16-07-2025
Never Settle: Four Ways To Drive Continuous Improvement
Frank Maassen, Group CEO, Cognita.
In today's fast-evolving work environments, continuous improvement isn't a luxury—it's a competitive necessity. This holds true whether you run a small business or, like me, lead a global education group with over 100 schools across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the United States.
Whether you're navigating rapid technological change or shifting workforce dynamics, staying still is falling behind. Here are four key ways to ensure your company keeps moving.
1. Start with purpose, not process.
I didn't start out as an educator. In fact, I came from an engineering and economics background. But in the education sector, I saw the opportunity to make a tremendous positive impact on children at a global scale. That's why purpose is important—it's the driving force behind every worthwhile endeavor.
Continuous improvement should therefore begin with a clear and shared sense of purpose—why your organization exists and what impact you want to make. For us, that's supporting young people to thrive in a rapidly evolving world. How can we support them academically, socially and emotionally, wherever they are in the world, and wherever they're starting from?
When your teams understand the 'why,' they're more motivated to improve the 'how.' Rather than being process-obsessed, allow your regional teams to leverage the flexibility in our curricula, languages and pricing tiers to adapt to the unique needs of their communities. Doing this has ensured that our offerings align with local market and cultural needs, avoiding a "one-size-fits-all" approach. At the same time, however, it's equally critical to follow the data on what works and what doesn't in schools. This is where robust, centralized operational support can play a vital role.
2. Embed continuous improvement into the rhythm of work.
According to McKinsey, companies that focus on improving their people's performance realize an average 30% higher revenue growth. But what are the right ways to focus on employees' performance?
One important step is to create structured feedback loops as part of everyday operations. For instance, in the education sector, schools should engage in a range of quality assurance processes that support continual improvement. These include self-evaluation linked to the school's bespoke improvement plan, peer reviews in which leaders evaluate another school and engagement with external organizations that provide quality assurance through inspection, accreditation or authorization.
Companies also need to foster environments where honest feedback is welcomed, not feared. One way my company facilitates this is by conducting an annual stakeholder survey, both qualitative and quantitative, of our pupils, parents and employees throughout the world. Although it's a major task to gather this feedback, it ensures accountability and upholds the highest standards in care and teaching excellence across the education sector.
3. Invest deeply in team growth.
Growth-focused organizations create development-first cultures where one-on-one conversations include personal aspirations, not just project updates. Employees who grow tend to stay with companies that make their growth possible. For instance, according to LinkedIn's 2023 Workplace Learning Report, an employee who has made an internal move during the first two years of their employment has a 75% likelihood of staying with their company, while those who haven't moved internally only have a 56% likelihood of staying.
I've also found that there are huge benefits in committing to ongoing learning through structured programs and microlearning platforms. At Cognita, for example, we partner with UCL's world-leading Institute of Education, Faculty of Education and Society to provide cutting-edge teacher training. We also provide teachers with access to a purpose-built learning platform that equips staff with tools for improving teaching, student wellbeing, classroom innovation and professional growth.
This investment in learning also helps with staff retention. According to research presented in the Harvard Business Review, employees who have access to leadership development programs have a 34% higher retention rate than those who do not.
4. Make improvement a daily habit.
The market opportunity for global players in education is clear, particularly in a fragmented sector ripe for consolidation, where we can unlock significant value by leveraging system-wide capabilities. But opportunity alone isn't enough. To truly be the best at getting better, organizations must treat continuous improvement as a daily habit, not an occasional effort.
It's leaders—from the CEO to team managers—who must model this mindset: asking questions, learning openly and creating space for reflection and growth in everyday work. When continuous improvement is embedded into culture, systems and leadership, it drives performance and fuels engagement, innovation and long-term resilience that benefits the whole organization.
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