Gap Analysis
March 25, 2020
Almatis B.V.
The issue: Almatis B.V. wanted to assess and strengthen their safety culture. They had previously engaged The Keil Centre to develop a Health and Safety Behaviour Standard. They wanted to assess how current behaviours, work styles and structures measured up against ‘excellence’ as defined by the Standard. The Keil Centre carried out a Gap Analysis. Gap Analysis is a robust workshop-based diagnostic that involves qualitative and quantitative assessments of performance. The goal is to identify strengths and areas for improvement in the safety behaviours at all levels of the organisation and to implement an improvement plan.
The approach: Seven sites were chosen to participate, two in North America, two in Europe, one in India, one in Japan and one in China. Typically, The Keil Centre trains in-house personnel on how to plan and execute Gap Analysis on their own sites. Instead, on this occasion, designated personnel from each of the seven sites ‘shadowed’ our Occupational Psychologist through the entire planning and execution phases. This approach enabled in-house expertise to be developed by ‘direct mentoring’. It also ensured there was consistency of process across the operations.
The outcome:The organisation-wide Gap Analysis was concluded in just over two months, with an extremely high participation level. The duration of each site’s survey was a single week, meaning minimal disruption to operations. Immediately following each of the seven surveys, the site management team received a comprehensive Gap Analysis briefing and a report with recommendations from the psychologist, supported by the in-house facilitator – a real team effort. They were also guided on how to implement an improvement plan. We were able to look at trends across the business as a whole, pinpointing organisational strengths and developmental opportunities.