It contained the following:
(by John Fleming, Tom Rath, and Barry Conchie).
It's been a scary few weeks for businesses and consumers, and things could remain unnervingly uncertain for quite some time. Markets around the world are down significantly, and stock prices remain volatile. The credit markets are constrained. Home values continue to slide, while foreclosures are on the rise.
And there probably won't be relief any time soon. A majority of Americans see current economic conditions as poor, and almost 9 out of 10 think things will continue to deteriorate. What's worse, more than half of all Americans report they are struggling, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being measure. None of this is good news.
In times of economic turbulence, businesses and consumers need to tighten their belts. But with belt tightening, as with most things, the devil is in the details. With our family budgets, for example, we might start by forgoing that dinner out, skipping the movie in favor of renting a DVD, putting off that family vacation, or turning down the thermostat a couple of notches. After making the obvious cuts, though, the choices become much more difficult.
When it comes to figuring out just where to make cuts in our businesses, we should also think long and hard before we act. For companies trying to adjust to a new economic reality, where to cut rarely involves obvious and easy choices. For instance, market research, organizational development, and human resources -- functional areas that often own a company's customer and employee measurement budgets as well as its leadership and succession-planning activities -- are often easy initial targets for cost-cutting efforts. But shutting down these crucial listening posts and people-management processes may mean that your company is doing away with information that could be key to its survival -- and instead, is trusting in luck.
Key questions
We hear it all too often: "Our business needs to cut somewhere, and this is as good a place as any. We'll start these programs back up when things get a little closer to normal." But applying scientific discipline to your company's hiring and succession-planning processes and monitoring the health of your customer and employee relationships are no longer "nice to have" items. In today's business environment, and particularly in times of uncertainty, they are absolutely essential. Why?
Well, ask yourself these questions:
Do we have the people we need to lead us through tough economic times? Disciplined selection processes and carefully validated succession planning can help ensure that you have the right people on your team to start with. But equally important, these systems can make sure that the people on the team are in the right roles. If you make sure that the right leaders and managers are in place, then it's much more likely that your company will be able to formulate and execute its survival strategy.
Reducing headcount usually involves an organizational realignment. When deciding who must go -- and why -- it's important to retain not only the best leadership talent but the right blend of talent for the realigned organization. Maintaining your company's best talent during downturns is essential, and a disciplined, fact-based selection and succession-planning methodology can help you identify and retain the best leaders for specific roles, situations, and teams. Companies that have an appropriate methodology for selecting and retaining talent can ensure that organizational realignment and downsizing won't threaten the effectiveness of the revised leadership structure.
This article without a doubt is for the business owner. I ask that you really think of it from the perspective of the employee. Look at it as though you are the subject of this economic challenge, look at it as though the business owner is your boss, and he/she is looking to cut off some company fat. These are the rules of engagement, my friend.
If you want to thrive in your current position, it's valuable that you understand this type of business thinking.
What are you doing to secure your position?
What value are you driving? So, that at the end of the day, it's the person next to you that gets cut and not you. The trophy is given to those who know how to drive the most value. Those who focus on personal and professional development i.e. their personal brand will be the victors.
What are you waiting for? Get Movin'.
Having your FREE evaluation with a business coach is a $500 value.
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