Building an outstandingly reliable firm

Reliability savvy executives see the world differently.

They know there are big benefits to be derived from achieving outstanding reliability across the firm.  Our work has shown that determined work is required in four areas:

• The brand promise and the experience that goes with it
• Promises made to and received from partners up and down the supply chain
• Promises made and kept with customers
• Staff dependability - as individuals and as teams.

To do this in each area, leaders need to achieve alignment between promise making and promise keeping:

• Promise making- there is too little emphasis in business these days on what gets promised by a firm.  Competitive pressure and the drive for strong growth tempt managers to trump up promises when the capability to deliver is simply not there.  The over- promising that results tends to spawn customer cynicism and erode trust.  Smart leaders encourage an open approach which lets stakeholders know where they stand and choose the firm for all the right reasons and not the wrong ones.
• Promise keeping- most firms tend to focus on performance improvement, but this is not always well aligned to what was promised in the first place.  Reliability oriented firms let their promises shape how they perform, so that they can say with surety that they delivered what was promised- not more and not less.