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Welcome to PMI's GEMBAfication, the podcast where we explore real stories behind performance improvement, bringing improvements to where the work is actually done, and of course the highs and lows of making those improvements.
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I'm your host, Susannah Clarke, Managing Partner at PMI, and today I'm delighted to be joined by Phil Knowles, who is head of Continuous Improvement and Skills Development at Currys.
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We're going to talk about an example of a problem they had, how they mobilised, what worked, what didn't, and most importantly, what they learned from it.
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So great to have you with me today, Phil.
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How are you?
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I'm very well, thank you, Susannah.
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It's uh it's great to be here.
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Thanks for having me on uh on a Glum Monday morning.
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Um what better way to start on a Glum Monday morning?
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Absolutely.
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Absolutely.
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So just before we get started, I wondered if you could give us a little bit of an overview about your approach to CI in Currys.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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So um so I work in the supply chain and the services part of Currys.
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Um and I guess we've got two key programs when it comes to continuous improvement.
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We have some big transformational projects, um, that is where a lot of our funding will go in terms of looking at how we transform our business for the better of our customers and our colleagues, and then we have a CI framework that we've adopted, and I'm sure I'm going to talk more about this shortly, where we've enabled our colleagues to focus on those small incremental process improvements that again not only help our customers but help our colleagues within the business as well.
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Fabulous.
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So let's get started.
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I wondered if you could describe for us, I mean, I've asked you to pick one kind of problem area that you were working on.
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So let's get started.
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If you could just tell us a bit about what was the problem you're trying to solve.
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Yeah, so I think you know, one of the most impactful uh programmes I've been in is that structured continuous improvement framework that we deployed across the supply chain teams.
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So over about an 18-month period, we deployed a framework that looked to strengthen our operational foundations but also delivered some benefits and some cost savings.
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I think the real problem for us, Suzanne, was that you know we had lots of brilliant people doing loads of great things across the different operations, but improvement activity was inconsistent and often reactive.
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I guess there was also a variance in the process execution, which was probably driving a little bit of cost and friction across the different business units.
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And we also lacked a common CI language and a toolkit.
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So I guess, in short, what we needed was a repeatable kind of bottom-up improvement framework that empowered the colleagues but also improved that customer experience as well.
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So when you wanted to get going with that, how did you go about designing that?
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Yeah, so I guess the great thing at Currys is we've got um we've got three key values, um, which is win together, customers first, and we own it.
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So, what we were able to do, we were able to build a framework aligned to those values, and we set up a small team, just three colleagues, that can then go out to the different operations or the different parts of supply chain and interact with the different teams.
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And what we were able to do was engage with over two and a half thousand colleagues in that CI activity.
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Um, we put on various workshops and trained our managers and our leaders in problem solving and standardised work, but also we introduced a colleague certification pathway as well, so there was some reward for the colleagues that put the work in.
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And at the same time, we built a gold, silver, and bronze maturity framework, not only to drive consistency and celebrate success, but also for allow us to review and understand how the different teams were performing.
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Okay, so when I mean I really love that idea that you were doing um both the sort of you know what are the key initiatives, but also that, and then how do you manage it on a daily basis as well?
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Those sort of looking after both sides of that.
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So, what sort of principles or methods did you use for that?
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Yeah, so I I guess we used a little bit of a blend.
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So um, those what I would call those traditional lean principles, so the the waste identification, standard work, visual management, there was a big focus on problem solving.
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So the old five wise and fishbone came out as part of those training sessions and and went down really, really well.
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Um, but of course, we also had the the Six Sigma method as well, and we were able to create um some self-learning up to Yellow Belt that colleagues could tap into, and then we provided all of the tools and the templates so that you know they could pull a full end-to-end project together, very much data-led root cause analysis.
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Um, and also I think there was you know a couple of what I would class as cultural enablers, so again, using those values, we were able to kind of establish that win-together mindset.
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There was accreditation for the bronze, silver, gold matrix as well, and also some kind of local recognition as well.
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So we got some pin badges, some lanyards, and the certification certainly helped.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And and and did you see that that was creating aspiration from your colleagues to want to um you know, climb up the certification?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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I mean, the the engagement was rapid, you know.
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When you've got two and a half thousand colleagues actively involved, it it can become a little bit tricky to get oversight and manage.
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But what we saw almost immediately was those colleagues embraced the framework, and within that kind of first 12 to 15 month period, I think there was about 48 teams that achieved the bronze standard.
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Um, we had a handful of teams uh hit silver, and we had a couple of standout colleagues as well that managed to achieve gold, so that really worked well, and I think in terms of the certification part, you know, that creates pride, I guess, in in the work that they're doing, but also aided that momentum.
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We had about 45 to 50 practitioners kind of certified early on, which was really really great to see.
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Um, and I think the other thing that went really well in those early stages is we started to see visible performance uplift in some of those key metrics that we focused on, and also we had an ideas pipeline that exploded for the good in terms of identifying some activity that we could go after, but as I'm sure I'll talk about a little later, um became a little bit of a challenge as well at the same time.
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Well, I was gonna say, I mean, two and a half thousand colleagues, you talked about a team of three at the beginning.
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That's a lot of back office work for you guys to manage and certify everybody.
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Absolutely.
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You'd mentioned key metrics just now.
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I'd be interested to know a bit more about so what were the key metrics that you were looking at?
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Yeah, so in terms of what we achieved through that 18-month um programme, there was six-figure kind of cost reduction savings from the CI projects.
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From that, in terms of a bit of a breakdown, we had 45 um process improvements that we delivered.
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There was over 20 cost reduction projects, uh, and the same number, over 20 for customer journey improvements, and also um focusing on some colleague experience changes as well.
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What that led to from a performance point of view, the real standout metrics for us is our um customer repeat jobs moved down in the right direction.
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We massively improved our compliance rates for product damage and handling, which was a real big key initiative for us at that time.
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We also started to see um new starter attrition reduce as well, so took a little bit longer for that one to kick in, but we were able to get some really good data on that particular piece, and you know, our new starter attrition reduced from nearly 27% to around about 12% over a 12-month period, which is really really good.
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And and I think the one for me where colleagues really started to buy into the framework, the culture, and the mindset is that they were starting to see that their life became a little bit easier, so we were able to reduce admin hours from processes, and we were able to do a little bit of automation, improve some of the reporting.
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So essentially, we were making their day job and their life a little bit easier.
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Yes, and and and that that's such a lovely feeling when you can do that, because in my experience, um, through automating and reduction of admin and so on, it doesn't mean that people are sitting twiddling their thumbs, it means that people have got actually more rewarding work to do.
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Is that what you found?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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So, you know, they can focus on the things that really matter, um, and you know, they can focus on customers a lot more, and I think also as well, it gives them a little bit more time, I say, to kind of improve their capability, and and we saw that as well with you know the number of hours that were spent on our e-learning modules, over a thousand hours of colleague time looking at those CI toolkit, the problem solving skills.
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So essentially what we managed to do was create a little bit of a um sustained, scalable improvement culture with some measurable impact.
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Yeah, amazing, and I and I think it's um fantastic to hear the range of results that you had, you know, not just the um all the great ones that you'd want, but you know, things like into the customer journey as well, um and that new starter attrition.
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I mean, that's really impactful because we all know the the pain of um new hiring and then losing new hires.
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You put a lot of work in up front.
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So being able to reduce that and people wanting to stay longer, great result.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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And I think that was one of the first ones that we really got stuck into in terms of that full end-to-end view uh review, you know, the volume stream mapping, looking at the different pain points, the handover points between the different functions, um, and it came to life, as I said, you know, through the numbers, which was really, really good to see.
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So, I mean, this is an amazing success story, isn't it, Phil?
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I mean, of course, and and so the all these wonderful results that you've achieved.
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But on the other side of that coin, there's always a so what didn't go quite so well, and what did you learn from that?
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Yeah, so I think if if I was starting again and I was doing it today, um, there are probably a couple of things that I would do differently.
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I think first of all, strengthen the sustain model from day one.
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It was quite clear that some teams needed more structure and follow-up, especially those that weren't familiar with a CI culture or a mindset.
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So, you know, there might have been, and a great example is where we would have had one department where they're very entrepreneurial, very focused on making a difference, not just for themselves, but for the customer as well, where another function might have been heavily supported by a project management team, so they're kind of working in tandem together, and there's less empowerment to make that change, so therefore, having that sustained model and a bit more of a structured follow-up, I think, would would help going forward.
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I think also another big one for me, having reflected on the program itself, would how would we align the CI framework and the deployment to some of those bigger strategic priorities earlier to ensure that we you know we were perhaps tackling some of the bigger issues first rather than you know trying to generate those off-the-floor ideas to gather some momentum?
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Potentially, we could have tackled some big issues to really you know get the ball rolling.
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Um, and I think the final one for me would have been to invest sooner in some data automation, um, manual reporting, slowed early momentum.
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And I think if we could have been um quicker to some of the data, I think that would have increased the speed and amplified the benefits a lot more.
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Okay, okay, interesting.
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And and so out of interest, as you move forward, what are you doing differently sort of related to those three areas?
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Uh yeah, so I think um in terms of the sustained model, um, we have a structured follow-up now in terms of post-implementation review.
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Um, we are working with the teams that are on the cusp of the bronze um certification, so we're doing a lot more work to help them get over the line in terms of the support and the offering.
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Um, the data one is an interesting one because we are reliant on lots of other teams across the business, but where we can, um, we are looking to get into the data uh a lot earlier.
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And um, in terms of the strategic priorities, what we've done is we've picked one and we are going after one and we are aligning to that particular program.
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We have a huge initiative across Currys called Right First Time.
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Um, it does exactly what it says on the tin, whether whether it's for the customer or the colleague, so we've aligned to that particular program, and anything that we do from a CI perspective will feed into that going forward.
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And so are you you you said that you know you've had lots of people giving ideas for improvement.
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So, how are you managing those ideas for improvement against the kind of right first time that's our key overarching goal?
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Yeah, so I guess this is a bit of a success success story and a little bit of a setback story at the same time.
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So um the ideas pipeline exploded as part of that CI program, and I think it was fair to say we were managed them in on a Excel spreadsheet.
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The process was very manual, clinky clunky.
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It relied on a lot of manual intervention from people to to review and identify the potential that the the problem might have or the idea might have, and then also you know, communication was slow when it came back to feeding back to the colleagues about their idea and what the next steps were going to be.
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So we took the decision to invest in a single colleague ideas platform, and our ambition was to create this single unified view of all the ideas that would come through, and that would then allow us to problem solve and drive the continuous improvement essentially to the next level.
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It sounds simple, you know.
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Empower your colleagues, surface those operational improvements, and then drive innovation.
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And if I'm really honest, Suzanne, we got off to a fantastic start.
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So we deployed the platform in one business unit and we set ourselves a bit of a phase plan to roll out across the other areas, and we assumed that the the same launch formula would work everywhere, and in fact, it didn't.
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So when we rolled out the platform to other functions, kind of engagement tailed off or plateaued, and colleagues really struggled to connect with the platform because the prompts were too broad, the problems weren't specific enough, and the campaign that we set out didn't resonate with the realities of each operation.
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Um, so we set a very broad question around the right first-time strategic priority to look at how we could improve our ways of working, customer experience, and grow our profits.
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Um, and it's a very one-size fits-all approach, and if I'm honest, it created some noise rather than clarity.
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Now, don't get me wrong, we had loads of great ideas, um, but we also had to work with the different functions over a period of time to try and hit the sweet spot in terms of what we were asking, because some of our ideas might have been right at the very top end of the scale that would have needed lots and lots of you know finance and investment to make it happen, or it might be right at the bottom end of the scale, which was you know, a a room needs painting, for example, and that's not you know going to help us improve the customer experience uh uh along the way.
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So, you know, it was clear we had to do something different to make sure that we had the right volume of ideas come through and they were they were manageable as well at the same time.
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And and how how does that look today?
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You know, how has that matured, would you say?
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Yeah, so I think there were some early warning signs in terms of what was happening.
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I've already mentioned that the you know the engagements started to plateau off, the ideas became uh very generic, but also as well, we saw a lot of ideas that were being put forward that were either out of scope or or duplicates, and also where, as a business, we may already be working on a solution for that idea, and we haven't been very clear in terms of communicating that out to the colleagues, so they're not aware of what's happening.
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Um, so we realise you know we had to do something a little bit different.
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Um, so we've made a bit of a pivot in terms of the plan.
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We've moved from those kind of broad campaigns to target more specific business problems.
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So instead of kind of share any idea, we now anchor the campaigns around a specific operational challenge.
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Um, so for example, we've just ran a great one in one of our operations around how we could save and optimize warehouse space to make it safer and easier to work in in terms of the colleague experience.
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The other things that we learn and we're changing now is the launch to each function is very different.
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So different teams need different messages, they need different examples, and most importantly, you need that leadership involvement from from day one.
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Um and I think finally that the governance processes and the and the visibility is is much clearer.
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So when we had that broad campaign, we were reliant on a number of SMEs within our business to make a decision whether the idea should move forward, but now we've built a bit of a robust process that sits behind it, allows for a clearer review of the ideas, faster feedback loops to the colleagues, and the reporting is a lot more transparent as well.
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Um, and as we've implemented kind of this next phase of the plan, there's been no kind of pushback or defensiveness from the team.
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I think there's just been a bit of a shared recognition that scaling up a platform um like the one that we have has been a bit messy, and we've had to adapt our on the journey.
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And you know, we've taken all of the lessons that we've learned, redesigned that rollout plan, and now we're embracing a more collaborative approach to our colleague ideas.
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In many ways, I can imagine that um that's helping your colleagues to recognise that you're not perfect either in the nicest possible way.
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Um and and you know, demonstrating how you are learning at the same time and how you are improving and adapting gives them some sense of okay, it's okay for things not to go right round here all the time.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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And I think you know, one of those that the the key um lessons and how you create that culture is experimentation.
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So, you know, if colleagues only see the the polished success stories, then they assume that failure is unacceptable.
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But when you op openly share that it didn't work and that you've learnt, then it gives everyone permission to try, adapt, and and to improve things going forward.
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So now with having had such you know rich learning from this, if if somebody's listening to this and thinks, goodness me, where do I start?
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You know, how do how do I get going?
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What what advice would you give?
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So I think using the the example of the colleague ideas platform or linking it back to that, I think one of the biggest lessons for me is that you know change scales through relevance.
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And you know, a strong pilot can give you confidence, um, but it can also give you that kind of false sense of transferability.
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You know, what works well in one business unit doesn't automatically transfer to another because you know each function has its own pressures, rhythms, culture.
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So I think, you know, if you are leading change, you know, be be willing to pivot, you know, tailor your approach, stay close to the ground, and if you hear something isn't working, then you know, try and and uh and adapt the plan so that so that it does, I guess.
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Yeah, yeah.
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I think relevance is really interesting.
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That was it.
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I mean, I I loved it when you described how you'd sort of switched and you used that example um for so that you're giving people a lead.
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I think people often I know I work better, I mean I'm talking about myself here, but I work better when someone gives me a start of a 10.
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Do you know what I mean?
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Um, a blank sheet of paper isn't always easy to start from, is it?
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And if you're looking for that sort of input, you where do I start?
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How do I make it relevant?
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I think that's a really interesting way of giving them guidance without leading them to what the solutions would be.
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So they're still free to offer the options of what they think would make it better, but they're focused on what is the area particularly that they're talking about, what's the context for this?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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And I think you know, case studies and examples of where you know uh change has happened in the past add a whole heap of value.
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And I think, you know, to your point and keeping it on theme, you know, you've got to start with a real problem, you know, not that blank blank sheet.
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You know, colleagues will engage with the challenge if it's clear and meaningful.
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Um, you know, it's got to be operationally relevant to them, otherwise they just won't buy into it.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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Phil, thank you so much for your time today and for sharing your story.
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I mean, it's absolutely um it's so interesting to hear how you've been able to scale and and how you've been able to draw people in and get people um really behind um building their own skills and making the improvements along the way.
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So um I'm really thrilled.
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Thank you very much for sharing that with us.
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Oh, you're welcome.
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It's been it's been great actually.
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It's uh it's flown by and uh yeah, thanks for having me along.
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I uh I look forward to the uh to the full podcast.
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And share it amongst the others and your colleagues.
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So, talking of which, if you have enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice.
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Please share it, leave us a review, because the more we grow, the better everybody with work becomes.
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You can find more insights and resources at PMI.co.uk and you can follow us on LinkedIn.
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So until next time, thank you, Phil, and um look forward to hearing um your everybody's news stories about what they've done to create GEMBAfication.
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Thank you.
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Welcome to PMI's GEMBAfication, the podcast where we explore real stories behind performance improvement, bringing improvements to where the work is actually done, and of course the highs and lows of making those improvements.
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I'm your host, Susannah Clarke, Managing Partner at PMI, and today I'm delighted to be joined by Phil Knowles, who is head of Continuous Improvement and Skills Development at Currys.
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We're going to talk about an example of a problem they had, how they mobilised, what worked, what didn't, and most importantly, what they learned from it.
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So great to have you with me today, Phil.
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How are you?
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I'm very well, thank you, Susannah.
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It's uh it's great to be here.
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Thanks for having me on uh on a Glum Monday morning.
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Um what better way to start on a Glum Monday morning?
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Absolutely.
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Absolutely.
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So just before we get started, I wondered if you could give us a little bit of an overview about your approach to CI in Currys.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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So um so I work in the supply chain and the services part of Currys.
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Um and I guess we've got two key programs when it comes to continuous improvement.
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We have some big transformational projects, um, that is where a lot of our funding will go in terms of looking at how we transform our business for the better of our customers and our colleagues, and then we have a CI framework that we've adopted, and I'm sure I'm going to talk more about this shortly, where we've enabled our colleagues to focus on those small incremental process improvements that again not only help our customers but help our colleagues within the business as well.
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Fabulous.
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So let's get started.
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I wondered if you could describe for us, I mean, I've asked you to pick one kind of problem area that you were working on.
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So let's get started.
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If you could just tell us a bit about what was the problem you're trying to solve.
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Yeah, so I think you know, one of the most impactful uh programmes I've been in is that structured continuous improvement framework that we deployed across the supply chain teams.
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So over about an 18-month period, we deployed a framework that looked to strengthen our operational foundations but also delivered some benefits and some cost savings.
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I think the real problem for us, Suzanne, was that you know we had lots of brilliant people doing loads of great things across the different operations, but improvement activity was inconsistent and often reactive.
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I guess there was also a variance in the process execution, which was probably driving a little bit of cost and friction across the different business units.
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And we also lacked a common CI language and a toolkit.
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So I guess, in short, what we needed was a repeatable kind of bottom-up improvement framework that empowered the colleagues but also improved that customer experience as well.
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So when you wanted to get going with that, how did you go about designing that?
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Yeah, so I guess the great thing at Currys is we've got um we've got three key values, um, which is win together, customers first, and we own it.
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So, what we were able to do, we were able to build a framework aligned to those values, and we set up a small team, just three colleagues, that can then go out to the different operations or the different parts of supply chain and interact with the different teams.
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And what we were able to do was engage with over two and a half thousand colleagues in that CI activity.
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Um, we put on various workshops and trained our managers and our leaders in problem solving and standardised work, but also we introduced a colleague certification pathway as well, so there was some reward for the colleagues that put the work in.
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And at the same time, we built a gold, silver, and bronze maturity framework, not only to drive consistency and celebrate success, but also for allow us to review and understand how the different teams were performing.
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Okay, so when I mean I really love that idea that you were doing um both the sort of you know what are the key initiatives, but also that, and then how do you manage it on a daily basis as well?
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Those sort of looking after both sides of that.
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So, what sort of principles or methods did you use for that?
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Yeah, so I I guess we used a little bit of a blend.
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So um, those what I would call those traditional lean principles, so the the waste identification, standard work, visual management, there was a big focus on problem solving.
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So the old five wise and fishbone came out as part of those training sessions and and went down really, really well.
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Um, but of course, we also had the the Six Sigma method as well, and we were able to create um some self-learning up to Yellow Belt that colleagues could tap into, and then we provided all of the tools and the templates so that you know they could pull a full end-to-end project together, very much data-led root cause analysis.
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Um, and also I think there was you know a couple of what I would class as cultural enablers, so again, using those values, we were able to kind of establish that win-together mindset.
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There was accreditation for the bronze, silver, gold matrix as well, and also some kind of local recognition as well.
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So we got some pin badges, some lanyards, and the certification certainly helped.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And and and did you see that that was creating aspiration from your colleagues to want to um you know, climb up the certification?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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I mean, the the engagement was rapid, you know.
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When you've got two and a half thousand colleagues actively involved, it it can become a little bit tricky to get oversight and manage.
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But what we saw almost immediately was those colleagues embraced the framework, and within that kind of first 12 to 15 month period, I think there was about 48 teams that achieved the bronze standard.
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Um, we had a handful of teams uh hit silver, and we had a couple of standout colleagues as well that managed to achieve gold, so that really worked well, and I think in terms of the certification part, you know, that creates pride, I guess, in in the work that they're doing, but also aided that momentum.
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We had about 45 to 50 practitioners kind of certified early on, which was really really great to see.
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Um, and I think the other thing that went really well in those early stages is we started to see visible performance uplift in some of those key metrics that we focused on, and also we had an ideas pipeline that exploded for the good in terms of identifying some activity that we could go after, but as I'm sure I'll talk about a little later, um became a little bit of a challenge as well at the same time.
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Well, I was gonna say, I mean, two and a half thousand colleagues, you talked about a team of three at the beginning.
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That's a lot of back office work for you guys to manage and certify everybody.
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Absolutely.
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You'd mentioned key metrics just now.
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I'd be interested to know a bit more about so what were the key metrics that you were looking at?
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Yeah, so in terms of what we achieved through that 18-month um programme, there was six-figure kind of cost reduction savings from the CI projects.
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From that, in terms of a bit of a breakdown, we had 45 um process improvements that we delivered.
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There was over 20 cost reduction projects, uh, and the same number, over 20 for customer journey improvements, and also um focusing on some colleague experience changes as well.
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What that led to from a performance point of view, the real standout metrics for us is our um customer repeat jobs moved down in the right direction.
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We massively improved our compliance rates for product damage and handling, which was a real big key initiative for us at that time.
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We also started to see um new starter attrition reduce as well, so took a little bit longer for that one to kick in, but we were able to get some really good data on that particular piece, and you know, our new starter attrition reduced from nearly 27% to around about 12% over a 12-month period, which is really really good.
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And and I think the one for me where colleagues really started to buy into the framework, the culture, and the mindset is that they were starting to see that their life became a little bit easier, so we were able to reduce admin hours from processes, and we were able to do a little bit of automation, improve some of the reporting.
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So essentially, we were making their day job and their life a little bit easier.
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Yes, and and and that that's such a lovely feeling when you can do that, because in my experience, um, through automating and reduction of admin and so on, it doesn't mean that people are sitting twiddling their thumbs, it means that people have got actually more rewarding work to do.
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Is that what you found?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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So, you know, they can focus on the things that really matter, um, and you know, they can focus on customers a lot more, and I think also as well, it gives them a little bit more time, I say, to kind of improve their capability, and and we saw that as well with you know the number of hours that were spent on our e-learning modules, over a thousand hours of colleague time looking at those CI toolkit, the problem solving skills.
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So essentially what we managed to do was create a little bit of a um sustained, scalable improvement culture with some measurable impact.
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Yeah, amazing, and I and I think it's um fantastic to hear the range of results that you had, you know, not just the um all the great ones that you'd want, but you know, things like into the customer journey as well, um and that new starter attrition.
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I mean, that's really impactful because we all know the the pain of um new hiring and then losing new hires.
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You put a lot of work in up front.
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So being able to reduce that and people wanting to stay longer, great result.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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And I think that was one of the first ones that we really got stuck into in terms of that full end-to-end view uh review, you know, the volume stream mapping, looking at the different pain points, the handover points between the different functions, um, and it came to life, as I said, you know, through the numbers, which was really, really good to see.
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So, I mean, this is an amazing success story, isn't it, Phil?
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I mean, of course, and and so the all these wonderful results that you've achieved.
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But on the other side of that coin, there's always a so what didn't go quite so well, and what did you learn from that?
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Yeah, so I think if if I was starting again and I was doing it today, um, there are probably a couple of things that I would do differently.
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I think first of all, strengthen the sustain model from day one.
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It was quite clear that some teams needed more structure and follow-up, especially those that weren't familiar with a CI culture or a mindset.
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So, you know, there might have been, and a great example is where we would have had one department where they're very entrepreneurial, very focused on making a difference, not just for themselves, but for the customer as well, where another function might have been heavily supported by a project management team, so they're kind of working in tandem together, and there's less empowerment to make that change, so therefore, having that sustained model and a bit more of a structured follow-up, I think, would would help going forward.
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I think also another big one for me, having reflected on the program itself, would how would we align the CI framework and the deployment to some of those bigger strategic priorities earlier to ensure that we you know we were perhaps tackling some of the bigger issues first rather than you know trying to generate those off-the-floor ideas to gather some momentum?
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Potentially, we could have tackled some big issues to really you know get the ball rolling.
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Um, and I think the final one for me would have been to invest sooner in some data automation, um, manual reporting, slowed early momentum.
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And I think if we could have been um quicker to some of the data, I think that would have increased the speed and amplified the benefits a lot more.
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Okay, okay, interesting.
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And and so out of interest, as you move forward, what are you doing differently sort of related to those three areas?
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Uh yeah, so I think um in terms of the sustained model, um, we have a structured follow-up now in terms of post-implementation review.
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Um, we are working with the teams that are on the cusp of the bronze um certification, so we're doing a lot more work to help them get over the line in terms of the support and the offering.
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Um, the data one is an interesting one because we are reliant on lots of other teams across the business, but where we can, um, we are looking to get into the data uh a lot earlier.
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And um, in terms of the strategic priorities, what we've done is we've picked one and we are going after one and we are aligning to that particular program.
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We have a huge initiative across Currys called Right First Time.
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Um, it does exactly what it says on the tin, whether whether it's for the customer or the colleague, so we've aligned to that particular program, and anything that we do from a CI perspective will feed into that going forward.
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And so are you you you said that you know you've had lots of people giving ideas for improvement.
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So, how are you managing those ideas for improvement against the kind of right first time that's our key overarching goal?
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Yeah, so I guess this is a bit of a success success story and a little bit of a setback story at the same time.
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So um the ideas pipeline exploded as part of that CI program, and I think it was fair to say we were managed them in on a Excel spreadsheet.
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The process was very manual, clinky clunky.
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It relied on a lot of manual intervention from people to to review and identify the potential that the the problem might have or the idea might have, and then also you know, communication was slow when it came back to feeding back to the colleagues about their idea and what the next steps were going to be.
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So we took the decision to invest in a single colleague ideas platform, and our ambition was to create this single unified view of all the ideas that would come through, and that would then allow us to problem solve and drive the continuous improvement essentially to the next level.
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It sounds simple, you know.
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Empower your colleagues, surface those operational improvements, and then drive innovation.
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And if I'm really honest, Suzanne, we got off to a fantastic start.
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So we deployed the platform in one business unit and we set ourselves a bit of a phase plan to roll out across the other areas, and we assumed that the the same launch formula would work everywhere, and in fact, it didn't.
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So when we rolled out the platform to other functions, kind of engagement tailed off or plateaued, and colleagues really struggled to connect with the platform because the prompts were too broad, the problems weren't specific enough, and the campaign that we set out didn't resonate with the realities of each operation.
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Um, so we set a very broad question around the right first-time strategic priority to look at how we could improve our ways of working, customer experience, and grow our profits.
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Um, and it's a very one-size fits-all approach, and if I'm honest, it created some noise rather than clarity.
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Now, don't get me wrong, we had loads of great ideas, um, but we also had to work with the different functions over a period of time to try and hit the sweet spot in terms of what we were asking, because some of our ideas might have been right at the very top end of the scale that would have needed lots and lots of you know finance and investment to make it happen, or it might be right at the bottom end of the scale, which was you know, a a room needs painting, for example, and that's not you know going to help us improve the customer experience uh uh along the way.
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So, you know, it was clear we had to do something different to make sure that we had the right volume of ideas come through and they were they were manageable as well at the same time.
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And and how how does that look today?
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You know, how has that matured, would you say?
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Yeah, so I think there were some early warning signs in terms of what was happening.
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I've already mentioned that the you know the engagements started to plateau off, the ideas became uh very generic, but also as well, we saw a lot of ideas that were being put forward that were either out of scope or or duplicates, and also where, as a business, we may already be working on a solution for that idea, and we haven't been very clear in terms of communicating that out to the colleagues, so they're not aware of what's happening.
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Um, so we realise you know we had to do something a little bit different.
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Um, so we've made a bit of a pivot in terms of the plan.
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We've moved from those kind of broad campaigns to target more specific business problems.
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So instead of kind of share any idea, we now anchor the campaigns around a specific operational challenge.
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Um, so for example, we've just ran a great one in one of our operations around how we could save and optimize warehouse space to make it safer and easier to work in in terms of the colleague experience.
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The other things that we learn and we're changing now is the launch to each function is very different.
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So different teams need different messages, they need different examples, and most importantly, you need that leadership involvement from from day one.
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Um and I think finally that the governance processes and the and the visibility is is much clearer.
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So when we had that broad campaign, we were reliant on a number of SMEs within our business to make a decision whether the idea should move forward, but now we've built a bit of a robust process that sits behind it, allows for a clearer review of the ideas, faster feedback loops to the colleagues, and the reporting is a lot more transparent as well.
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Um, and as we've implemented kind of this next phase of the plan, there's been no kind of pushback or defensiveness from the team.
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I think there's just been a bit of a shared recognition that scaling up a platform um like the one that we have has been a bit messy, and we've had to adapt our on the journey.
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And you know, we've taken all of the lessons that we've learned, redesigned that rollout plan, and now we're embracing a more collaborative approach to our colleague ideas.
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In many ways, I can imagine that um that's helping your colleagues to recognise that you're not perfect either in the nicest possible way.
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Um and and you know, demonstrating how you are learning at the same time and how you are improving and adapting gives them some sense of okay, it's okay for things not to go right round here all the time.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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And I think you know, one of those that the the key um lessons and how you create that culture is experimentation.
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So, you know, if colleagues only see the the polished success stories, then they assume that failure is unacceptable.
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But when you op openly share that it didn't work and that you've learnt, then it gives everyone permission to try, adapt, and and to improve things going forward.
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So now with having had such you know rich learning from this, if if somebody's listening to this and thinks, goodness me, where do I start?
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You know, how do how do I get going?
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What what advice would you give?
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So I think using the the example of the colleague ideas platform or linking it back to that, I think one of the biggest lessons for me is that you know change scales through relevance.
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And you know, a strong pilot can give you confidence, um, but it can also give you that kind of false sense of transferability.
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You know, what works well in one business unit doesn't automatically transfer to another because you know each function has its own pressures, rhythms, culture.
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So I think, you know, if you are leading change, you know, be be willing to pivot, you know, tailor your approach, stay close to the ground, and if you hear something isn't working, then you know, try and and uh and adapt the plan so that so that it does, I guess.
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Yeah, yeah.
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I think relevance is really interesting.
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That was it.
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I mean, I I loved it when you described how you'd sort of switched and you used that example um for so that you're giving people a lead.
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I think people often I know I work better, I mean I'm talking about myself here, but I work better when someone gives me a start of a 10.
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Do you know what I mean?
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Um, a blank sheet of paper isn't always easy to start from, is it?
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And if you're looking for that sort of input, you where do I start?
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How do I make it relevant?
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I think that's a really interesting way of giving them guidance without leading them to what the solutions would be.
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So they're still free to offer the options of what they think would make it better, but they're focused on what is the area particularly that they're talking about, what's the context for this?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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And I think you know, case studies and examples of where you know uh change has happened in the past add a whole heap of value.
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And I think, you know, to your point and keeping it on theme, you know, you've got to start with a real problem, you know, not that blank blank sheet.
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You know, colleagues will engage with the challenge if it's clear and meaningful.
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Um, you know, it's got to be operationally relevant to them, otherwise they just won't buy into it.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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Phil, thank you so much for your time today and for sharing your story.
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I mean, it's absolutely um it's so interesting to hear how you've been able to scale and and how you've been able to draw people in and get people um really behind um building their own skills and making the improvements along the way.
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So um I'm really thrilled.
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Thank you very much for sharing that with us.
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Oh, you're welcome.
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It's been it's been great actually.
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It's uh it's flown by and uh yeah, thanks for having me along.
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I uh I look forward to the uh to the full podcast.
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And share it amongst the others and your colleagues.
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So, talking of which, if you have enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice.
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Please share it, leave us a review, because the more we grow, the better everybody with work becomes.
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You can find more insights and resources at PMI.co.uk and you can follow us on LinkedIn.
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So until next time, thank you, Phil, and um look forward to hearing um your everybody's news stories about what they've done to create GEMBAfication.
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Thank you.
