Why Operational Excellence Initiatives Fail in Culture Change and Excellence

#250

Context: For my night time reading ( I dont touch Screen/mobile after 6pm) I ferreted out “ANDY and ME” a turnaround strategy on Cultural and Operational excellence success. I bought this book during my visit to France in 2007, and never found time to go through the book, until now. It would be apt to work this as 250th EHS Blog post. The book is about how to turn around culture on the models of “Toyota Production Systems”. That gave me seed for this blog post.

As I reflect on my 250th EHS blog post, I find it fitting to discuss why operational excellence initiatives, intended to drive culture change and sustainable excellence, often fail. Drawing from my corporate career (1985–2012), where I saw successful culture transformation, and my 12 years as a consultant witnessing less effective attempts, I have identified key impediments. If these obstacles are systematically addressed, organisations can significantly improve their chances of embedding operational excellence within their management systems and EHS focus. As always, leadership, trust, commitment, and accountability remain central to success.

Key Impediments to Successful Operational Excellence Initiatives

1. Limited Cultural Penetration
   Corporate or parent company cultural and operational requirements are not deeply embedded into daily functioning at operational levels (Safety, Quality, Productivity, Inventory, Delivery, Cost, People development). Employees see them as external mandates rather than integral aspects of their work environment.
2. Hesitancy to Seek Help & Learn
   There is a reluctance to ask for help, challenge existing norms, or proactively engage in learning and development. Many view seeking assistance as a sign of weakness rather than a step toward improvement.
3. Competence & Subject Expertise Deficiencies
   Senior and mid-level managers often exhibit shallow or non-existent technical depth when probed or challenged. A strong inclination to upgrade knowledge and expertise is lacking.
4. Weak Operational & Process Fundamentals
   Core process requirements—including safety, quality, operations, documentation, and systems knowledge—remain inadequate. Workers, who are directly impacted, are rarely consulted for input or feedback.
5. Deficiencies in Engineering Excellence
   Good Engineering Practices (GEP) are frequently disregarded. Checklists and safety processes are reduced to mere ‘tick-box’ exercises with minimal meaningful analysis or follow-up actions.
6. Lack of Regulatory Awareness
   Regulatory compliance is mistakenly viewed as solely the EHS / Ops team’s responsibility. Operational and engineering teams often lack sufficient regulatory understanding, leading to gaps in compliance and risk management.
7. Unstructured Training & Competency Mapping
   Training programs are conducted sporadically without structured Training Needs Analysis (TNA) or competency mapping linked to performance outcomes.
8. Siloed Operations & Poor Cross-Functional Communication
   Many critical activities rely on individual brilliance rather than structured, collaborative processes. Weak cross-functional coordination leads to document inconsistencies and gaps in knowledge-sharing.
9. Cumbersome Permit-to-Work (PTW) and Other Administrative Controls
   The PTW system and other safety approvals become unnecessarily time-consuming due to poorly defined interdependencies and inefficiencies. Often, these processes require revisiting fundamentals and redesigning for simplicity.
10. Lack of Motivation, Purpose & Engagement
    Employees often appear disconnected from the broader organisational purpose. Self-awareness, situational awareness, and a sense of mastery are missing, leading to disengagement and complacency. Organisation too forgets People development is key.
11. Neglected Worker Welfare
    Basic care for workmen and contractors is overlooked. Organisations fail to demonstrate empathy and genuine concern for their workforce, leading to dissatisfaction and safety lapses.
12. Reactive Safety & Quality Observations
    The approach prioritises catching errors over fostering enabling behaviours. Observations focus more on identifying mistakes rather than reinforcing safe and effective practices. Many organisations adopt a ‘gotcha’ culture instead of using observations as tools for learning and improvement.

A Way Forward

Operational excellence is not a standalone initiative—it must be deeply integrated into culture, leadership, and management systems. Addressing the above barriers requires:

• Strong leadership commitment that actively demonstrates trust, accountability, and long-term vision.
• Continuous learning and technical competence at all levels, with structured training and knowledge-sharing.
• Cross-functional collaboration, ensuring safety, quality, and operational teams work in tandem.
• Simplification of processes to eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies while maintaining compliance and control.
• A positive, engagement-driven culture, where employees see value in excellence rather than mere compliance.

By systematically addressing these impediments, organisations can move beyond superficial operational excellence efforts and create sustainable, high-performing cultures that drive long-term safety, quality, and business success.

How Organisations Achieve Operational Excellence

While many organisations struggle with operational excellence, some successfully integrate it into their culture. The following are key practices that successful companies implement effectively:

1. Embedding a Strong Culture of Continuous Improvement
   • Toyota’s Kaizen approach ensures every employee contributes to incremental process enhancements, fostering innovation and efficiency.
2. Proactive Leadership & Engagement
   • Companies like 3M etc. encourage employees at all levels to propose and implement changes that enhance productivity and safety. Leadership are held accountable with annual committment to operational excellence thro an Assurance letter signed and sent to CEO/ Board.
3. Integrated Safety & Quality Programs
   • Honeywell, Dow etc. implemented robust safety / Operational excellence management systems (Goes far far beyond ISO requirements) that align operational and EHS excellence through structured risk assessments with a proactive approach.
4. Effective Training & Knowledge Sharing
   • Siemens invests in comprehensive training and knowledge-sharing initiatives to maintain high technical competence across its workforce. Training covers consequences / adverse effects, for deviations from prescribed protocols.
5. Data-Driven Decision-Making
   • Amazon and GE use predictive analytics and real-time monitoring to refine operational strategies, ensuring efficiency and compliance.
6. Empowering Employees & Frontline Workers
   • Companies like Southwest Airlines give their frontline employees autonomy to make decisions, leading to higher engagement and service excellence.
7. Robust Process Standardisation & Simplification
   • McKinsey & Company applies structured problem-solving methods like Lean Six Sigma to streamline processes and enhance productivity.

Achieving operational excellence requires a strategic approach where leadership, culture, and continuous improvement work in synergy. When done right, it fosters not just compliance but long-term resilience, innovation, and excellence in performance.

What do you think?
Karthik

27/2/25.