Archive for December, 2009
Organizational Change - An Everyday Occurrence
If you thought all the talk about “organizational change” was a fad that would pass by like many of the other tired fads (quality circles, ropes courses, personal coaches, managing up, etc.), the “Great Recession” has changed that.
I just got off the phone with yet another CEO who wondered out loud when the pace of constant change brought about by the “Great Recession” was going to end. I told him what I tell all of my clients. Organizational change will be a constant presence and to pretend any differently will negatively affect employee performance and organizational results.
We, and our employees, all want the merry-go-round to stop so we could get off and rest. But it’s not going to stop. At least not for a while (until we get near the peak of the next economic expansion). So how do we cope?
Three Organizational Strategies
- Treat the organizational change process as a human behavior process, not an organizational structure project. These are people, not boxes and lines on a chart.
- Set the expectation that your leaders will guide their people through the process instead of telling them to “sink or swim.” You need those who can swim to step up.
- Find a way to embrace on-going organizational change as a key component in your company culture. Make change normal.
If you do these things, employees will perform, leaders will lead at a higher level and the organization will deliver improved results. In doing so, you’ll build proactive competitive advantage that can’t be matched by sale prices, staff cuts, search engine optimization or the status quo.
For more insights on building organizational performance and breakthrough results, check out our other blog resources at www.orgresults.net/newsblog. To find out how we have delivered results for organizations like yours, visit www.orgresults.net or contact our Founder and President, Jim Connolly here or call him at (309) 828-9060.
“Sink or Swim” Is Not In The Leadership Effectiveness Manual
True Story
The student asked the teacher, “Could you say that again?”
“Your homework for tomorrow is page 141, problems 1-16.”
“But, we haven’t learned that lesson yet. How can we do the homework?”
“When you present the homework problems on the chalk board tomorrow, we’ll go over them.
“The student responded bravely, but hesitantly “Isn’t that backwards? Aren’t you supposed to teach us first before we do the homework?”
The teacher frowned in displeasure and said, “This is a sink or swim world, young man. Get used to it.”
At that the bell rang and students filed out. The student turned to one of his friends and said, “I thought his job was to give us all a chance to get an A, not set us up for failure.”
Is “sink or swim” part of your leadership style or a common leadership style in your organization? It’s an expedient way to lead, but not an effective way to lead. And, if you lead this way, there is no chance for achieving industry leading results.
Some people justify it because of the demands of time. But, it still results in ineffective leadership and mediocre results.
If you are an ineffective leader and you’re committed to do something about it, contact us. We can help. If you’re not committed to do something about it, please contact one of our competitors.
Image Credit: Juho Holmi
Employee Performance Drives Organizational Results - A Reminder
A group of Fortune 500 managers was beginning several days of training together.
“As we go around the room,” said the facilitator, “tell us how doing your job well increases the profits of your company.”
There were 25 managers in the room. Only five could make a credible connection between their jobs and the profits of the business.
Had they been a jazz group as poorly organized, it would have sounded liike the first day of fourth-grade band.
What Do You Do After You Cut Costs? Two Things!
After one or two or three rounds of cutting costs, now what do you do?
Cutting costs as a method to achieving profitability rarely works, but this is especially true in the current recession. The falloff in September 2008 was so precipitous that there was no way for companies to “trim the fat” in order to be profitable.
Several companies I’ve worked with on organizational restructuring efforts over the past 15 months lost 30%, 40% and 50% of their revenues. In the most extreme case, one company that asked me to help them ended up losing 68% of their revenues.
There is no way to cut enough costs to make a company profitable in these circumstances. So, what do you do? The only option is to reinvent the company.
It’s about taking a leadership team through a 5 month strategic planning process in 5 days. In essence, it’s about asking “based on these new realities, what are the market opportunities that we are uniquely qualified (compared to our competitors) to take advantage of?” This process is hard to do while the ship is still on fire and sinking.
What’s the secret to successfully navigating these treacherous seas? It’s two things. Use an effective planning tool that bubbles the best opportunities to the top quickly. And, it’s about understanding how humans behave in high stress situations and still being able to capture their attention and creativity while they are in shock and bailing water.
Sure, it’s easier said then done, so proceed with caution. But, it’s often the only way to restore an organization to profitability when cost cutting isn’t enough.
With Unlimited Resources, You Can Pursue All Alternatives
With unlimited resources, you can pursue all alternatives.
Since none of us has unlimited resources, which opportunities will your organization pursue in 2010? Will you fill that key position? Expand the product line? Cut back in specific areas? Borrow money to invest in capital equipment?
With an effective plan for 2010, you get to choose your course instead of letting your customers, competitors and market forces determine your results for you. The fact is that there are some market segments where you competitors can beat you and other market segments where they can’t beat you.
Five Steps
As we come to the end of one of the most challenging years ever, do you have a clear plan for 2010? Here are five steps you can take to improve your 2010 financial results:
- If you don’t have a business plan for 2010, develop a plan that will serve as a blue print for 2010. You’ll be working your plan for growth, while your competitors get pushed around again like they did this year.
- If you have a business plan in place, is there a process that takes 14 steps in your company, while a competitor has figured out how to do the same process in 5 steps? Is there a key employee or leader that is not performing well in his/her role? There is a gold mine of opportunity for improved financial results to be mined in your organization. Let us help you address organizational issues and build best practices in key areas.
- If you have fully implemented best practices, do you have a strategic plan? More specifically, do you have a breakthrough strategic plan? There is a significant difference.Most strategic planning processes start with deciding on a mission statement without regard for whether the market wants any of what you have to sell. A breakthrough strategic plan starts with an analysis of the external market environment. Our process asks you “Where are there key opportunities that you are uniquely equipped to take advantage of that will deliver improved revenue, gross profit and operating profit?” Build competitive advantage that is unique to your company’s strengths.
- If you have truly developed a breakthrough strategic plan, what’s next? Innovation. Specifically, management innovation. We have seen incredible product and technology innovation over the past fifty years. However, the model we use to manage our organizations has its foundation in early 1900’s in the then emerging industrial revolution. It was designed to achieve efficiency. It did that. But, today, we need more than that.There is a growing list of companies that are beginning to create innovative new management models that are built for the challenges we face today such as a global marketplace, deregulation, the pace of change, information overload and the impact of the Internet. Why not be one of the companies that are soaring beyond the constraints of old management methodology? We can help you get there.
- Finally, even if you have completed your planning for 2010, did you get feedback and guidance from a professional resource outside of your company? “Improving the PRC process” may mean something to you today, but it’s not measurable and it’s not clear which part of the PRC process needs to be improved. It also has no deadline and no one responsible for it. Bottom Line: It won’t get done, just like the things that didn’t get done last year. Let us help you make sure your plan delivers the results you need it to deliver.
2010 is just around the corner. What steps will you take to be better prepared than your competitors for what is likely to be yet another challenging year?
We hope you’ll use these suggestions to drive results for your organization in 2010. If we can be of assistance to you by guiding you through these strategic initiatives, please don’t hesitate to contact our Founder and President, Jim Connolly, for a no cost and no obligation consultation. Use our expertise to drive results in your organization.
As always our blog articles and Web site are available as a free resource to you.
