3 Questions That Lead to Continuous Improvement

A company's vice president told an employee, “If you stay in the same position for two years, you have failed.” This employee took their position directly after graduating, and this statement greatly affected them because they had never thought that helping employees grow and develop is part of a leader's duties.

The vice president specifically spoke to a young employee who was a recent graduate taking on their first professional job. It is unwise to think that everyone is ready for a promotion in two years.

Employees in high-level positions who want to improve need to spend a lot of time learning constantly:

The higher your position, the longer you need to stay in it before moving up the career ladder. Otherwise, you will not possess the requirements of the next level.

Regardless of employees' positions, leaders must constantly look for opportunities to help their employees move to the next level. However, the concept of continuous improvement is not only about increasing responsibilities and promotions; it relates to every aspect of professional, business, and personal lives.

Although every employee is responsible for improving their personal and professional lives, you should not just focus on improving your business if you wish to take on a higher leadership role.

Encouraging Employees to Improve Continuously:

Continuous improvement is not just about promoting your employees; it's also about improving their performance in their current position and changing their job roles and responsibilities as they improve so they can continue to grow.

The latter is more complex. You need to complete the same tasks, no matter how long the employee has been at work. However, you or the employee can always figure out a better way to complete a task.

Help your employees know that a better approach will make your department better. This improvement process will make your employees feel better about themselves and will prepare them for a promotion to a different position, even if it is an indirect promotion.

Some managers do not want their best employees to move to different positions because finding replacements for outstanding employees is difficult. While this is completely understandable if your employees do not feel that they have the opportunity to improve constantly, you will lose your best employees anyway, and you will lose control.

If you create a culture conducive to improvement and then reward your employees with raises or promotions (either in the same position or in new positions), you will attract the same type of employees you like, who are serious and enthusiastic about improvement and success.

Continuous Improvement of Your Department:

Continuous improvement is not just about employee development; it's also about developing your department and your responsibilities. At the same time, these activities will also develop your employees. You'll need to ask these questions constantly:

• Is this the best way to get the job done?
• Is there something we're not doing that we need to do?
• Is there something we are doing that we must stop?

When asked regularly, all these questions can lead to continuous improvement of the department or company's work. Here's how to ask these continuous improvement questions:

1. Is this the best way to get the job done?

Sometimes, people singly perform tasks just out of habit. A manager may reflect, "I've already asked myself this question three times. Why should I look for a better solution?" The answer might be, "We have modern technology now."

You might also be asking the wrong person. Try asking the employee responsible for the task.

Read the latest updates in your field and ensure that employees also have access to them. You cannot spend your whole life striving to complete your tasks perfectly, but you should listen to employees when they offer suggestions on how to do so because they might be right.

2. Is there something we're not doing that we need to do?

Even when you're overworked, you can't improve without asking, “What activities will help your clients or customers and also help your employees develop?” By answering this question, you'll increase your productivity and prepare yourself to take on new roles.

You could lose if you don't search for more effective ways to complete your work. For example, even though Kodak was the greatest manufacturer of film cameras, its executives didn't decide to start producing digital photos when they emerged. Instead, they kept taking photographs, causing them to lose their clients. Someone should have said, “We need to move towards digital image production.” 

3. Is there something we are doing that we must stop?

This question is not posed often. There is an old story about a young married woman who would cut off both ends of a piece of meat and then cook it in a pan. One day, her spouse asked her, "Why did you cut off the ends?" She replied, “This is the way meat is cooked. You have to cut off both ends.” Her husband was not convinced by her answer, so she went and asked her mother about it." This is how my mother taught me to cook meat," her mother replied. So, they went to the grandmother to inquire about this matter. The grandmother said, “My pan was very small and could not fit a whole piece of meat.”

You might laugh at this ridiculous story, but it might also lead to tasks at work that are no longer necessary, like a report that is no longer in use or a procedure that has been replaced by an app. Asking this question regularly could give your department the improvement-oriented mindset it needs to succeed.

In conclusion:

You can create a better job without updating your resume if you truly embrace the concept of continuous improvement, which will lead you to focus on improving both your own and your employees' jobs. Your staff will be grateful for the chances you give them for continuous improvement.