Insights

Standard Operating Procedures or S.O.P.s are step-by-step instructions for each process at a company/business. However, what are they good for? First, they are good for training. Usually training comes in a form of shadow-training, when a new employee watches a seasoned employee do their job over and over again as training. Nevertheless, if a company had S.O.P.s in place, training time will be reduced. Then, only ample shadow-training time will be needed because the new employee will have step-by-step instructions for the process of his/her new job duties. Time wasted will also be decreased because there will be no need for the new employee to try to memorize the process during shadow-training. 

On average companies spend $5,000 to train employees. From what they have to pay the trainees and trainer in hourly wages for the two-three weeks of training, to any kind of materials or equipment needed for training, so training is a big expense for companies. In addition, the time spent training is essentially unproductive time because no one is actually doing their own job duties. Maybe that's why some hospitals have even had their employees sign an agreement for them to pay for training costs, if they leave within the first 90-day. S.O.P.s will reduce time in training and reduce training costs because that two-three week training could turn into 2-3 days of training with S.O.P.s.

Also, S.O.P.s uses the power of delegation. Like, if an employee is out on vacation or sick, their work can still get done with S.O.P.s. You see, a standard operating procedure is when any employee can put the same input, follow the steps for a process, and then get the same output. Like someone following a cooking recipe, the results can be duplicated by practically anyone. Duplication is the main key in productivity. The increase in productivity comes from how fast a process can be duplicated. S.O.P.s lessens the time it takes to duplicate a process. So, why not have S.O.P.s in place at your company for increased productivity and reduced costs?