Your insight into alternative thinking
There are many roads to success. Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Richard Branson all walked different paths to achieve the success that they did with their companies.
They have one thing in common, all of these leaders firmly believe that: while a company’s product or service is the company’s bread and butter, the heart and soul of the company are its employees. Branson even went as far as saying that a company’s success is predicated on the working culture at the company. Do employees feel motivated to succeed at your business?
This is important in the current paradigm. Digitisation has created omnichannel businesses where companies personally engage with fewer clients than they have before. Call centres become your main sales force and your client engagement workforce. Admin staff become problem solvers and critical thinkers that find innovative solutions to increasingly complex problems. C Suite executives become the black box of the business that ensures that all departments are aligned.
How has this changed from previous challenges? In a digitised age, enhancing the client experience is the best way to grow sales; don’t obsess over the product or service, focus on execution and making sure your staff are equipped with the tools that they need to do their jobs.
Create a clear vision and clear values for your organization
The article points out that companies should treat their vision and values as your foundation. They should provide your organization and everyone associated with it the “why” you are in business and “how” you are trying to accomplish that vision. Your A-plus players will view this as the basic structure for how success will be achieved.
Vision and values also guide company leadership in making decisions. As the business leader, you should encourage employees to communicate these concepts to current and future clients and customers. Additionally, openly sharing them can help the company attract the “cream of the crop” job candidates who possess like-minded values.
The article adds that a core value, such as work-life balance, can attract talented prospects who may be looking for an employer that will be inclined to treat them as whole people with real lives.
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Create an accountability chart, showing clear responsibility and ownership over the major areas of the business
The article points out that an accountability chart helps your A-plus players see where they fit into an organization and also allows them to see the entire organization’s accountability to plot their path if they find something that interests them.
You want to welcome your A-plus players to explore areas where they could make an impact. I encourage you to share data and allow employees under the tent. It will help them truly understand how the organization is performing. Identifying and quantifying the value of the most mission-critical roles in any organization is vital to matching talent to value.
Foster a culture where management understands that the pieces of the puzzle need to be given a chance to thrive
The article adds that delegating and elevating — while setting clear objectives with reasonable but challenging expectations — will bring out the best in your A-plus employees, but having the right corporate culture in which employees can succeed is vital.
According to research from Gartner, only 31% of HR leaders believe that their organization has the culture it needs to have. Additionally, many employees say they have encountered tensions in their company culture, which does nothing to help a company with its recruitment or retention strategies.
It is said that when companies get corporate culture right, it can be one of your most powerful recruiting tools.
Insist on high performance — and reward it
The article points out that companies should praise employees who uphold the company’s values, praise those who consistently overperform, recognize that performance, and, equally as important, foster a culture that does not accept repeatedly substandard performance.
Taking the time to very clearly communicate performance standards helps all team members understand that work is expected to be consistently done correctly and well.
Also, regularly and publicly praise and reward notable achievements and high performance.
Allow your A-plus players the chance to thrive
The article points out that, because A-plus players work harder (and often better) than their peers, A-plus players expect their organizations to treat them well — by providing them with stimulating work, lots of recognition, compelling career paths and the chance to prosper if the organization does.
They are right to expect it. Invest in your people and they will invest in you.
Retaining top performers is the fastest and most effective way to help your business to thrive along with your team.
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The article points out that, when you consider that nearly 60% of employees accept a new job that offers a strong career path with more opportunities, these are exactly the motivated people who can earn those opportunities and embark on those career paths at your company.
People who focus on their career paths will have a greater drive to continually perfect their skills and go beyond performance expectations.
Where to BRPs fit in?
Companies that are in financial distress need to restart and re-invent themselves. It is very rare that a company does not change during the rescue/restructuring process.
It is a stressful period for all parties. However, this presents the new management of a distressed company with an opportunity to ensure that there is support for the company’s future/efforts. Financial distress can be a lonely place and the more support that your clients have, the easier the rescue/restructuring will be.
Your role, as an agent of change, is to encourage business leaders to keep an open mind and to embrace change that will benefit their business in the long run. Short term pain will always lead to long term gain.
The Mystery Practitioner is an industry commentator that focuses on the shifting dynamics and innovative thinking that BRPS and turnaround professionals will need to embrace in order to achieve success in their businesses.
