Root Cause Anyone?

Audience: Leadership, CEO’s, Founders/ Owners

Overview: This article emphasizes that identifying problems isn’t the challenge - understanding their true root cause is. It highlights how accurate data and direct employee input help leaders uncover underlying issues that impact performance, culture, and results.

Since Covid days, we’ve learned a great deal about the importance of creating a healthy organizational culture. I’ve worked with many leaders over the past several years to help identify performance and productivity issues that impact efficiency, revenue and turnover.

What I have found is that frequently identifying these issues was rarely a problem.

It was identifying the correct reason the obstacles existed.

And this is true for life issues, as well as work concerns.

For example, operational efficiencies are key to growing business value.

Without consistent, accurate metrics, realizing operational issues and their true impact on the bottom line may not be as clear as it may seem on the surface.

It may not require more investment. It may not be an individual on the team.

Questioning issues one level deeper usually uncovers things that may not have been known…or overlooked…or minimized. It’s about uncovering factor(s) that can identify root cause.

Here are a couple of things to consider:

First, ensure the data you are receiving is accurate and complete. 

High turnover and multiple teams that are low performing are a couple of issues that come to mind. Dig deep and seek out the real - perhaps buried - reason for some of those numbers.

Second, seek root causes.

Begin to ask for and listen to employee input by asking open-ended questions without prejudice or pre-conceived ideas. Not excuses, but true input about what’s not working in the organization or what’s working against their ability to achieve what’s needed and required. What employees see, how they feel about it, and how they feel hampered in being successful in their role.

Your organization doesn’t have to be the size of Walmart to apply what they did to change and improve their results by 5%. You can read about it in our Walmart Case Study.

Asking, listening and taking corrective actions on identifying root cause issues is what makes the difference.

It is key to the health of their organization’s culture…the people who drive the numbers. 

Cynthia Kyriazis is the Chief Experience Officer at The Culture Think Tank. Her experience includes executive coaching, consulting, and training. Book a 15-minute chat to discuss your people, performance, or profit challenges.