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Solving a Problem Of Practice

This project shows my expertise in identifying and solving a Problem of Practice (PoP), in this case, the need for strategic skill set training in new managers, utilizing the Stanford Design Process.

Following the Stanford Design School design process to create a solution to a Problem of Practice (PoP), there was an evolution of thought, creativity, and solutions that may have yet to occur had that process not been followed. The initial PoP identified was that newly promoted managers at Erin Condren (EC) needed strategic skill set training because they needed to possess these skills before being promoted, negatively impacting morale, productivity, and employee retention. After following the design process, I ended up with a PoP sharpened in scope and a prototype that began to address the PoP and specific next steps to provide a more holistic solution to what turned out to be a complex problem.


In the first step of the design process of empathizing, I used interviews to understand the perspective of the managers who needed training, along with their subordinates and a manager who worked closely with both sets of users. I asked each user a variation of the broad question, “What do you need to be successful in your job?” and gathered information that started to change my hypothesis on solving the PoP. Three themes emerged regarding needs on the production floor: managers did want and need strategic skill set training, which confirmed my hypothesis; there was a lack of information sharing at all levels, and managers did not implement rewards and recognition practices. Uncovering the shortcomings showed that lack of training was not the sole negative impact on employees. Although training was crucial, it may be more resource intensive and, thus, lower in the order of priority than implementing other tactics to make a positive impact. In the next step of the design process, I was able to examine the root causes further and better define the problem.


In the next step of the design process, I first used a Five Whys Root Cause Analysis (Appendix A). I identified that the executive overseeing the employees in need of training did not possess the skills that his managers needed and did not prioritize demonstrating or training those skills. Luckily, I didn’t have to solve that problem, as the production team has a newly promoted executive who demonstrates and prioritizes training in those skills. In addition to the Five Whys Root-Cause Analysis, I completed a Why-How Ladder (Appendix B) and a Point-of-View Framework (Appendix C). By working through these exercises, I could confirm the multiple factors that were negatively impacting employees as initially identified in the empathize step, such as lack of training, rewards and recognition programs, and effective communication processes. What I initially identified as a problem to solve with one solution (training) was much more nuanced than I thought. The final defined PoP (Appendix D) included those missing pieces to a more complex problem.

  

After working through the first two design process steps, I moved on to the third step of ideating solutions to the problem. The first process I used was setting a timer for 15 minutes to write out anything that came to mind when thinking about the problem and the solution process (see Figure A5). I then took a 30-minute break away from consciously thinking about the issue to let my thoughts incubate. I listened to some piano music while folding laundry and cooking dinner. The time I spent incubating was fruitful, as when I came back and spent another 20 minutes reflecting on my problem, I was able to identify themes I wanted to explore during the brainstorming portion of the ideation process, such as behaviors to reward, how do I sort solutions, and what other ways can I find potential solutions to the problem outside of brainstorming (Appendix E). The second strategy I used in the ideating phase was to hold a brainstorming session with three employees. I used an online tool at ideaboardz.com that allowed me to have the employees anonymously share ideas about the behaviors recognized to improve morale, productivity, and retention and the rewards that could be offered (Appendix F). I gave the group about five minutes to add ideas to the board on virtual sticky notes and three minutes to like any ideas. Afterward, we discussed pitfalls around the ideas, such as cost or ease of implementation, and any ideas they loved. In addition to the first two processes used for ideating, I kept an incubation journal to jot down notes throughout the two weeks of ideating to capture any spur-of-the-moment thoughts. My biggest takeaway from the ideation process was that it would be more important to focus on easily implemented strategies to impact morale through rewards and recognition instead of the least-expensive ideas, which was my first inclination when looking at solutions. The problem was much more nuanced than initially thought so that the solution would need a multi-phase, long-term approach. Choosing an idea to prototype that would make an immediate, positive impact was significant.


Once I had identified that an easily implemented solution would make an immediate impact, I designed a prototype of a welcome pack for new employees to receive before their first week. Selecting the welcome pack idea would impact employee morale from the moment they start working at the company versus waiting to reward and recognize behavior and productivity once they started working, which is part of the longer-term solution. The welcome pack included a note from the CEO welcoming the new employee, the company’s purpose statement and core values, free branded, personalized product and a gift card, a contact list, and a defined schedule for their first week (Appendix G). The purpose of the welcome pack was to provide information up front so the employee knew what to expect for their first week of work, which would assuage some anxiety many feel when starting a new job. In addition, providing a glimpse into the company culture and some free goodies would reassure them that they had made the right choice in choosing EC as a workplace and would positively impact them going forward. Arlene S. Hirsch (2017) stated, “69 percent of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding. New employees who underwent a structured onboarding program were 58 percent more likely to be with the organization after three years. Organizations with a standard onboarding process experience 50 percent greater new-hire productivity.”


After completing the prototype, the last phase of the design process was testing. I used two strategies to test the prototype in this phase - a focus group and an individual interview. The focus group had the opportunity to review the prototype before providing feedback so they could reflect on it and formulate their thoughts. The employees that were part of the focus group had experience in being onboarded as new employees and also in onboarding new employees which offered multiple perspectives. I recorded the session to ensure I got all the critical feedback. The suggestions from the group included additional topics to be covered in the first week of training, adjusting the gifted product options, and adjusting the product knowledge resources. Several items to add will be a QR code in the welcome pack to access all the documents and links, reviewing the recording of the 2022 All-Hands call, and a 15-minute touch base at the end of each day to recap and build a relationship with their buddy trainer or Supervisor.  


For the second testing process, I interviewed someone who did not work for EC and had experience in a different industry. To eliminate bias in the feedback, I asked for previous positive and negative onboarding experiences before sharing the prototype. I saw where feedback about positive onboarding processes aligned with prototype elements. I also confirmed that the prototype contained no items from negative onboarding experiences.


By following the five steps in the design process, I produced a prototype of a welcome pack that would positively impact employees at EC (Appendix H) from their first day on. My biggest takeaway from the design process, specifically the testing phase, was ensuring that the welcome pack and the onboarding process were structured, unambiguous, and included personal touches to help the employee feel comfortable and build trust. Through the design process, my PoP evolved from a hypothesis of a single impactor with a singular solution to a multifaceted problem with a nuanced solution. The welcome pack is just the start of a long-term strategic project to positively impact morale, productivity, and retention at Erin Condren.




References


Hirsch, Arlene S. (2017, August 10).  Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Good Onboarding. SHRM.  https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/dont-underestimate-the-importance-of-effective-onboarding.aspx#:~:text=69%20percent%20of%20employees%20are,the%20organization%20after%20three%20years.



Appendix A

5 Whys Root-Cause Analysis


  1. Why don’t the individual contributors who are being promoted into management positions not have management skills?

    1. Because they haven’t been trained in management skills.

  2. Why haven’t they been trained in management skills?

    1. There are no formal development or training programs for production employees.

  3. Why aren’t there any formal development or training programs for production employees?

    1. Because there wasn’t a shortage of labor up until recently, and anyone who didn’t perform would be terminated.

  4. Why were employees being terminated instead of being coached or developed?

    1. Because the managers didn’t make it a priority or have the skills to coach and develop their employees.

  5. Why didn’t the managers make it a priority or have the skills to coach and develop their employees?

    1. Because their executive lead didn’t have these skills and didn’t make it a priority



Appendix B

Why-How Ladder



Appendix C

Point of View Framework


We met - A production manager who oversees the entire production floor

We were surprised to notice - The manager did not have processes in place to effectively communicate information to all departments or a strategy to motivate employees

We wonder if this means - Does the manager know how to implement processes to effectively communicate information to all departments? Does the manager know how to motivate their employees?

It would be game changing if - Effective communication processes are implemented by the manager and they successfully create a strategy to motivate their employees.


We met - A production lead who oversees the print room and has no prior management experience

We were surprised to notice - The lead was craving information and recognition

We wonder if this means - Can retention and productivity be increased if they received more information and recognition?

It would be game changing if - The lead felt more valued by receiving necessary information to do their jobs effectively and recognition for their hard work and positive results.



Appendix D

Final Problem Statement


Erin Condren Design is a consumer goods company that sells organizational products to help their customers have more organized, productive and joyful lives.  Products include planners, notebooks, writing tools, stationery, and more.  The company has a production facility and warehouse in Austin, Texas where almost 100 employees build product and ship orders.  Due to the national labor shortages and wage budgets in the company, many of the Supervisors and Leads that oversee departments in the production facility have been promoted from individual contributor positions into management positions.  Many of these employees have little to no management experience.  This, along with other factors, such as higher paying companies recruiting employees, former executives not making training and morale a priority, and lack of training resources, has caused a high rate of turnover in the production facility.


To address the high turnover rate, there are three distinct areas with opportunity for improvement that will directly impact the employees in a positive manner, thus reducing the turnover rate.  The area that will provide quick wins and can be most easily implemented is addressing morale of the production employees through reward and recognition practices.  By rewarding and recognizing employees, they will feel more valued, and less likely to leave for another company.  Once an effective program of rewards and recognition is implemented, the second phase of impacting retention will be implementing operational processes that improve communication of information.  The third phase, which is the most time-consuming and resource heavy, will be offering training in both tactical and strategic skills and creating a program to internally develop talent before promoting them into management positions.  


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