enced, and supervisory trainees Categories covered are communication,

experi-building objectives, sexual harassment, violence in the workplace,

per-formance evaluation, and other interpersonal skills Some of this training

has been developed in - house, but most has been purchased off the shelf

(i.e., standard training materials that do not need to be changed to meet

JayKayCo ’ s needs)

When departments need profession - specifi c training, it is usually dled by the individual department However, because of the large volume

han-of individuals in the fi eld service sections, human resources is

responsi-ble for providing this training Such training is also a mixture of in - house

and external development The in - house approach came about

approxi-mately four years ago to help reduce the cost of training materials The

company identifi ed experts within the department who worked with the

training group to develop these materials The company continues to move

forward in this direction, using identifi ed experts to develop new

Performance Planning and Evaluation

Performance evaluation is an annual process with two updates Approximately

fi ve years ago, the process was for the performance plan to be established

and discussed with the employee in January There was an update required

in July, and the evaluation was fi nalized in December However, two

prob-lems were recognized First, all information regarding salaries was due at

the beginning of fourth quarter (one of the last steps of the annual

budg-eting program) Raises tended to be based on the mid - year review rather

than the annual review Second, one update just didn ’ t seem enough

Therefore, the company required that a formal review take place every

quarter so that employees would receive better feedback, and the results of

three reviews (rather than just one mid - year review) would be available in

time for salary review

This still didn ’ t work People complained that quarterly reviews took too much time and they felt that the fourth quarter work (the fi nal meas-

urement to success) was not included So, two years ago, two changes were

made The fi rst was to complete reviews every four months These reviews

(titled fi rst, second , and fi nal ) allowed more feedback than semiannual

reviews, but were not as onerous as quarterly Second, the reporting period

was changed to better coincide with budget needs Performance

evalua-tion and the associated salary adjustments now start September 1 and end

October 30

The other important change to the performance plan was that the company made the employees responsible for driving the review process

The employee is the one who is supposed to start the process and complete

their form, working directly with his or her supervisor Human resources

has taken a more passive role and is merely the control to ensure

paper-work is complete and submitted on time

The coming year ’ s performance plan is actually created at the same time the current year ’ s salary recommendations are being fi nalized, the

only difference being that the performance plan cannot be started until

October 1 During that time, the plan for the coming year is created

A standard form (the Annual Performance Evaluation form) is used by all

departments However, every department is allowed to build that plan how it

wishes The only requirement is that there be a minimum of fi ve objectives,

and it is suggested they tie directly to the annual plans and goals of the

company (These are introduced in September.) All departments are to

use SMART objectives (Specifi c, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and

Timely) Once these plans are established, updates are due by the end

of January and May The fi nalized forms are entered into the

computer-ized system and then sent to human resources to be included in

person-nel fi les The human resources administration manager receives a list at

the end of each period indicating which individuals ’ performance plans

have not been completed She follows up with managers and supervisors as

appropriate There is an elevation process whereby the fi rst request

(com-pleted two weeks after the due date) goes to the supervisor and the

sec-ond request (completed after another two weeks) goes to the head of the

department After a total of six weeks, the CEO is notifi ed of all delinquent

performance plans This same process is followed for updates and fi nal

salary recommendations

As noted, the performance review is to be generated by the employee using a standard paper form The employee enters his or her comments

and sends the form to the supervisor The supervisor provides input

(in writing), returns the document to the employee, and sets a meeting

to fi nalize the agreed upon plan Once both individuals have agreed to the

plan, the employee enters the fi nalized plan into the system and marks

the form as complete This same process is followed for updates In that

case, the documentation includes the supervisor ’ s assessment of how well

the employee has done to date

The fi nal review (due October 30) is handled in a similar manner, except that it includes the employee ’ s fi nal rankings, which are graded

on a scale of A to D ( A is best, D is poor) After the agreed upon ranking

has been entered into the system, the ranking and salary recommendation

are entered by the supervisor into the system (although it is often done by

a secretary handling the department ’ s budget) All employees get a base

raise (usually a small percentage) and an additional percentage raise is

given based on the ranking ( D normally has a 0 percent raise) and how

high individuals are within that ranking The base raise is changed

annu-ally, but the additional percentages mainly stay the same

Developmental Programs

Related to training, human resources is responsible for professional

develop-ment of employees This occurs at various levels: developdevelop-ment within the job

(promotions within the department), development to supervisor/manager

(succession planning), and future leaders Two of the broader concepts are

a standardized mentoring program and a rotational program

Human resources has worked with certain departments to try and ter defi ne job paths, more specifi cally, identify how an employee moves

bet-through the various job levels in departments This leads nicely to the

con-cept of succession planning

Required of every department is completion of a standardized cession planning Every supervisor or manager must identify at least one

suc-individual (two or three are preferred) who could succeed them Those

employees ’ professional development is built into their performance plan

by the executive director of the department While the duty of

identify-ing and developidentify-ing employees is given to each manager, human resources

is responsible for the development and tracking of the actual succession

planning program This is accomplished by working with the managers to

determine their individual needs, how to improve the program, and any

other areas that can be useful in the development of successors

Human resources is also in charge of the leadership development gram This is intended to fi nd future executives for the company (from

pro-inside the company) Nominees are provided by the vice president of each

department (usually after input from other department executives such as

the employee ’ s director or manager)

Promotions

Requests for promotion come to the compensation department The

ana-lysts in this department have two roles The fi rst is to ensure that all

doc-uments are completed properly The second is to evaluate the submitted

request and provide feedback on the quality of the request This is done

to help managers give the information necessary for successful

promo-tions Once through the compensation department, all requests must go

through the compensation committee for approval Their decision comes

back to the analyst who informs the manager requesting the promotion of

the result If denied, no further action is necessary If approved, the analyst

inputs all necessary information into the payroll system

Terminations

All documentation for terminations is submitted to human resources by

the terminating employee ’ s manager While on - boarding is ostensibly

responsible for terminations, the actual processing has been handed off to

human resources administration All paperwork comes to on - boarding but

is immediately routed to administration Clerical personnel review all

docu-mentation received to ensure completeness This also means checking that

the most recent forms are used If necessary, a fi nal check is requested The

department recognizes the importance of timely work in processing

ter-minations and, if paperwork is correct, is usually able to turn this around

the same day Once all the paperwork is done, the terminating employee ’ s

manager is notifi ed That manager is then responsible for ensuring all

com-pany - issued items are recovered (credit cards, parking passes, and

build-ing access cards) The manager then sends the closbuild-ing documentation to

human resources administration for fi ling

2

C H A P T E R

Drilling Down into the Process

gen-eral understanding of what makes up a process — a way to drill down into

each process We will defi ne the layers of subprocesses that are identifi ed

as we dig deeper into an operation And even before we defi ne how we will

drill down into each process, we have to fi rst understand what we mean by

process

Process Mapping

Drilling Down Into the Process

Analysis of the Process Maps

Process Identification

Information Gathering

Interviewing and Map Generation

Building the Map

Process Defined

It is probably obvious that understanding Process Mapping means

under-standing processes And most people will tell you that they have a good

idea what they mean when they use that word But there are enough

differ-ent interpretations of process out there that we will start by iddiffer-entifying what

we mean by the word process The most basic defi nition of a process — input,

action, and output — provides the basis for this understanding We want to

add one more concept: the idea that action is not enough If the input and

the output are the same, no real process (for our purposes) has occurred

Accordingly, rather than just using the word action , we defi ne a process as

an input, a transformation, and an output Further, we want to provide the

following defi nitions Input is what enters the process, transformation is what

happens to the input, and output is what exits the process

What enters the process What happensto the input the processWhat exits

This seems relatively simple, but in practice, properly identifying and defi ning these terms can be problematic If you look at a process as simple

as throwing out the trash, you begin to see this in practice The following

is a graphical representation of this process (For purposes of our example,

we will look at the process of taking out the trash We defi ne the

bounda-ries of a process later.)

Trash Trash Bag Empty Trash Container

Consolidate and Dispose of Trash

Empty Trash Cans Cleaner House Trash in Dumpster

The input includes the trash that will be collected (whether currently in a

trash can or just lying about), the bag used to collect the trash, and a

recep-tacle that will hold the trash bag as the trash is collected The transformation

is defi ned in a way that shows how things will change: The trash is being

col-lected and removed It should be noted that, often, the transformation may

just be a restating of the process In this example, the transformation could

easily be “ throw out trash ” However, we wanted to include the

gather-ing together as part of the transformation Finally, the output shows three

changes: the empty cans, the clean house, and the trash in a Dumpster

Exercise 2.1 Identifying Inputs, Transformations, and Outputs

Based on the previous discussion, identify the inputs, transformations, and

outputs for the following three common, everyday activities

Waking Up

Driving to Work

Buying a Car

Processes, Units, Tasks, and Actions

To better analyze and understand processes, a system for classifying and

understanding what takes place within the overall process is needed This

requires breaking a single process into its various subprocesses: units, tasks,

and actions The hierarchy of how these work together follow

Process Unit

Task Task Task Task

Action Action Action Action Action Action Action Action Action Action Action Action

Task Task Task Task

Another way to visualize this interrelationship is by using a drill - down

map, which shows how each subprocess can be deconstructed

Unit 4 Unit 3

Unit 2 Unit 1

Task 1

Task 2

Identifying Units within a Process

The fi rst step in determining the makeup of the process is by identifying

the units

Exercise 2.2 Identifying Units within a Process

Using the example of throwing out the trash, identify the basic units

under-lying the overall process Use the information provided in the input,

trans-formation, and output descriptions to get an understanding of how these

units might be defi ned Enter the name for each unit in the space below

the unit number We have provided space for fi ve units, but that does

not mean you have to identify fi ve In naming the unit, try to use a short

descriptions, for example, “ throw out trash ”

Throwing Out the Trash Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5

Identifying Inputs and Outputs to Units

Just as a process has an input, a transformation, and an output, the

under-lying units also have inputs, transformations, and outputs It is important

to recognize that the output from the fi rst unit will usually be the input

for the second, the output from the second will be the input for the third,

and so on

Exercise 2.3 Unit Inputs and Outputs

For the units listed in the solution for Exercise 2.2, list the associated

inputs and outputs The original list of inputs and outputs is a good

Dispose of Trash Input

Defining Task and Action Levels

It is important to understand that while a process can be broken into

sep-arate units that represent the various elements of the process, each unit

can also be divided into individual tasks representing the elements of the

unit, and each task can be broken into individual actions (The level below

the action items are the actual procedures — written or understood While

we will not do any work at the procedure level, understand that they are

the foundation for this hierarchy.) Each of these tasks and actions will also

have an input, a transformation, and an output

Exercise 2.4 Identifying Tasks, Actions, and the Related Inputs

and Outputs

For the unit prepare receptacle , identify the underlying tasks Enter the

description in the space below the task number For each task, determine

the input and output Move the description of each task into the next form

and complete the input and output

Once you have drilled down to the task level, go through the same process for one of your identifi ed tasks and drill down to the action level

Enter the name of the task on the top of the forms, describe the action in

the space below the action number, then identify the associated inputs and

outputs (Try to keep the number of tasks and actions to fi ve or less.)

Task - Level Analysis

Unit: Prepare Receptacle Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4 Task 5

Action - Level Analysis

Task Action 1 Action 2 Action 3 Action 4 Action 5

For purposes of these initial exercises, we have used simple examples

The intent is to provide practice in the techniques with familiar situations

Now we begin to apply these concepts in a more plausible work situation

Comprehensive Example

Exercise 2.5 Drilling Down a Human Resources Example

To bring all these pieces together, let ’ s look at the employee performance

review process as described in the JayKayCo case study in Chapter 1 Using

the information in that section (and any valid assumptions you feel necessary

to understand the process) complete a drill - down map of this process The

following tools can be used to walk through the process Start by identifying

the input, transformation, and output of the performance review process

Next, identify the underlying units as well as their inputs, transformations,

and outputs For each identifi ed unit, go through the same approach for

the tasks Then, for each task, go through the same approach to determine the

actions Once these have all been identifi ed, complete the associated drill

down map

Enough blank forms are included so that you can work through one unit, one task, and the associated actions However, you should devote the

time to determine all units, tasks, and actions

Process Inputs and Outputs

Performance Review

Unit - Level Analysis

Process: Performance Review Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5

Task - Level Analysis

Action - Level Analysis

Process: The highest level activity Unit: Key activities that make up the process Task: Key activities that make up the unit Activity: Key activities that make up the task Procedures: The descriptions that underlie the process

Identifying Components of the Process

Processes, units, tasks, and actions each have their own inputs, transformation, and outputs

Outputs of one unit, task, or action are often the input for the next unit, task, or action

Drill-down analysis of the process can be performed at each level of classification (unit, task, or action)

E

Solutions

Throughout this workbook we provide suggested answers There are many

solutions to the problems we present, so your answers may be just as valid

as ours Throughout these exercises, take another look at the answers you

develop in comparison to the provided solutions Be sure that you

under-stand any differences, look closely at the suppositions you made, and verify

that a proper understanding of the concepts led to your answer Obviously,

for continuity purposes, successive exercises will build on our suggested

solutions

Solution Exercise 2.1

Input Transformation Output

Waking Up Alarm Reach a waking

state

Get out of bed

Driving to Work Keys

Gas in car Charged battery Oil level okay Seat belt on

Car starts Drive to work

Arrive at work

Buying a Car Newspaper ads

Visit to car dealer Consumer reports Input from friends Loan options

Decide on make, model, and price range

Test - drive vehicles Get financing Purchase car

Car ownership

The waking up process is relatively straightforward The alarm is the input

that causes a waking state This leads to getting out of bed There could

be other inputs, that is, other events or situations that cause us to wake up

(e.g., a nightmare, a sleeping partner who snores, or even the fact that it

is noon on a Saturday) The way we defi ned the input allows us to better

defi ne what process we want to inspect Likewise, there could be other

out-puts, for example, hitting the snooze alarm or destroying the alarm clock

While defi ning the outputs of a process, we want to ensure that, although

we may not want to use these alternatives as the primary output, we have

recognized that they exist

For the next two processes, the inputs we have identifi ed are more specifi c These are slightly more complicated processes and, accordingly,

have more inputs For the driving to work scenario, a simpler approach

might only include keys and the car But for this example, issues related to

functionality and safety have been included In the car buying example,

we have assumed some preparatory work has been completed prior to the

actual buying In particular, there is the assumption that there has already

been a visit to the dealer

In the last two processes, we have also begun to break down the overall process into steps (We defi ne some of these subprocesses later in the chap-

ter.) For each, the transformation could have just been the name of the

proc-ess (e.g., drive to work or obtain a car ) But, by defi ning the transformation more

specifi cally, we begin to get a better feel for how the transformation is

achieved

Solution Exercise 2.2

Throwing Out the Trash Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Prepare

Receptacle

Gather Trash Dispose of Trash

You may have identifi ed more or fewer than three units That is perfectly

fi ne The way you identify the units shows how you understand the process

works For example, most people will include trash gathering and disposal,

but often not include getting the receptacle that will be used in gathering

the trash That step may be used for the next subprocess The approach we

used shows there is an emphasis on this stage of the process, which reveals

an underlying assumption One of the trash cans might have room to

col-lect all other trash In that case, an empty bag is not necessary This

illus-trates the various assumptions we build into our process analysis They are

not wrong, it is just important to recognize that they exist and adapt for

them as necessary

To gain an understanding of how the process is progressing, we can put this information in a drill - down map

Dispose of Gather

Prepare Input