Four ways to improve your business in 2011

Monday, January 10, 2011.

1. Don't neglect talented people who represent the guts and soul of the improved productivity, business and creativity that is needed in a tighter, more competitive economy
    
2. Put in adequate time into improving the systems and secondly, most processes by which all activities and work flow through the company. Systems need to be aligned with an improved business strategy, offering and story.
3. Build enough collaborative partners with vendors and customers when our economic landscape could depend on it.
4. Focus on achieving first class performance of your team based on the unrealized potential of people, not their historical trends.

How to face these issues head on in 2011

1) Competing in a value-driven world does not mean your employees are more expendable.  On the contrary, the more commoditized things become the more important your people are to help you become more differentiated within an improved offering.  One of our clients, a big box retailer, is creating a sincere answer to "Why you should do business with them", by taking an employee first attitude.  They see that if their managers treat their employees better, pay more attention to them and their needs, their employees will pay more attention to their customers.  Stocking shelves used to win the day, now paying more attention to customers is taking some market share.  In this economy every customer is precious.  They are working on ways to measure how managers pay more attention to their people.

Another client, a world-class travel company, is using our services to assist their teams to thinking and behaving from an "others" orientation. It's amazing what happens to the business and to them when this occurs.

Other ideas:

• Don't start meetings with financial reports all of the time.  Martin Luther King didn't start with, "I have a strategic plan or budget". People need to know how they contribute to customers and the team, so talk about that first.
• Block time to visit your people in their space.
• Develop the habit of asking questions regarding personal interests at the beginning of conversations.
• For goodness sake, find out what employees want to contribute to and care about. Don't assume  - listen and you'll find out.
• Get employees talking about the market, opportunities and where the business is going.
• Show them their future and how they can grow within it.

These are simple things, yet the balance sheet is normally more important. The balance sheet is only a snapshot of the business at any given time. It offers no context whatsoever concerning the status of the guts, heart, soul and the engine, which are the people who created the earnings.

2) Everything inside a company that produces results and profitable action is tied into structure and processes.  It's virtually impossible to improve the business unless you examine the systems, processes, and structure that give rise to the behaviors and the results you are getting.  For example when a process is designed around internal, political or bureaucratic needs, you usually find that customers suffer.  So determine what the business is about and how you can change your customer's lives.  and then, examine if you have the systems and measures in place to support it.  If you don't, intentions or goals won't help your business grow.

Efficiency is another matter.  Projects, tasks and initiatives should flow effortlessly from input to output with no obstructions, hindrances or problems.  We wish!  In the real world, effort is usually rerouted and progress is impeded.  Start messing up some white boards with flow-charts - see the reality of the flow and compare it to what you want. Examining a process flow chart can unlock the points that cause the chaos and disorder.

3) Treat your suppliers and customers as real people.  Partner with them.  Ask them what they are working on.  Tell them you'll both benefit by working together during a slower economy. I'm reminded of our work with Hatch, a large engineering firm based in Mississauga, who had a mandate to partner with clients as a business strategy.  They grew from 500 to 8,000 employees.

Tell your suppliers that most "so called" advances in business these days, including enhanced profitability, come at the expense of partnerships and eventually everyone pays.  Tell them you don't want that.  Ask them how they want to be treated - and listen.  Build loyalty.  Simply ask, "What do you want?" Listen and then say exactly what you want, and then ask, "What can we do together?"  Partners support each other during good and bad times - be one and ask them to be one with you.  Vendor partners understand the need for lower pricing and can offer recommendations on ways to realize reduced costs.  Allowing them a chance to be part of the dialogue pays dividends.  As well, acknowledging your customers as partners can cast an entirely different light on business conduct. By following a similar asking-and-listening process as you would with a vendor, you can keep in the game with customers whether they are struggling right now or not.

4) Foster a people-centered culture by turning your formal performance reviews into opportunities to build your people? Kathie Mather, our head coach of our Leadership Training for Managers project, in Ontario, reports that most reviews her clients use prior to her coaching are not about truly building people.  They rarely provide insight into meaningful employee development that is aligned with business initiatives.  Now, the thousands of managers she has coached to be coaches spend 80% of their time on the future, what employees want, and what the business needs and their current plan is to go from their present reality to higher goals. Her appeal is, "Free your people by coaching them." Also, you can realize the potential of your business and sustain performance when you invest in your people.  Provide some coaching and training. It should provide a 3:1 return on your investment if it's a good training process - a no-brainer!  It's a cheap way to build a company's capacity to achieve larger goals and it helps in engaging and retaining people.
 
In 2011 - Summary

Spend more time with your people and review your processes to make sure you are improving productivity and efficiency while achieving the business strategy you want.  Make your vendors and customers partners, and conduct performance appraisal interviews that build your people and the business. Coach and train people.

Actions To Take in January, 2011- Choose ONE of the following

• Block off an hour to get into your employees' space, and get to know them better.
• Review your business strategy and then begin to look at the present systems, process flow, and while you are at it look for impediments. Re-do the flow with a small team to make sure you are structured to do what you want.
• Call a supplier or visit a customer and explain how you want to partner with them and why you can both win especially during these interesting times.
• Conduct a performance appraisal by spending 80% of your time getting your people to tell you what they want, what is their current reality in relationship to what they want and have them tell you the top 5 things they need to do to get there. You will be surprised (they want a lot of what you want).

Wish you a great week and a terrific 2011!