what 3 things would you suggest your employer implement (at work) to improve your organization's performance & results over the next 90 days?
180 days?
1 calendar year?
180 days?
1 calendar year?
all sizes / industries replies are welcome.Difficult question. What size organization and what industry?
what 3 things would you suggest your employer implement (at work) to improve your organization's performance & results over the next 90 days?
180 days?
1 calendar year?
1. Less Managers
2. Less "Status" meetings
3. More Workers
i intended it to be a open question... and heck, i'm not looking for advice, but rather hoping to stimulate conversation on what employers could do to improve performance / results.Can you give more details?? A vague/unspecific question + vague/unspecific responses = certainty in getting bad advice. :wink:
all sizes / industries replies are welcome.
(background: as i wrap up the latest major section of a book i've been writing (and thus moving to production release next month, followed by consulting engagements), i find myself thinking of "so what can the 'average' company do to make itself more productive and improve its results" in the time frames i defined.
my experience is that when asked, most employees / contractors have a number of ideas worth discussing / considering... so i thought i'd put the question up for consideration / discussion here.
Well, off the top of my head there are a few things that may apply to all size organizations...
1. Manage the information flow
2. Prioritazation
3. Training/education
4. Acknowlege employees
5. Monitor and measure customer service
6. Use technology to imporve efficiency
7. Set, plan and measure goals and share with employees (can't improve if can't measure), so measure everything
thx for these, doug... i would certainly include all of these in any list of "gotta do's" i would create, too.
although i've spent the great majority of my career in <$100MM software companies, these 3 have been very near the top of my list, too. yesterday i completed a (very brief) overview on the value / benefits / how-to of 3 year strategic planning (and today need to wrap up the annual operational / individual planning overview.).What I've found - very consistently - across sub $500MM sized businesses:
1. Working capital is not managed as efficiently as it could. Improvements usually include implementing better systems for tracking AR, AP and inventory AND MORE IMPORTANTLY developing a culture within the finance dept of keeping NWC as lean as possible. See #3
2. Mgmt decision making is rarely good. For the "visionary" leaders, there aren't enough nuts-n-bolts execs to actually keep the ship running smoothly. Conversely, and more common, most businesses in this size range lack good LT strategic thinking. I haven't done much in the tech space though. BOTH are critical, unless the business is PE backed.
3. Incentivization is very very rarely used well. Compensating key execs and mgrs based on relevant KPIs is one of the key tools we use to improve our businesses. Equally important, clearly communicating to those managers exactly HOW and WHY they are being tracked and how they will benefit if they exceed their marks. Simplicity is usually best.
very good suggestion and one that i'm sure many companies are looking at these days.I think every company should look to offer flexable hours and work at home options for qualified employees.People work better when they feel like working and feel like they have some controll/flexability managing family/personal life with thier work obligation.Of course the usual caveats apply.
Does this mean I can get back in the honey line?![]()
although i've spent the great majority of my career in <$100MM software companies, these 3 have been very near the top of my list, too. yesterday i completed a (very brief) overview on the value / benefits / how-to of 3 year strategic planning (and today need to wrap up the annual operational / individual planning overview.).
thx for the feedback, ski.
Happy to help.
On the *uh-oh* issue of forecasting: the most innovative concept I have picked up recently is in doing a rolling 18 month (or 12 or 24 month) forecast built bottoms up by department. A rolling forecast, that is (as mentioned) tied to compensation, can be really powerful. This kind of plan would, obviously, be much more relevant to certain types of businesses than others (manufacturing, businesses with very long supply chain lead times, etc.). I really like it though, overall -- it's a great concept for many reasons. Getting it right results in equity value.
I agree. That's great concept. All too often organizations prepare the three program, which is a long forcast, have it go out of date in twelve months due to changing conditions, etc. and it sits on the shelf. The rolling forcast is really a "living" document.
i was introduced to that in '89 and its paid pretty good dividendsHappy to help.
On the *uh-oh* issue of forecasting: the most innovative concept I have picked up recently is in doing a rolling 18 month (or 12 or 24 month) forecast built bottoms up by department. A rolling forecast, that is (as mentioned) tied to compensation, can be really powerful. This kind of plan would, obviously, be much more relevant to certain types of businesses than others (manufacturing, businesses with very long supply chain lead times, etc.). I really like it though, overall -- it's a great concept for many reasons. Getting it right results in equity value.
you're exactly right, ski... and it's not just the ceo, it's the entire management team and, as follows, the rest of the organization. during an "awakening" period at one company i was part of, we began focusing on "getting the wrong people off the bus and getting the right people on the bus." (we started with "refreshing" the management team, then hired under the "right people on the bus" mentality. it's the only way to do things, imho.)Yup.
Too bad you're retired, you might have been a great businessperson. :biggrin::biggrin: I jest. :wink:
Final thought on this thread Queen:
It goes w.o. saying, but it really shouldn't. Competent management will absolutely positively make or break a businesses. It is SOOO critical (and difficult to analyse frankly). Economy doing well? Good management should be able to capitalize. Economy weakening? Good management should be able to keep the ship afloat. In my experience, perhaps 5% of the CEOs that I meet for new investments really meet this criteria of competence. It's quite unfortunate, actually. On the bright side, it only gets "worse" outside of the U.S. -- finding a good CEO in Europe is like finding a Ferrari that doesn't break.
Maybe these are all cliche, but here goes:
1. Treat your employees well.
2. Do for your employees what you promised, don't say one thing and do another.
3. An HR department which actually listens.
4. Performance based compensation for top execs - no guaranteed packages or golden parachutes - they have to earn their way just like everyone else.
Ok, so that's 4. :tongue: