Why Have I Never…?

Most organizations have relatively few C-suite executives, and such executives are typically exceptionally well paid. Therefore, it should be relatively easy to analyze and improve the work done by C-suite executives, and even minor improvements should produce a relatively good return on investment. So why are there so few process improvement projects focused on the C-suite?

By Kevin Turgeon

2 April 2024

I have been doing process and system improvement work for over twenty years. I have completed projects across diverse industries, including manufacturing, transportation, civilian and military healthcare, and nonprofit. During the whole time I have worked in process improvement, and across all the different industries I have worked in, I have never been asked to work on a project that looks at the efficiency of C-suite executives, nor have I ever heard of another process improvement professional working on such a project. Why is this?

It seems that C-suite executives are the ideal candidates for process improvement projects. There are typically relatively few C-suite executives at an organization, and they are usually paid exceptionally well. This means any improvement made to this group’s work should be relatively easy to implement and should carry a significant return on investment. Nonetheless, very few process improvement projects focus on this sector of employees. There are a few potential reasons why this is the case.

One potential reason is that there is something about what executives do that makes it difficult to analyze and improve their work. Perhaps the work of executives is so different from the work done by other employees that it cannot be the subject of process improvement initiatives.

While there is a difference between the work done by most executives and the work done on conventional manufacturing lines, which is one of the largest traditional focus areas of process improvement projects, the work of C-suite executives is not that much different from the work done in many other professional areas that have been the focus of successful process improvement initiatives.

I know of, and I have sometimes worked on, process improvement projects focused on the work nurses, physicians, fundraising professionals, programmers, salespeople, and many other types of thought workers, and the work of C-suite executives is not so much different from the work of these professions as to exclude it from process improvement analysis. At its heart, the work of all of these professions is primarily one of information processing. The people working these jobs take in information, mentally analyze it based on their particular levels of education, training, and experience, and then decide upon and skillfully execute a course of action to bring about a desired objective. Thus, if process improvement projects can be conducted on some of these jobs, they should be able to be performed on all of them, including those of C-suite executives.

If there is nothing so different about the work of executives as to precluded it from being the subject of process improvement analysis, why are there so few (if any) process improvement projects that focus on this type of work? The answer can be found by looking at who typically determines the need for and authorizes the execution of process improvement initiatives.

Large-scale process improvement projects are expensive and disruptive. They almost always pull staff away from their standard work for a significant period of time, and they are typically led by highly paid process improvement experts. As such, a high-level executive in an organization usually makes the decision to conduct a process improvement project, or at least authorizes this decision.

Given that most large-scale process improvement projects are typically authorized by the high-level executives who run organizations, it is not surprising that these projects rarely focus on such employees’ work and performance. It is human nature for people to believe they are performing at a high level and do not need someone else to analyze their work and help them improve. This is not a C-suite executive phenomenon; it is a human phenomenon. No one wants to believe they are not performing as well as they could, regardless of if they are a C-suite executive or not.

C-suite executives, however, have the authority to decide what is focused on by organizational process improvement projects, and it is this authority that keeps process improvement projects from focusing on their work, even though there are good reasons to believe improving their work could result in significant returns on investment. If other employees had the same authority as C-suite executives, be it assembly line workers, nurses, programmers, or any other employee position, it is unlikely that they would decide to focus process improvement efforts on their own work. The critical difference is that C-suite executives actually do have this authority, while other positions typically do not.

So what should be done? There are two potential options. The first and best option is for C-suite executives to take an honest look at how they work and humbly accept that there are probably ways in which they could improve their efficiency and effectiveness and then proactively seek out external process improvement experts to analyze their work and propose improvements. This option will require executives to do something that is very hard for anyone to do; namely, honestly admit that they might benefit from having an impartial expert review their performance and suggest ways to improve it. This is an admission that is challenging for anyone to make.

The second and less desirable option is for boards of directors to start requiring regular and routine process improvement reviews of their organization’s C-suite executives. Of course, many executives may resent such forced analysis of their work, but then again, so do many other employees who undergo similar process improvement analyses at the direction of such executives. Over time, the resentment felt by C-suite executives at having their work analyzed by outsiders will decrease as such reviews become more regular, just like they have in other areas of many organizations.

C-suite executives are typically far and away the highest-paid employees in an organization, and there generally are relatively few such executives in an organization as compared to employees in other positions. This makes C-suite executives excellent candidates for process improvement projects. The small number of C-suite executives in an organization means it should be relatively easy to bring about change, and the relatively high pay of such executives means that even minor process improvements should provide a significant return on investment. However, it is unlikely that such process improvement projects will become common anytime soon. C-suite executives are typically the people who decide what process improvement projects focus on, and it is unlikely they will choose to turn the spotlight on themselves, just as it is doubtful any other group of employees would willingly do so. Process improvement analyses of the work of C-suite executives will likely only happen as the result of a remarkably self-aware and confident executive team deciding to take a close look at their work, or a powerful outside group like a board of directors forcing such analyses to take place.