Policy Deployment

Why is Policy Deployment important during a Business Transformation?

I was asked recently “How can we keep our attention focused on the right things”?

This query came about as a result of a Business Transformation we are involved in.

At first the answer seemed obvious; we need to manage the transformation.

On reflection I decided that, as with life, it was not really that simple, and we can be in danger of micro managing our projects, and losing sight of the bigger picture.

What exactly do we need to manage?

What strategies will we employ?

How can we measure our progress (our actual versus target)?

And vitally, how could we track everyone’s commitment, contribution and adherence to our objectives?

So where did this leave me, where should I turn, in my search for a transformation technique to help me.

The most obvious answer was Policy Deployment (or Hoshin Kanri, also known as Jishu Kanri), translated from the Japanese as a “methodology for setting strategic direction”, which has become a well accepted way of aligning and communicating goals throughout an organisation.

In essence according to Dr Joseph Juran, there are 5 stages:

The business plan is expanded to include quality and productivity goals, not merely profitability and ROI.
These goals are deployed down the organisation to determine the required resources, to agree on the actions, and to fix responsibilities.
Appropriate measures are developed.
Managers review progress regularly.
The reward system is adjusted to support the quality and productivity plan.

Policy Deployment (Hoshin), starts with the concept of homing in on the “vital few”.

If change is minimal we can rely on departmental management.

Where there is significant change Senior Management must step in and steer the organisation. This requires strategic planning (for future alignment, to identify the strategic gaps, on the vital few). Policy Deployment (Hoshin) is however not a planning tool, but solely an execution tool.

Once the vital few strategic gaps have been identified, employee’s and teams at each level are required to develop execution strategies to close the gaps.

There must be a clear link between the organisational goals, key objectives and activities.

In real terms, Policy Deployment is an expanded form of 'team briefing' but it needs written commitment, identification of goals, the setting of measures, open and honest discussion and review at each level.

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