In order to understand how our organizational processes work In Part 4 of this TLS Continuum series I asked if you knew where you were going? To understand the response to the question the article guided you through the process of creating an eagle’s eye view of the organization called a process map. The purpose of the Process Map is to provide you with a picture of the steps required to complete a process, in this case the recruitment process. In returning to this issue, Part 9 changes the focus from where you are going to why are you doing it? It is this movement toward the ground level of the organization that is the center of Part 9 of the TLS Continuum.

In Part 9 the concern now is to look at not only the same process but in addition we want to concentrate on the small details of the organization. If you a reading this segment of the series, without prior access to the early works, then create a simple flow chart of your recruitment process. Each step is represented by a square box joined by an arrow to demonstrate the direction of flow through the process. Part 4 will also lay out the commons steps to the recruitment process that can be the springboard to the next level.

The process of creating a value stream map is labor intensive and takes some use of critical thinking. By time we are referring to at a minimum at least an hour. The purpose of the value stream map is to bring your focus down to the office floor. Our actions do not operate in a vacuum but are interdependent on the rest of the organization. The act of creating the value stream map involves taking our process map and expanding it. Once we have determined the allotted time we then need to look at all the other actions required to complete the review. This would include the writing of any documents, any phone conversations required any emails that need to be sent and responded to. The determination of the time allotment between steps needs to incorporate all these actions.

With the value stream map completed we then can go back and review the steps and the requirements of each step to understand why we operate the way we do. It also provides us the vehicle for asking why the organization has chosen to do things they way they do. Consider this scenario, which followed a team in one of our 2-day seminars discovered following their value stream map exercise:

During a presentation of our 2-day seminar on Achieving HR Excellence one of the teams had a strange look on their faces. When I walked back to their table the team members told me they discovered in the process of developing the VSM that when they hire a new middle level new hire, the job requisition is reviewed and approved three times by the same person.

The majorities of the members of the team were from the same organization and were amazed that this was going on. They knew that hiring decisions were delayed but were not aware of the reasons behind the delay. What they found was that while this has been apart of their process for as long as anyone could remember they had never questioned why?

As we continue along the Achieving HR Excellence roadmap, the value stream map provides us the ability to clearly see where the potential obstacles to meeting the voice of the customer lay within our processes. It provides insight into the reasons why the customer finds we are not delivering the value added activities required to meet their specifications. At the same time the Value Stream Map provides us with the path to correct the obstacles that are holding up the successful service to the client.

In Part 10 of the series we will take what we have discussed in the prior installments to construct the Goal Tree to gain appreciation of what our goal is and what we need to do to achieve it.