Why BPM should not just be a side project

PEX Network caught up with Orhan Toprak, business process manager at oil and natural gas company SOCAR Türkiye, to explore his experience in driving operational excellence and discuss the success the business has achieved with business process management (BPM).

Ahead of his session at PEX Live: OPEX Week 2022 taking place on 06 – 07 December, Toprak offers his best advice for those beginning their own OPEX journey and discusses the shifts in OPEX trends he has witnessed in recent years.

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PEX Network: Can you tell us about how BPM has been leveraged at SOCAR Turkey?

Orhan Toprak: We have deployed a BPM methodology at SOCAR Turkey. The main advantage is that our company has turned from a people-driven organization into a process-driven one. The way process owners approach the problems with their processes has changed significantly.

We have divided BPM implementation into four different phases:

The first phase is modelling. We have discovered processes, created workflows, assigned process owners, detected the impact of each process on business success factors and defined critical processes. This was the ground zero.

The second phase is deployment, where we have linked processes with strategies, goals, organization charts, risks, regulations, ISO standards, documents and IT systems throughout all levels of all departments. This way, change management and process analysis became much easier and less time-consuming.

The third is change management in which we have created a method for managing changes in processes. Process owners send process-related changes to the BPM team for analysis. Then, a cost benefit analysis is prepared by the BPM team who gives an opinion on each change to the process owners. For top management, making decisions became faster and more accurate with this process.

The final phase is process analysis where we analyze processes every year using European Foundation for Quality Management’s (EFQM) results, approach, deployment, assessment and refinement (RADAR) method. In doing this analysis, process maturity level is detected for each process and therefore helps to know how far it is from an ideal process. In order to minimize this gap the necessary actions are taken and the barriers to an ideal process are removed one by one.

In our company, big or small, all improvements in processes are done in accordance with the BPM methodology.

PEX Network: What are the biggest OPEX trends you are seeing at the moment?

OT: Operational efficiency is becoming increasingly important for organizations. As a result, the value of BPM is being better realized. Major companies need BPM because their operations are getting more complex and lagging companies need it because their operations are not managed efficiently.

BPM teams used to spend a lot of energy to convince top management to employ BPM methodology. There would be timeless efforts to get approval for a budget which contains process designing, analysis and mining tools. Nowadays, this trend has shifted, meaning that top managers force teams to use BPM methodology and tools to help business processes work more efficiently.

In many companies BPM used to be located under other departments such as management systems or IT as a side project. Processes would be taken care of only when needed, for example, during a project or external audits.

Now, we see examples of sole BPM departments in organization charts with the main focus being efficiency. Business processes are optimized during the whole year based on a business plan created by these BPM departments.

The need for efficiency is increasing and the cure is BPM. It offers a major advantage for companies and operational excellence is almost impossible without it.

PEX Network: What is your advice for organizations looking to begin their own OPEX journey?

OT: First of all, companies should know that implementing an ideal BPM methodology is a long journey. Breaking it down to different phases will make it more manageable. Project sponsors like to see concrete results as soon as possible and reporting the end of every phase to management will motivate them to support BPM on the long term. BPM teams should take baby steps and every one of them should add value to the company’s processes.

Secondly, employing a methodology is very important for long-term success. When people leave the company, the methodology should still be able to continue. In order to do this, the methodology should be known and supported by all levels of management. One of the main responsibilities of the central BPM team is to train people and ensure that every process owner understands and supports the methodology.

Finally, allocating necessary sources for BPM, such as investing in agile systems and training the BPM team on these tools, is very crucial for achieving objectives on time and accurately. Designing, analysis and mining tools should be flexible, integrable and user-friendly.

PEX Network: What do you hope viewers will take away from your session at PEX Live: OPEX Week 2022?

OT: BPM is a very strong tool for success when used properly. It takes time to learn it as well as to implement it but the ultimate goal should be to make BPM a part of company culture. This must be one of the main responsibilities of every central BPM team.

The BPM team should build a methodology and stick with it in the long run. They should have the end in mind before starting in the first phase, should plan all the phases at the beginning and spend the necessary efforts for each phase accordingly. It is always better to break things into small pieces and move slowly than to put everything in the same box and move slowly.

An experienced BPM team who can visualize the whole picture is crucial at the beginning of OPEX journeys. If possible, BPM should be managed in a separate department and focused. BPM should never be a side project for another department. If the ultimate goal is to reach operational excellence then this can only be done by an excellent BPM team.

For more insights from OPEX experts, register for PEX Live: OPEX Week 2022.

Does your business have a dedicated BPM team, or is it just a side project for another department? Let us know in the comments below.