Do you know what OPM is? Before I tell you what it is, I will tell you what it’s not. You will not find it on an annual report or in an Excel spreadsheet as an expense line item. There is no one from HR who can find anyone on a depth chart that is over the OPM Department. Neither is there anyone in Procurement or Sourcing who knows how to buy it, where it comes from or even how much it costs. Even though OPM exists at every layer of your Company, neither the President, the CEO nor any of the Board members can wrap their arms around it.
What Company’s Are Wasting On
OPM is responsible for more waste within an Organization than any other factor. OPM is the reason that good, logical and cost-effective solutions grow stagnant and sit idly “In Process” or “Under Review”, instead of immediately being implemented. OPM stymies response to competitors, why even inferior competition flourishes due to OPM. Worker productivity diminishes and creativity becomes blunted due to OPM. The financial losses due to OPM far exceed theft, employee and vendor fraud, breakage and Accounting errors, COMBINED.
It’s Not My Job
OPM not only thrives in, but also actually CAUSES employee apathy among even your most tenured employees. OPM is the Mother of “it’s not my job”, shoddy workmanship and employees calling in sick when they really just want a day off. It silently festers into the psyche of otherwise good, hardworking employees who end up turning a blind eye to cost-cutting and revenue-driving ideas and campaigns.
Have you guessed it yet? OPM is not a product, a process or a department. It is a mentality; a very dangerous, hurtful and costly mentality that strips away resources and progress from your business. This is the single biggest threat to most well-established companies and if handled properly, it can be the single largest internal improvement your organization can make. Mitigate this threat and you will see HUGE improvements in all areas of your business, most obviously seen on your bottom line.
Rare is the man who treats the assets of others as he treats his own. Rarer still is the man who increases the value of the assets entrusted to him. OPM: OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY
[author_bio username=”Barry” name=”yes”]
