Conducting a Site Bench Mark
Benchmarking is a systematic process of evaluating an organization’s performance while making comparisons to other organizations. In other words, it is a comparison process. A firm essentially compares its process, and operations against the best company in the industry. The benchmark process can also be applied to business approaches, functions, and products. It is usually done with the leading companies in the industries. Therefore, the core purpose of benchmarking an organization is to determine effective practices that can result in better performance when adopted. Scott (2011) asserts that benchmarking is an important tool for discovering innovative strategies. An understanding of what is important to an entity is, thereby, very important in the entire process.
The Benchmarking Process
Planning is an indispensable prerequisite for benchmarking. It is the initial step in the process. According to Kelessidis ( 2000), planning helps an organization to determine the process that it will use in benchmarking. An organization also makes estimates on the budget because the process requires money. For instance, travel expenses for the onsite visit need to be catered for. Goals and objectives are also established at this stage and actions to be taken to attain those goals are also discussed.
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The next step is the formation of the benchmarking team is formed. The team is tasked with identifying practices and process within the entity that need to be improved. The team needs to obtain approvals from the executive leadership team in the organization. The endorsement is necessary because it helps in eliminating any barriers to the benchmarking process. It is also up to the top management to approve the budget for the benchmark before it is carried out. The team then creates a list prioritizing those areas within the organization that needs improvement. Accordingly, the team develops a list of at least three organizations with the best practices and agrees on which organization to conduct the process with (Fisher, 2004). After that, a benchmarking survey begins. Here, the team then sends benchmark survey forms to the identified organizations with best practices. A benchmark survey is extremely important in the entire process. Through the benchmark survey data, accompany is able to acquire crucial information about industry leaders. Benchmark survey enables the team to know why the chosen companies are succeeding. It, therefore, allows a benchmarking team to decide on which firm to carry out the benchmarking process in. It also provides information as to whether the organizations are similar. For the benchmark process to be a success, then a certain degree of resemblance between entities is essential.
Once the forms are returned, the team leader of the benchmark team is required to send a letter to the chosen organization requesting for official site visits . Upon approval, the benchmark team will then organize itself and make a visit to the organization. During the site visit, the team is required to gather and record all the necessary data from the site (Fisher, 2004). Data from the site is then communicated to the organization’s management and employees. In addition, the information should also be shared with key stakeholders. After the information has been reviewed, the organization focuses on creating a concrete roadmap for implementing the key process. Lastly, information gathered from the site visit is incorporated into the organization’s process improvement.
In conclusion benchmarking can be a wonderful tool for facilitating endless improvement in any organization. However, for it to be successful, it should be systematic and structured. It cannot be effective if there are no proper processes. A benchmark team should also set its goals early so as to achieve the best outcome.
References
Bubshait, A., & Abuzaid, A. I. I. (2009 ). CEM 515 . Retrieved from http://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/CEM/bushait/CEM_515-082/quality/Benchmarking.pdf
Fisher, D. C. (2004). Homeland security assessment manual: A comprehensive organizational assessment based on Baldrige criteria . Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Quality Press.
Kelessidis, V. (2000). Report produced for the EC funded project INNOREGIO–Benchmarking . Thessaloniki, Technology Park. Retrieved from http://www.adi.pt/docs/innoregio_benchmarking-en.pdf
Scott, R. (2011). Benchmarking: A literature review. Academic Excellence Centre for Learning and Development . Joondalup: Edith Cowan University.
