Some of the biggest challenges with companies today are “RECURRING PROBLEMS”. I’m talking about situations, hassles, and mistakes which happen over and over again that never get resolved. These occurrences are worse when they happen to customers, because if they happen once too often, customers will quit doing business with you. Consider what “RECURRING PROBLEMS” do to employees; frustration sets in, morale plummets as well as productivity and profits.

I heard it once stated that recurring problems eat up more than 40% of the average productivity of a company. That may seem a bit high to you but consider the fact that rarely is a problem just one person’s problem. The employee who discovers the problem will most likely get others involved in dealing with it. What they were originally doing will come to a halt, causing that productivity to be lost while a remedy is figured out.

To make this an even bigger problem … according to estimates based on a recent University of California Irvine study, refocusing your efforts after just one interruption can take up to 23 minutes. So, every time you come up with a quick fix, you are adding an additional 23 minutes of lost productivity with every occurrence.

Time, which is money, is a precious commodity that we can’t afford to waste. It is imperative to gather data of problems that are RECURRING and hassling employees and customers and address them. You want a process to be hassle free. To reduce costs, improve profitability and efficiency get your employees involved in identifying recurring problems; your employees are closest to the problem and can give you valuable insight as to what is REALLY going on.

The Ritz Carlton Hotels requires employees to log all incidences of customer or employee problems or concerns and turn them in daily. This information helps them make improvements that will save them time and money, improve working conditions and morale, along with increase customer satisfaction. A problem identified is a blessing, because you can’t fix what you don’t know to be wrong. No company wants frustrated employees or customers and a 40% loss in productivity is a scary statistic that needs to be addressed.

But understand this. Do not start this process if you have no intention of following through on correcting the recurring problems. Be responsive to the issue identified and fix it. Eliminate RECURRING PROBLEMS and watch your morale go up, efficiencies improve, complaints go down, and profits soar.