E = MC Squared
For us in NSDL, establishing a world class depository was a challenge in itself. Once we did a decent job of this, we proceeded further to figure out what our core strengths are which could act as the foundation for our growth. We did not want to limit ourselves as a player in capital market alone.
We now see NSDL as a total solution provider Covering Information Technology, Process Design, Operations, Legal & Administrative infrastructure and Integrating multiple agencies to Manage very large databases and large volume transactions in a Secure and Efficient manner.
With this diversification we want to ensure that the organization does not get too unwieldy and non-responsive in our service delivery. We want to make the passion for excellence a habit and not an exception.
To achieve this, a host of areas needs attention. We sat down and assessed our immediate challenges in the projects we are on and the core strengths around which our growth strategy is built. This posting briefly describes our operational strategy that is still evolving.
One of the first things that we have taken up is to structure a simple model that could direct our prioritization. We call it E = MC2; which summarizes our belief that Excellence can be derived from a culture that Measures each and every drivers of performance and strives for Continuous improvement with aCustomer focus. Let me explain each of these in a little more detail.
Measurement
Measurement and MIS are integral parts of all management processes. But often these measures and reports hide more than what they reveal. As a cynic observed “Statistics is like bikini; what it reveals is interesting, but what is hides is the most critical’
We decided to have a “bear it all” culture when it comes to measurement. When we measure we try to remind ourselves “No Pads Please”. We realize that the matrices that we chose and measure could change our behavior, help to make the performance visible, improve control and help in decision making.
This is most easily preached and more difficult to practice. So we try to establish rituals to make this a habit than response to the big boss’s whims. We have also developed a framework that drives our measurements. (I shall discuss this in details in another posting)
Continuous improvement
The measurements help us to know where we are and where we appear to be going. It also helps us to identify trends and exceptions and then get to the root cause(s). This helps us to identify and anticipate in advance potential pitfalls and take preventive/ proactive actions and not just react to emergencies.
Customer Focus
Measurement and Improvement can be distractive and could lead to enormous waste of resources if we don’t have focus. We attempt to inculcate in each of us a belief that the most powerful factor that provides a ‘right focus’ is the customer.
We developed (and continue to develop) a series of measures which we call “Customer Service Commitments” (CSC). This is fundamentally different from the service level agreement (SLA). SLA is a commitment on the minimum below which we will try not to go. But CSC is what we try our best to deliver; a level much above SLA.
Footnote: These are foundations on which our operations are built. This, as you would see, is not a static model. It is a virtuous cycle of that continuously up the bar and helps us to achieve our vision of establishing ourselves as the First Choice Information Utility in India which offers the Optimum solution at the Optimum price.
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