The primary purpose of a Performance Audit is to identify opportunities to improve the organisations well being, whether it is focused on optimizing process and procedures or removing wasteful practices and behaviours.
We often find strong, cohesive professional sub-cultures within the aviation industry for example in maintenance and operations. Differences in safety attitudes and behaviours which can impact performance audits are found to be a function of both the occupational group and norms within the organization itself and may react with or against the process of change.
If we do not adopt efficient methods the organization can be left behind and suffer in terms of profitability which could even threaten the very existence of the organization.
To be successful when dealing with performance audits we must understand the critical importance attached to methods employed to deliver internal processes concerning evaluation, communication, decision making, together with a process to drive implementation.
We should recognize that various factors may influence the success or effectiveness of the Performance process, for example the strength of the quality reporting systems and the organisations attitude to risk and safety.
So the question becomes how do we manage change driven by performance auditing techniques?
Organizational change can have an impact across the entire business from the shop floor to the boardroom and it is necessary to introduce the changes sympathetically
Factors which need to be considered include:
a) Objectives or goals, and the strategies by which we propose to achieve
b) The measurement system which we will employ to gather data and perform subsequent evaluations
c) The steps which we will perform and how they will be accomplished
d) The physical process of actual Implementation and how we will deal with the organizational changes.
A critical element is to move the process at a pace which will deliver the goals but will be acceptable to the organisations staff members; it is not uncommon to meet a reluctance to change.
Key elements include the successful marketing of the proposal, sometimes this may even require training in order to win the support of key individuals.
The project objectives, together with the content of the proposed changed procedures or process, must all be included in the specification document which forms part of the Change Management plan.
It is important that the project does not fail so it is necessary to ensure that we have leadership commitment as well as effective communication together with performance data which we can use to drive the project.
The project is most likely to be successful, if we can communicate tangible benefits which the stake holders are able to buy into. Also the more information which can be shared the better as this alleviates fear and concern regarding the potential of outcomes which can have negative consequences.
Sometimes it may be necessary to provide counseling to deal with the outcome or results of the changes, it may also be necessary to take specific actions to counteract resistance of employees to the proposed change.
However resistance should not be seen as a reason to avoid the implementation of the change.
Sofema Aviation Services offers courses in Quality Assurance and Performance Auditing, for additional details please visit www.sassofia.com or email office@sassofia.com
