Perhaps you remember the articles from the 1990s and the simple eloquence of process streamlining. Later came stories of draconian reductions in workforce, poorly conceived automation, inability to deliver expected savings, and badly defined outsourcing.
Somehow, among all the changes, customer service became a lower priority than taking cost out of the company. Sadly, the HR role in this was often relegated to "right sizing" the workforce, then getting "right sized" itself.
However, as with many other "management fads" once you get past the hype there is real value in using process re-engineering techniques in the right context. Based on my HR experiences, both good and bad, over the last sixteen years I have come to the conclusion that there are five relatively straightforward steps to success...
Shaun Dunphy (pictured) is principal enterprise solutions consultant at Ceridian UK.
