Performance is a crucial metric in assessing organizational success. When gauging performance, companies measure KPIs and financial benefits but often overlook an essential component—behavioral change. They tend to undervalue its role in powering employee productivity and, ultimately, business growth.

Strategic Asset Management Inc. (SAMI) is changing this precedent with its holistic approach to organizational culture transformation.

Through its Performance Culture^TM model, focused on achieving sustainable improvements, SAMI assists organizations in refining their functional processes by modifying associated human behaviors. It helps businesses grow while shaping an equitable and sustainable future.

“Our team of highly specialized subject matter experts guides businesses toward widespread cultural transformation and higher economic performance through sustainable behavioral change,” says Mark Broussard, President and CEO of SAMI.

A brainchild of physicist and psychologist Brad Peterson, SAMI’s visionary Performance Culture model was built to tie physical asset management to an organization’s operational strategic plans for improving overall performance. It remains the fundamental focus of SAMI engagements to this day.

Under Broussard’s leadership, the model evolved into the driving force behind SAMI’s four value propositions that collectively help clients improve overall performance and sustainably transform their businesses. These include the Performance Culture^TM Pyramid, the collaborative engagement methodology (Ascend^TM), the APEX^TM software tool, and the dynamic workforce.

The Pyramidal Outlook

The Performance Culture^TM Pyramid, a key element of the Performance Culture model, is a holistic representation of operational excellence for any enterprise, regardless of the industry. It is a method proven to continually calibrate organizational performance through cultural transformation.

The model is phased into five stages of progressive development. Stage one lays the foundation to instill the value of behavioral change in each employee. The second focuses on determining its effectiveness. Stage three deals with cross-collateralizing various behavioral practices across boundaries, while the last is about executing advanced practices.

Implementing these stages in a sequential synchronous fashion helps companies reach a state of constant improvement where they continually assess the efficiency of their work culture and foster an environment of innovation, collaboration, and higher productivity.

Measurable, Sustainable Behavioral Change

While behavioral effectiveness is critical to implementing a performance culture, how do organizations know their behavioral changes are sustainable? How do they measure and quantify those changes over time?

SAMI answers with its one-of-a-kind proprietary APEX software tool that measures the underlying behaviors that support the characteristics of a Performance Culture. The goal is to observe the practices, tools, methods, and behaviors against the defined framework, and then collaboratively score each element to evaluate and validate sustainability.

According to the APEX scoring criteria, in a range of zero to six, zero implies no objective evidence of behavioral awareness, while six denotes it is now a part of an organization’s culture. Based on these parameters, the team assembles a cross-functional group of client’s employees to support the evaluation and create consensus for a score for that particular behavioral statement. For instance, if a company starts planning for maintenance work six weeks prior to a particular date, it denotes a more positive behavioral statement, compared to planning it one or two weeks in advance.
Apart from defining a numerical value for certain operational processes, the APEX evaluation and scoring process generates significant dialogue across various departments within the organization. This, in turn, reflects the behaviors supporting production, supply chain, asset healthcare, engineering, and other aspects.

SAMI then ranks the results of a behavioral assessment on a granular level, where the lowest-ranking behaviors represent the barriers to sustainable improvement. What follows is activation of SAMI’s coaching resources to assist and focus the client on incorporating behavioral changes.

“Given how people have a natural tendency to digress back to their long-held beliefs and actions, our coaching sessions help clients inspire a certain behavior and evolve it into a habit for improving overall performance in the long run,” says Broussard.

The White-Glove Approach to Performance Improvement

Every new project starts with SAMI’s distinct client engagement methodology, Ascend. The Ascend methodology is comprised of the Assess-Plan-Design-Install-Sustain-Certify (APDISC) elements in every stage of the continuous performance improvement cycle. Its internationally respected subject matter experts with extensive industry expertise in manufacturing, nuclear energy, mining, oil and gas, and other sectors are committed to working one-on-one with clients. These facilitators collaborate and assist the client in devising an operational strategic performance plan.

Once the plan is finalized, the team helps design a business process to execute it. This step is key, because many clients already have existing business processes in place that are ineffective and prevent them from achieving optimal results.

SAMI’s collaborative approach engages clients in deconstructing and reconstructing the business process. This transfer of knowledge to client teams helps them understand why certain actions on their part need remediations. Installation of a new process starts only after those behavioral gaps are bridged, and there is a clear picture of the process map with roles and responsibilities of various members. Training is provided on the changes in processes. The installation phase is supported with coaching to sustain behavioral changes within the organization and, finally, certification.

The Hallmark of Success

The transformative, combined power of SAMI’s proven proprietary methodologies and its highly specialized and talented team of experts has helped script numerous success stories for organizations of all sizes.

Early on, Shell Exploration & Production Company adopted SAMI’s engagement model, and SAMI worked with the client to refine their internal models. As a result, Shell reduce its expenses and decreased deferment from 11% to 3%. Revenue increased in the range of $750 million to $1 billion, which was supported by significant reductions in operating expenses.

On another occasion, SAMI partnered with a client operating a large, open-pit nickel mine in a very cold region. The mining operation faced considerable mechanical deterioration of its equipment. It led to declining reliability and unavailability of critical assets, holding it back from meeting production targets. There was also distrust between the maintenance and production departments. The supply chain was stuck in this crossfire and was forced to expedite the supply of parts, resulting in higher prices and lower margins.
During this engagement, SAMI first designed a new business process for maintenance. Then, SAMI installed, coached, and embedded the process within the organization. In 15 months, the operations stabilized, and the client’s asset availability substantially increased. Executing preventive maintenance activities in a more structured manner allowed the client to ensure asset health. The company also started meeting its production commitments and witnessed a significant improvement in its production forecasting ability.

SAMI also resolved all disputes between various departments and built a culture of collaboration and trust. The cultural overhaul included replacing individuals in key roles who were the cause of the chaos. Fifteen months after implementation, SAMI’s team validated its sustainability and certified the operation.

Founded and based in North America, SAMI maintains an active presence in the Middle East. SAMI is currently expanding its services to Australia and Africa. The company’s vision is to play a direct role in effectively creating a sustainable Performance Culture across businesses on every continent.

SAMI is becoming a role model in the organizational culture transformation space by bringing behavioral change to the forefront of business growth. Organizations seeking a long-term partner to achieve and sustain the highest performance levels in their processes and company culture can rely on SAMI’s exemplary services and best practice tools.