All organizations can benefit from a robust Succession Planning process. Larger organizations often use sophisticated software solutions to administer the process which is often way too much for smaller businesses. Think SalesForce which I have found in several smaller organizations as their CRM and are not used due to their complexity. Like CRM’s, there are technology solutions for Succession Planning that fit the size of your company and have a much higher engagement level of use. While the administrative part of Succession Planning is important, identifying the desired “outcomes and impact” on the organization with Succession Planning needs to be clearly established along with a high commitment level from the ELT (Executive Leadership Team). Taking this step is a critical part of the equation.
Let us look at an example of a desired “outcome” of this process. An effective Succession Planning process should identify current and future gaps in organizational staffing and depth. Please remember from my previous Blogs, the D & I (Diversity and Inclusion) strategic approach is to bring an effective D & I lens to every aspect of the organization. Unfortunately, I often witness Succession Planning processes where desired outcomes and impact are not clearly defined and absolutely zero discussion on the demographic make-up of each business unit’s staffing levels. At best, company-wide demographic statistics may be available at the entire company level, but there is little to no understanding of how each business unit is doing. It becomes very easy to say: “We’ve improved representation of some under-represented groups“ and leave the session feeling progress (the Outcome) has been made.
As mentioned, a proactive and robust discussion on desired “Outcomes and Impact” will set the tone for ELT (Executive Leadership Team) preparation, expectations, and execution of the Succession Planning process. Often, it takes time for the ELT to get this critical process right, but a strong partnership of your HR and D & I leads should help you optimized this process. I recommend that your HR lead drive the Succession Planning approach with your CDO (Chief Diversity Officer) bringing the D & I lens to the process.
Now that we’ve examined one example of the desired outcome of the organization’s Succession Planning process, what’s the potential “impact.” Once gaps are established by business units and by position, the ELT member and their HR support have a much clearer understanding of the tactical step(s) to take to remedy the issue(s). Effective and focused action plans can be established i.e. targeted recruiting approaches (External) along with an improved focus on Mentorship and Sponsorship programs (Internal).
My next blog will explore the difference between Mentors and Sponsors and how they can become a strategic differentiator for the company. But for now, building a diverse pipeline of talent will enhance the future success of the organization. However, leadership, commitment, and execution by the ELT will provide the ultimate impact by creating a diverse and inclusive organization. Optimized results will follow.
David Daniels, Daniels Consulting
David Daniels, Daniels Consulting
Dave Daniels is an accomplished Senior Business and Human Resource executive with a proven track record of developing, implementing, and delivering upon both short and long-term results. He has held management and executive-level positions with companies large and small throughout the United States. Dave has managed his career in a way that provides him with an exceptional breadth of experience and capacity to contribute to improving brand and financial results for his employer in every capacity he has served.
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From the mind of Don Turner – “Creating Clarity in a World of Complexity”
In Part 2, we discussed the underlying factors of the New Normal that will force a more intense way of looking at “fixing” companies that have been broken by this global calamity. Building off of “Restructuring” and “Turnaround” approaches, we identified the increased difficulty and complexity associated with the New Normal and introduced the concept of “Restoration.” Restoration efforts will require fixing distressed businesses in an environment where not only they themselves but their entire marketplace – Customers, Suppliers, Lenders, etc – are distressed also.
We suggested this will require an evolution of traditional “Restructuring/Turnaround” perspectives and approaches to successfully restore a troubled business back to prosperity.
With this third part of our series, we introduce the first three of five activity topics we suggest should be addressed when “restoring” business in the New Normal. These topics – Cash, Customers, and Culture – are shown in the following exhibit:
5 C Restoration Strategy
Before we go into further detail for each of these topics, a couple of important thoughts: First and foremost, these activities don’t happen in isolation – there are strong interrelationships and interactions between them.
Secondly, given the interrelationships, they must all be executed simultaneously with an eye to integrating and balancing focus and resources
Thirdly, are there other activities to execute? Certainly, however, I believe they can all be covered under one of these 5 C’s
Let’s take a look at the first three:
CASH
Cash combined with courage in a time of crisis is priceless ~ Warren Buffet
The proverbial “Cash is King” saying is never more relevant than it is today. For a company to “restore” itself and survive they must determine how much liquidity runway they have at the current burn rate – most likely under various pessimistic to optimistic scenarios.
These scenarios take into account your entire value chain – from Suppliers to Customers – and are based on the multitude of creative cash optimization tactics one can employ.
Not Enough Runway
Not enough runway? Then obviously some hard decisions must be made. The point is that as we enter the first phase of the New Normal, we need to determine how much runway the company has. The length of the liquidity runway dictates both the urgency and types of decisions to be made.
Anybody who has done turnarounds knows the endless variety of decisions that can be made to improve liquidity. We won’t go through all of them here but suffice it to say yourinitial Restoration decisions will almost always involve prioritization and retraction. You must prioritize those activities and resources that are MUST HAVE to restore the business. Based on that prioritization you need to identify where retraction makes sense – at least in the short-term. As mentioned in Part 2 of our discussion, this retraction might include determining what Customers you can’t serve, what products or services you can’t offer, what delivery channels are superfluous, what resources – both in personnel and facilities – are not absolutely necessary.
Remember this retraction requires focus and that focus is on the “Delivery Cycle” – those activities directly associated with selling, delivering, and servicing your offering. These activities are all Customer-facing and have a direct and immediate impact on your revenue. Longer-term activities like identifying and creating new offerings associated with the “Development Cycle” can wait.
Development – Delivery Cycles
A final thought on Cash is that it is also important to identify creative ways of extending or even using non-cash transactions. Again, mentioned in a previous part of our discussion, some of the obvious ways are bartering and consignment. However, I also expect to see in the early stages of the New Normal businesses negotiating concurrently with both the Supplier and Customer side of their business to ensure optimal cash flow. Remember, EVERYONE is in the same boat and has a common objective of survival! If there ever was a time to conduct creative transactions now would be the time.
CUSTOMERS
Without Customers, there is no business to restore.
In the New Normal, you will find yourself engaging with your Customers more honestly, period. Restoring your business concurrently with your Customer restoring their business will require a new level of transparency and openness in your discussions.
In the New Normal, Customer communication will take on an entirely new level of importance. Embrace it, this is a good thing in the long run!
My personal and professional hero has always been my Grandfather. He started me off in the world of business by reading Horatio Alger to me as a child sitting on his lap (ED: while listening to Eddie Cantor records, I remember the time fondly and well). He had me work in his real estate and construction office before I was ten, driving our supply truck to deliver material to the crews as soon as my feet could reach the gas pedal, clutch, and most importantly, the brake. My fundamental view of business, hard work, and dealing with people, in general, all came from him. Ahhh, but that is another story.
I remember one of the most profound things he ever said – and Grandpa had a lot of them. After meeting with someone in his office where I was allowed to sit in the corner, keep my mouth shut, listen, and watch, he once said, “You know Donny, 95% of all the problems you could ever have with a Customer are based on poor communication. The other 5% is a rounding error.” As I said, Grandpa was a wise man.
In the early stage of Restoration, you cannot over-communicate with your Customers. Yet, in the New Normal, you should do be doing more than just communicating. You should be interacting, engaging, finding new ways of working together, new definitions of mutual benefit. In the New Normal, your Customers will exhibit a level of vulnerability that you’ve never seen before. Use this time to strengthen your relationship with them.
Value Proposition
Evolve the value proposition between the two of you. How can delivery costs be reduced? Can packaging be done differently? Can services be bundled? These and many questions should be asked in an attempt to creatively increase the real value between you and your Customer.
Of course, in the New Normal if your business offering is not as important to your Customer as it was before, or worse yet, no longer relevant to them than you have a fundamental “going-concern” problem. Remember, without a clear value proposition you simply aren’t relevant to your Customer – they are restoring their own business with the same intense concentration on prioritization and retraction.
CULTURE
Collectively, people are your culture and it is the culture that helps drive business success.
Yes, your people are valued individuals. However, even more importantly, as a group, they represent the culture of your organization, and in the New Normal that culture will require a new perspective on how to effectively manage.
It is your collective culture that creates the “Customer Experience” as it defines, creates, and delivers your offering to the marketplace. Better culture, better offerings, better delivery, better Customer loyalty (ED: I have strong opinions of loyalty versus satisfaction, for a GREAT read “Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless” by Jeffrey Gitomer, it will radically change your view of “satisfaction”).
Firstly, let us get the unpleasant stuff out of the way. You may have to downsize – in fact, you most likely already have and will downsize even more as you restore your business. One strong suggestion is to cut as much as you think you need for the foreseeable future. Nothing destroys culture like a Damoclean sword over everyone’s head. Once you conduct a reduction-in-force (“RIF”) you need to start rebuilding the Team culture.
Yes, part of this RIF from the reduced level of your present business. However, it is hoped that during this current isolation phase of the New Normal, you are learning how to “do more with less” via the effective use of technology and processes. This is an unpleasant reality but if you haven’t already figured this out, you haven’t been paying attention.
That brings us to our second point, defining the “New Normal Work Environment.” If your management style hasn’t in the past, I hope it is now evolving to focus on deliverables, not hours.
Yes, there are certain jobs that are fundamentally based on “hours” – e.g., Customer Service Representatives. Yet, there are countless other jobs where the number of hours you put in is not as important as the deliverables you produce. That is a fundamental change in perspective for a lot of Managers who must learn to manage in that environment. The bottom line, I envision remote working to be a seminal change in the New Normal. Do we still need offices? In many cases, the answer is “yes”. However, do we need as much space, and do our employees need to be in there five days a week, eight hours a day? I don’t think so.
Technology will help enable a significant amount of the New Normal. Remote Team Management tools have been around for a while and continue to grow in their adoption. Video Conferencing will evolve. Electronic whiteboards will be the norm for Team brainstorming. Workflow Management solutions will increase the velocity of deliverables through an organization. We will find that the effective use of technology will not only enable business in the New Normal but evolve and enhance it like never before.
One positive of the New Normal is that there will be shorter, more focused interactions – particularly in the use of meetings. I have had several executives tell me of late that what would have been an “in-office” meeting of an hour to an hour and a half was done via a video conference in half an hour – and they felt more was accomplished.
When I worked in major corporations, I always told my Team that independent of “emergency meetings” that are occasionally required, they had my permission to completely ignore any meeting request that did not include an Objective, an Agenda, and an Expected Deliverable twenty-fours in advance of the meeting. It is amazing to see the increased meeting productivity simply having those items identified ahead of time. Maybe even include “prep work” prior to the meeting (ED: it may worth your time research the meeting culture of Amazon via Jeff Bezos – something to be said for it).
By the way, unless it is a general presentation, during a working meeting anybody that hasn’t had anything to say probably shouldn’t have been invited anyway. They can read the meeting summary later – don’t waste their time. Remember, this is “live or die” focus time.
During this same time, you should be looking at how you “re-engineer” your processes – i.e., simplify, streamline, make more efficient, more effective. The best time to reengineer processes is when you have to because that is when the organization puts up the least resistance to change.
The critical question going forward is how to compensate employees when cash is limited. You will likely have to be creative with the employees you retain. Some form of reduced pay with a clear game plan for making them whole sometime in the future through future cash flow or equity. However, no “creative” payroll strategy will work without a new level of transparency into the financial realities of the business. That said, you would be surprised how many employees when given the “naked truth” of a Company status will nod their heads and say, “okay, I understand, let’s make this work.” Who knows, you might build an even stronger, more cohesive, more dedicated, more productive culture as you continue your Restoration.
There is a bond that is created between those who suffer together. Between those who face life-changing events together. Who lay it on the line together. They call it Foxhole Friendships.
At this point, I’m hoping that there are no surprises on what will be required for restoring business in the New Normal. Yes, it will be difficult – most likely excruciatingly so. If there is any consolation in what we all will be facing it is that: a) we will be doing it together; and b) for those of us who successfully restore our businesses and survive we will be undoubtedly stronger for it.
Okay, we looked at Cash, Customers, and Culture. Tomorrow, Community and Commerce.
Don Turner
don@turnerworld.com
678.361.3313
www.turnerworld.com
Thank you for visiting our blog.
Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners
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“I’m not Chinese. I thrive in interesting times.” ~ Charles de Lint ~
In both culture and commerce, we live in what many would consider “interesting times” – as stated in the old Chinese proverb. A proverb, by the way, that is intended as a curse, not a blessing.
Our “interesting times” have officially decimated the worldwide economy, ravaged social norms, and rattled the psyche of many. As we come out of this pandemic-driven calamity we face a truly “new world.” Whether it will be a “brave new world” is yet to be seen – but a “new world” it will most certainly be.
I have learned in a career-focused at disruptive technology marketplaces – often leading edge – is that change is a threat to the meek but an opportunity for the bold. Navigating the New Normal will take – as we will discuss in future parts of this Article – an intrepid head and an empathetic heart.
As a serial CEO and Business Strategist, I have also learned that identifying change is part and parcel to an effective strategy. In its simplest form, the “essence” of strategy is to “look over the horizon” and identify macro trends – i.e., read “change” – that justifies the investment. The need to understand what is over the horizon and see those macro trends that merit the investment of manpower, capital, and time is more important than ever.
With this four-part article – that will be published over the next several days – I thought we would explore what the future holds for all of us. The four parts are Part 1 – The “New Normal” – No Going Back to Normal Part 2 – Not Your Daddy’s Restructuring, the Idea of Restoration Part 3 – 5 C’s Restoration Strategy – the first 3 “C’s” Part 4 – 5 C’s Restoration Strategy – the final 2 “C’s”
Writing is a cathartic process for me that forces me to think more thoroughly through ideas and concepts. It is my hope with this article to prompt some productive discussion about what the New Normal will be, how companies can start moving from isolation to the New Normal, and finally, what the long-term implications are for conducting business.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and even more so to comment – I am interested in everyone’s opinion since that is how we all will learn and move forward together.
I keep hearing from both mainstream and trade media talk about “when things will get back to normal.” From my perspective, that is simply wrong thinking. There is NO getting back to normal after this global disruption of – in our lifetimes – unprecedented scale.
As business professionals, we are being forced to take a fresh look at the fundamental societal changes that exist now and will be occurring in the future and understand how they will drive new ways of conducting business.
Simply put, we must prepare for the “New Normal”
After giving it considerable thought over the past several weeks, I’ve developed four observations that I’ll share here as fodder for discussion.
FIRST, the New Normal will NOT come all at once. It will evolve in phases over the next six to twenty-four months as we move from isolation to controlled distancing to an environment that – once vaccines are readily available – will allow us to interact face-to-face again on a safer basis. One thing I know for sure is that many individuals throughout our society will be permanently “scarred” from this pandemic and never embrace face-to-face interaction as they did in the past.
SECONDLY, the New Normal will certainly contain “holdovers” from our current isolation phase that will represent – in some cases radical – changes to our lives in general and how we conduct business specifically. Yes, we will make more use of, be more comfortable with, and find ways to enhance the virtual experience that we have been forced to at the present moment. One individual I recently read said, “We’re currently in the epicenter of the biggest remote-work experiment in history….” Clearly, there will be part of the population that permanently embraces “electronic presence” over “physical presence” and will want to continue to live and work that way.
THIRDLY, the New Normal will change the commerce landscape – there is simply no getting around that. Some products and services will simply become irrelevant, while others become more important. Of even more interest are the new solutions that will arise to support – if not enable – the New Normal. Will movie theaters ever enjoy their historical attendance as many find they have enjoyed in-home entertainment more? Will discretionary “claustrophobic” air travel ever reach traditional levels as many will value individual travel freedom in a car? Will this drive more travel domestically versus overseas? Will office space ever be viewed with the same attractiveness? How will relationship-building evolve as we simply don’t have the same level of physical interaction as in the past? What will take its place? Will we focus less on the trappings of a business environment and focus more on what individuals are saying? Answering these questions and many more are all part of trying to understand the New Normal.
FOURTHLY, we – as a country and more specifically as a consumer population – are going to be taking a harder look at our trade with foreign powers. Yep, you guessed it – specifically China. China has managed to reposition itself in the global mindset from one of historical suspicion to blatant cynicism. At this point, I don’t believe anyone knows the real origin details of the coronavirus and who is responsible – or is it simply a force majeure of epic proportions. That said, this we do know:
China delayed letting the world know about the coronavirus – there was a government-driven movement to suppress information about the coronavirus – even threatening the doctor who warned his colleagues about a possible outbreak. On 3 Jan 2020, Wuhan police summoned and admonished him for “making false comments on the Internet” – forcing him to write a retraction. Unfortunately, this ophthalmologist, Li Winliang, later personally contracted the virus and has since died at the age of 33.
U.S. healthcare found out quickly that too many of our critical supplies – including pharmaceuticals – were made in China. Our healthcare supply chain was negatively impacted by the virus in China, creating significant problems in the U.S. Furthermore, as China rushed to provide us with needed supplies like N95 respirators, ventilators, and other medical supplies we found out they had serious quality problems and were all but unusable. There is already a movement to take a fresh look at what we allow to be manufactured in China versus in the good ole USA. Hopefully, we will recognize that having a stuffed toy being made in China is of far different importance than from having a life-saving medical device. I am all for a global economy but I’m also all for prioritizing our supply chain and identifying those items that independent of the cost are best manufactured at home.
China has both misrepresented and misreported coronavirus statistics to the world. There has always been skepticism about information from China, but now it has become blatant. In a world where we are seeing in the hundreds of deaths per million people – e.g., Spain 455, Italy 399, France 310, UK 241, with the US at 129, etc. – China reports “3”. That is right, in the country where it all started and I would suggest doesn’t have the Healthcare System of the aforementioned countries, they are reporting 3 deaths per million people. In case you’re curious about what other countries of importance are reporting numbers similar to China you don’t have to look any further than Russia – another bastion of information transparency – which is also reporting “3” deaths per million people. The bottom line, it is difficult to do business with someone you can’t believe and simply don’t trust.
So, these observations beg the question, “what does all this New Normal mean for business?”
In Part 2, we’ll address the idea that managing in the New Normal will require an approach that goes beyond what we have typically referred to as Restructuring or Turnaround. It will call for an approach that I’m referring to as “Restoration.”
Dpm Turner
don@turnerworld.com
678.361.3313
www.turnerworld.com
Thank you for visiting our blog.
Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners
I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.
Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.
Ron Weinstock of Weinstock Marketing and ITB Partners lands New Client, Disinfect Group.
Disinfect Group USA, offers a variety of systems to allow retailers, offices, venues to reopen safely. Total flexibility of units depending on the size needed. All manufacturing is in the USA. Disinfect Group USA’s product has the ability to:
Disinfect people and their belongings safely – 99.9999% effective
Take thermal temperatures
Count capacity in/out
On product branding
Offer LED sponsorship opportunities
Disinfect Group – Sanitation Tunnels
SANITIZING TUNNELS
Dry Fog is an innovative new product that creates an invisible “haze” in our tunnels which are completely safe and approved for use on humans against viruses and bacteria. It works using electrolyzed water technology.
Available with 1 to 5 tunnels and comes as a fogger or a misting sprayer.
SANITIZING FOG
Each visitor and worker pass through a completely safe dry fog before
gaining access to your facility.
THERMAL IMAGING SCANNER
Screens for elevated body temperature at a safe distance for employees and guests entering your facility. Alerts staff when a high temperature is detected.
DIGITAL CAPACITY COUNTER
Add a Body counting camera that helps you know exactly how many people are in your venue or facility at all times.
NO-TOUCH SANITIZER DISPENSER
Automatic hand sanitizer dispensers allow everyone to disinfect their hands helping stop the spread of viruses.
STAY CLEAN. STAY SAFE. RETURN TO WORK.
Contact Ron Weinstock for more information.
(310) 663-7669 | ron@weinstockmarketing.com
Ronald D. Weinstock
Ron Weinstock is an experienced restaurant and retail industry executive, consultant, and entrepreneur.
Over thirty-plus years of successfully launching, building, and revitalizing national and regional brands have positioned Ron Weinstock as a business and marketing leader in industries that include restaurants, financial, health, entertainment, and retailing. Ron is a business and marketing executive with a proven track record and a passion for team building, which/that includes leading cohesive & purpose-driven teams that consistently deliver exceptional results.
Successfully-Returning-To-Workplace: by Jim Cichanski and Jamie Sieja
The past few months have been unpredictable as the pandemic has taken a toll on most businesses. Almost all small to midsize companies have learned to adapt to these arbitrary and varying new working environments. However, it seems the change is actually going well for workers. 57% of U.S. employees think COVID-19 has changed the way we work for the better.*
Workplace Flexibility Moving Forward After Coronavirus
Therefore, it’s time to start looking ahead and getting businesses back on track by implementing updated work policies as the economy restarts. It’s imperative that Human Resources communicate their restructured plans to ensure a healthy and safe operational environment. Jim Cichanski, CEO of Flex HR states “we are working with hundreds of clients to bring back the workforce into their offices. The one key message I urge companies to convey to their employees encompasses the measures you are taking to keep them as safe as possible upon returning to the office. Conversely, be careful not to over promise-keeping your workforce completely safe. The research is still unclear as to exactly how an individual can catch, and spread, COVID-19; therefore, there is no way to create a perfectly protected environment while at work.” While some organizations have begun opening their doors for staff to return to physical locations, the majority of businesses are acclimating toward a remote workforce. Consequently, this means companies are fully transitioning to flexible working arrangements in the foreseeable future.
“If workplace flexibility is an expected employee perk, then employers will continue to offer that benefit to hire and retain quality people, which should be a prime the goal of the employer,” says Karen M. McGrath, assistant professor of finance at the Freeman College of Management at Bucknell University. “So as long as productivity remains strong, and employees experience greater job satisfaction, then I do not see things changing.”
Employers and Staff Returning to the Workplace
“HR executives should be the leaders in transitioning employees back to the workplace,” says David Osborne, chief executive officer of Virgin Pulse, a wellness company. Several employers are phasing employees back into offices, staggering workdays, moving office spaces (or cubicles) 6 -10 feet apart, and conducting temperature screenings before entering the building. Furthermore, other companies are asking their workers to self-administer temperature checks at home and attest that they have no COVID symptoms before entering their workspace each day. All of these transformations throughout the organization need to be relayed to all employees to ease their anxieties and to provide peace of mind. In short, companies are being trusted by their employees to do the right thing, follow the right guidance, and bring them back safely.
Overcoming New Office Challenges During The Pandemic
As the impact of Coronavirus across the country is lingering, one new challenge that organizations are experiencing is navigating day-to-day productivity efficiently. Thus, it’s essential to design a return to work plan that is sufficiently adaptable to evolving recommendations, guidelines, and orders issued by federal, state, and local governments, such as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Additionally, employers should reference guidelines published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which summarize key considerations for preparing workplaces when bringing back employees.
Human Resources Is Vital Right Now
Business owners need to invest in the proper HR expertise now more than ever to successfully strategize and manage the modifications of new office policies. Businesses around the nation are trending towards outsourcing their human resources. Companies like Flex HR, Inc., a full-service HR firm headquartered in Johns Creek, GA, oversee these adaptable transitions all while mitigating possible liability risks for the employer. HR professionals have become the principal leaders of positive change; inventing new ways to work, altering job functions, developing new learning and communication methodologies. “The HR profession has taken on a heroic role. I am more inspired and energized to support the HR profession than ever. HR leaders are rolling up their sleeves, partnering with IT, facilities and legal functions, and figuring out how to react, respond and re-engineer all aspects of work,” notes Josh Bersin of Human Resource Executive.
Streamlining business complexities during the COVID crisis is perplexing in itself. Leadership is currently overwhelmed in making effectively-balanced valuable decisions for both staff and the organization. Simultaneously all while trying to enforce the company’s core values and safeguarding the well-being of employees. To ease the burden of management, HR companies, like Flex HR, have created “helpful tips for managing the Coronavirus crisis” online, specifically addressing COVID-19 business impact concerns. For checklists, sample return to work letters, and other essential information for having your staff return to work, contact Flex HR now.
Jim Cichanski, the founder, President, and CEO of Flex HR, Inc., has 30+ years of experience in human resources, holding senior-level positions in companies that were privately held, pre-IPO, foreign-owned, joint venture, Fortune 50 and one labeled the “fastest-growing F1000 in America.”
Jim Cichanski Flex HR, Inc. President and CEO Flex HR, Inc.
Thank you for visiting our blog.
Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners
I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.
Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.
In mid-June, I received an email from my next-door neighbor asking for help with a project. Bob had just completed the first draft of a book and was beginning to think about the publishing process. He thought I could help sort out his options. Six months ago, Bob shared his idea for a book so I wasn’t surprised by his request. He wanted to tell a story about the challenges of becoming a Plant Manager, based on personal experience. His interest was to write a novel in the style of “The Goal,” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox. It appears that the Covid-19 voluntary lockdown provided him with the perfect opportunity to write his book. We scheduled a Beer Summit for 4:00 p.m. Saturday.
Bob arrived at our side door, off the kitchen, with a six-pack of chilled Pilsner Urquell. That was a pleasant surprise as I had just stocked our beverage center with a few of my favorite brands. He explained that Pilsner Urquell is a brand he came to appreciate while stationed in Germany. Always interested in trying a new brew, I thanked him and grabbed two glasses. After a brief toast, we exited the kitchen door to the deck and found seats on the shaded corner around the fire pit. The beer was a good choice. We began to talk.
He reminded me of his plan to write a book to help launch a consulting career. The opportunity presented itself, so he took it. Bob said that he had been talking to friends about their publishing experience. So far, the feedback he had received was about traditional publishing. He said he wanted to hear about my self-publishing experience. I told him how I had published my book on Amazon, and I volunteered to introduce him to colleagues who had significantly more self-publishing experience. Also, I suggested that he distribute his manuscript to ten or twelve trusted friends to gain their perspectives. Bob asked if I would like to read his draft. I happily agreed.
The following Saturday, we met again to discuss his manuscript. As with our first meeting, Bob supplied the beer, this time a six-pack of Guinness, one of my favorites. We found our spots on the corner of my deck and opened our beers. Small talk followed as we eased into serious conversation.
Bob had emailed his manuscript in MSWord format. I read it in ten-page printed chunks, making notes on those pages. Before handing Bob his marked-up manuscript, I explained that my focus was on the quality of the story, not the grammar, sentence structure, or syntax. I made notations of issues in those areas for his consideration, however.
As I handed Bob the manuscript I complimented him for creating a remarkable story and enjoyable read. I went on to say that my only recommendation was that he consider changing his opening chapter. Bob had used the first chapter to introduce Bud, the main character. My suggestion was that Bob presents Bud’s biographical information in a series of flashbacks to provide perspective as to how his experience informed his problem-solving and decision-making process. By doing so I believe it would generate stronger reader interest by captivating their imagination at a more dramatic part of the story.
Summary and Conclusion
Everyone likes a good story. It is human nature, part of our DNA so to speak. For millennia, humans have entertained themselves by telling stories around the proverbial campfire. One can imagine the origin of the first Fish Story, “you should have seen the one that got away.”
Things have not changed that much in the 21st Century as a good story is still the preferred way to sell a product and to keep one another entertained. In fact, I stress this point with my consultants and coaching clients. If one wants to be considered a Subject Matter Expert, (SME) or become recognized as a leader in their field, they must be able to sell themselves. In other words, we must be effective communicators. Our skillset must include mastery of the written word as well as verbal communication skills. A compelling story can be your launchpad for more effective networking, blogging, and speaking.
Thank you for visiting our blog.
Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners
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Like the eye of a hurricane, businesses raked by the leading edge of the COVID-19 pandemic are now taking a cautious look outside. Though the winds have subsided, and it’s tempting to think that the worst is over, the eye simply gives us a chance to prepare for what’s left to come. But the time is now to begin planning for the rebound.
If you withstood the worst of the impacts of the pandemic so far, you likely have accepted that the storm was coming, and had battened down your hatches (or at least applied for PPP funding to keep vestiges of your business afloat). Now, as we can start to imagine a future, it’s critical to have your plan in place when the rebound hits.
For those who haven’t been willing to consider the details needed in your post-pandemic recovery plan – or simply weren’t willing to “go there” – now is the time to plan for your rebound.
The public has been released from their quarantine in many states and other states are scheduled to open. Research indicates consumers will be ready to shop and dine. The world into which they will venture will indeed be changed. Will their appetite for dining with you also be transformed?
In my view, planning for the rebound – the re-grand-opening into the brave new world – will require a three-step planning process:
An accurate assessment of NOW – Analysis and cost-cutting based on where you are today, and how you’ll conduct business until social distancing is no longer needed;
Planning for NEAR – Executing on pivots or changes to your offerings to help your cash flow to improve your survivability, and;
Plan NEXT – Stop random acts of marketing and follow the 12-step approach that follows “The Growth Gears,” a strategic marketing book authored by Art Saxby and Pete Hayes, to plan for your recovery.
Where have your customers gone? Are they still in need of your unique brand of hospitality? Have you maintained your competitive edge? Can you keep your employees active and engaged in the business? Many businesses are grappling with these and other questions, as they fight for survival in an apocalyptic present, and uncertain future. Here are four tips to consider when planning for the rebound and assessing your business:
Review costs
Most people have already done this – things like canceling recurring services that are simply irrelevant, asking for payment terms on necessary services, and in general, having a series of difficult conversations about labor, supplies, and rent. Job No. 1 is to understand your cash flow – and factors influencing it.
Review competition
What is your competition doing now? How have they pivoted? Did they reduce hours of operation? Were they forced to close? Is there something you could do with your local competitors to encourage customers to order takeout and delivery? For example, an entity called “The Great American Takeout” has formed, and has encouraged customers via social media posts to takeout food to support restaurants every Tuesday since March 24.
Reconnect with your employees
Did you furlough or lay anybody off? With the crew that is left, what has the pandemic done to morale? How are you? Now is the time for frequent communication with your current and past employees. To prepare for reopening, you should prepare a plan to re-hire and train employees.
Reassign tasks
To keep employees on the payroll (assuming you have sales because you are offering curbside pick-up or delivery), reassign team members to answer the phone, shuttle deliveries, or serve as curb-side ambassadors. In the short term, this could also mean repurposing the business for strictly philanthropic purposes. One restaurant invited the American Red Cross to park its Bloodmobile in their parking lot for a blood drive to help medical professionals.
Step 2: PLANNING FOR NEAR
Planning for the rebound needs to happen now. If you’ve withstood the worst of the pandemic so far, you may find that the tweaks you’ve made temporarily should be considered for permanence. Now, more than ever, understanding the customer’s needs and wants – and how you are positioned to be a guiding force in their upturned lives – can be a make or break proposition. Here are some ways to be a part of this change:
Rethink offerings.
If you’re a restaurant, you might offer groceries or sell toilet paper. Most restauranteurs reduced their menu offerings to optimize the to-go experience. For retailers, this can involve sticking with conveniences like online ordering and curbside pick-up. Creativity is key. Here are some creative examples:
Red Roof Inns: The lodging company offered up hotel rooms as a remote office and alternative resting spaces during the day for truckers for only $29.
Fogo de Chao: The unique Brazilian restaurant shifted its focus to offer curbside packages of ready-to-grill cuts of meat.
Wow Bao: The restaurant has begun “selling the materials necessary to make a simplified version of their menu of bowls, buns, and potstickers to other restaurants and ghost kitchen facilities,” according to the website Restaurant-Hospitality.com.
Subway: The sandwich chain is testing a Subway Grocery concept in California. The beta program allows customers to order items such as baked bread, deli meats, sliced cheese, vegetables, and soups.
Panera: Like Subway, Panera Bread has launched a grocery offering at scale to allow customers to order essential grocery items such as loaves of bread, milk and produce, and to have the items available for delivery or drive-up pickup.
Reconsider sacred cows
As businesses rethink their offerings, they can run smack into certain “sacred cows” that seem to be integral to their identity. For example, a full-service eatery may balk at delivery options, since that fish dish might be ruined in the 30 or 45 minutes it takes to deliver it. This is no time for those kinds of pretensions. Find a way to make a meal pack, or focus on offerings that can be delivered successfully. Several restaurants have created pop-up drive-throughs, with no more than a tent and a landlord’s blessing. And the likes of Home Depot have shifted to curbside pick-ups even as it prided itself on counseling customers in the store.
Reschedule Initiatives
Retailers and restaurants that had planned remodeling projects could move those up, but only if the resources exist to do so. Only the best-capitalized businesses will be able to embark on a remodeling project now, but if you can move up the date, it’s worth doing while your dining room or bricks-and-mortar location is closed. Of course, such initiatives can still be hindered by government directives that limit non-essential work and will vary by municipality.
Reconnect
Communication matters more than ever. We may be keeping our distance physically, but we’ve never been more social. We have regular Zoom happy hours, and we can still call upon clients virtually on a regular basis. B2B companies will have closer relationships since they sell directly to their clients, but B2C companies shouldn’t go quiet either. They need to reach out every few days, so long as they are mindful in tone and content.
On an April 8 webinar sponsored by Valassis and featuring data from Technomic, they suggested:
Source: Valassis
If you can maintain communication with your customers through advertising, social channels, and email, do it. You must be mindful of your tone and message, but the research of the past 93 years is clear – if you can maintain or increase your advertising during a downturn, especially when your competitors don’t, you will be rewarded with higher sales and market share during the recovery.
Step 3: PLAN NEXT
Opening Soon
Planning for the rebound sooner, rather than later, is critical. Those who wait for the rebound to begin will be late to the party. If you wait too long, you will likely lose market share to more aggressive competitors.
With what you’ve gleaned from studying your competitors and company in Step No. 1, above, it’s time to learn more about your customers as they exist today, to get an idea of what and who they may be in the future. The shifts in public policy, social interactions, virtual workspaces, and personal hygiene will likely be tectonic in scope. As a result, you need to understand how the shifts will affect your business and which ones you may be able to exploit.
Ways to learn about your customers now, so you can plan for the Next.
Google Analytics – Look for shifts in devices used, demographics, source of traffic, etc.
Email surveys – Query your customers about their lifestyle, media preferences, food choices, favorite foods, etc. as they were prior to the pandemic, and as they are now. Do a gap analysis to find opportunities.
Read – Information abounds online regarding perceived or guessed new behaviors by many sources. Pete Hayes, CMO, and Principal for Chief Outsiders outlined the basic steps to follow in his blog “COVID-19 Crisis – 12-step Pre-Recovery Checklist for CEO’s. Also, McKinsey & Company posted an opinion on how to prepare for the next stage of the crisis. Their opinion is deeply rooted in management consulting expertise and is more about preparation for the next stage of the crisis vs. recovery.
Regardless of your current posture on the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a certainty that the danger will eventually come to an end. Now is the time to be sharpening your pencils and honing your strategies so you can be ready for the next steps.
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Maintaining advertising in a recession has been proven over time to increase market share and boost revenues over time.
In these uncertain times amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, there are likely two distinct pathways for businesses to follow — adapt or perish. Because none of you reading this would ever consider laying down your arms and not fighting for survival, I thought I’d share a couple of quotes from noteworthy types who chose the latter mindset, choosing to both adapt, and thrive, rather than survive.
“To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often.” –Winston Churchill
“Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.” – Wayne Gretsky
Of course, your survival instinct is just a starting point. What will it take to truly gird your organization for the post-pandemic economic recovery?
In this blog and the one to follow, I’d like to lay out some steps that might be worth taking. First, we’ll discuss why your advertising budget should be spared the ax. We’ll then discuss strategies to employ to prepare for an economic rebound.
Onward, ho!
Playing to Win the Ad Game
History is full of examples where businesses that maintained or increased advertising budgets during a recession were rewarded with more market share and higher sales and profits.
During the Great Depression, Post cereals reduced its advertising budget while Kellogg doubled its ad spend. The result? A catchy slogan — “Snap, Crackle and Pop” – for its new Rice Krispies cereal, and a 30 percent increase in post-depression profits. Oh, and they’ve been the market leader ever since.
During the 17-month recession in 1973 -75, Toyota maintained its ad spend and became the No. 1 import in 1976, surpassing Volkswagen.
In the 1990-91 recession, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut took advantage of McDonald’s decision to reduce its advertising spend. Pizza Hut sales increased 61 percent and Taco Bell,s jumped by 40 percent, while McDonald’s decreased 28%.
More than 40 studies over 93 years for Advertising in a Recession
In 2009, Gerard J. Tellis and Kethan Tellis compiled and synthesized 40 historical empirical and non-empirical studies on the topic of advertising in a recession. What they found was a healthy dose of evidence that advertising during a recession is a good thing. Several studies found clear evidence the reduced recessional ad spending led to lower post-recession sales; still, other studies found that the inverse – higher spend led to higher sales – was true. And, some studies actually found that market share can actually increase more for some companies during a recession than in stable times. The likely reason is a combination of lost share by competitors and the entry of new, more nimble firms into the post-depression marketplace.
Advertising Drives Word of Mouth
In another example, researchers looked at the lessons learned from the automotive and financial industries during the 2008-2009 depression. Brad Fey and David Shiffman concluded that:
Advertising plays a substantial role in driving positive word of mouth (WOM) for major brands.
Even during a major crisis, ad-driven WOM continues to be nearly as positive as during normal times.
Cutting back ad spend during a crisis diminished the impact of a valuable tool for offsetting negative news (though customer service, public relations, and social media also play a role).
From personal experience, I lived in the 2008-2010 recession. While a member of the executive team at Firehouse Subs, we used the downturn to reposition the brand and double our ad spend – actions that led to increased market share and exponential growth from 2010 to 2016, at a 20 percent year-over-year clip.
“The optimum response to the recession is to maintain, and ideally increase your advertising investment.
Unfortunately, to pull this off you require three things. You need to have some money available to spend on advertising. Then you need an executive team smart enough to know marketing is an investment or trusting enough to listen to your presentation that explains all of this to them. And, finally, you need to not be shit.”
How Does This Relate to Today?
Of course, we know that cash flow is critical, and maintaining ad spend during this crisis is easier said than done for many brands. But, if you have the ability to communicate with your customers through email/SMS text and other owned channels like social media, do it. As Fey and Shiffman learned from their work, the message is important, and this is the time to do all you can to maintain positive Word of Mouth with your customers.
If you are fortunate to have cash reserves and can maintain ad spend, especially by shifting to digital channels where “shelter in place” directives have increased usage, do it too.
Messaging Counts Too
Now, the message you convey during the COVID-19 crisis will vary slightly by industry. In some industries like restaurants and retail that are considered essential services, the advertising message could be similar to pre-COVID-19 messaging, since customers seem to be sympathetic to the struggles being experienced by their local merchants.
But striking the right balance is critical. If you are seen as putting profits before people, you may squander trust in a way that it cannot be recovered. A recent study by Edelman on brand trust confirmed this fact but also found that most brands are using their advertising powers for good rather that evil. Consumers in the survey responded as follows:
90 percent want brands to do everything they can to protect the well-being and financial security of their employees and suppliers, even if it means substantial financial losses until the pandemic ends.
89 percent believe brands should offer free or lower-priced products to health workers, people at high risk, and those whose jobs have been affected.
83 percent are seeking a compassionate connection, including brand messaging that communicates empathy and support with the struggles they face.
84 percent are turning to brand social channels to find a sense of community and offer support to those in need.
65 percent like hearing from brands they use about what they are doing in response to the pandemic because it is comforting and reassuring to them.
The takeaway?
Though it may be ok to advertise product or brand, as usual, it is advisable to change messaging, especially in owned channels like email, SMS/text, and social to a more humanistic tone and values.
“There is no doubt that the COVID-19 crisis is more than a recession. It is much worse and physical distancing is a demand killer. However, we at Edleman believe there will be much pent-up demand after the tide turns. American consumers like to be mobile, to eat out and spend money shopping. Don’t under-estimate the power of “Cabin Fever” and the “stir-craziness” for all Americans due to physical distancing.”
In our next blog, we’ll look at the importance of strategic go-to-market planning in being ready for the rebound.
Doug Reifschneider
Thank you for visiting our blog.
Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners
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According to a recent study by Chief Outsiders, a national marketing strategy consulting firm, 88% of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) see the difficulty in staying ahead of Marketing Technology.
Why?
According to Forrester, technology has not just impacted business, it has disrupted it. So much so that CNBC reported that the average life span of an S&P 500 company is about 20 years. It was 60 years in the 1950s according to Credit Suisse. 1
The way technology is evolving, imagine what that figure might be in 20 years.
All you have to do is look at Moore’s law to understand why technology is moving so fast.
What is Moore’s Law & How Does It Impact Marketing Technology?
In 1965, Gordon E. Moore, the co-founder of Intel, made this observation that became Moore’s Law.
Moore’s Law refers to Moore’s perception that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years, though the cost of computers is halved. In addition, Moore’s Law states that we can expect the speed and capability of our computers to increase every couple of years. Plus, we will pay less for them too. Another tenet of Moore’s Law asserts that this growth is exponential.2
Moore’s Law tenet is that the number of computer chips on a single board grows exponentially.
Source: Moore’s Law graph3
It is hard for a human to keep up with exponential growth. And marketers are human. This is why marketers are having trouble keeping up with marketing technology.
Why specifically do CMOs think it will be hard to stay ahead of technology?
Because many CMOs haven’t kept up with marketing technology to-date. And the exponential growth that is expected to continue will be mind-boggling.
The Marketing Menu Changed!
For example, as recently as the 1990s, marketers had a finite list of advertising and promotional tactics at their disposal. The tactics to increase sales, improve brand awareness, and grow market share were low tech too.
Out of Home (Billboards, transit benches, and shelters, taxi’s, etc.)
Promotion (sports teams, schools, etc.)
Yellow pages if a local or multi-location business
Today, with the addition of OTT (Over the Top) TV, banner ads, advertising on social media, and other digital options, the choices on where to place advertising dollars are staggering.
MARTech = Marketing Technology
The modern CMO is faced with options in Martech and Adtech. Yes, those are real terms used within the marketing world. In 2011, we had about 150 MarTech choices. By 2019, there were over 7,000 choices.
In 2011, there were about 150+ Martech vendors. By 2019, there were over 7000!
To put in perspective, RedHat published the following tech stack that is aligned with the customer journey. One brand using this technique would interact with over 30 Martech vendors.
Who can keep up with that, let alone stay ahead of it?
Illustrates 30 MarTech companies have to work with to manage the customer journey.
Source: 4
Technology has disrupted business in many ways. According to Forrester, the primary reason technology has disrupted business is based on three issues:
Empowered consumers
Blurred lines between digital and physical
Disruptive business models powered by data and tech
In their reports titled “Winning In The Age Of The Customer,” and “The Customer-Obsessed Enterprise” Forrester suggests that companies that are not just customer-focused, but customer-obsessed, achieve higher revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction.
Enter the COVID-19 pandemic
To put into perspective how important technology to business is, consider how different brands in food service were impacted by the pandemic.
Chipotle sales decreased 16% in the last two weeks of March compared to -25% at McDonald’s & Pizza Hut, -30% at Taco Bell and -35% at KFC
According to Black Box Intelligence, sales reported by all restaurants in their database for the week ending April 19 were -47.6%
As reported in QSR magazine for Domino’s “What’s happened in the first four weeks of Q2 (March 23 to April 19) has been more enlightening. Domino’s witnessed U.S. company comps jump 10.6 percent. Franchises are up 6.9 percent. Blended, it’s a 7.1 percent year-over-year same-store number.”
The first 3 examples are from brands that were already focusing on their digital capabilities. Wing Stop was one of the first restaurant brands to offer chatbot ordering on social media platforms. And Domino’s has become the de facto leader in the pizza segment when it comes to technology.
The key takeaway for restaurants is that the pandemic created a new set of consumer desires and demands and the brands (often chain with marketing teams) already knowledgeable and leading in technology won. This plays out in retail too. If you’re a retailer and you didn’t have an eCommerce platform prior to March 13, you’re probably hurting bad, or closed.
The pandemic forced many brands to accelerate their use and adoption of technology to meet the new consumer needs.
Conclusion
The bottom line when it comes to brick & mortar businesses is that marketing technology is part of the customer experience and great technology can create a great frictionless user experience. Bad technology can do the opposite. The pandemic forced business owners to embrace eCommerce, digital ordering, and contactless payments and transactions faster than ever before. Consequently, brick & mortar brands must:
Own all the consumer touchpoints
Own customer data
Connect offline to online for a true omnidirectional view of your customers
It’s not easy to keep up with technology. The effects of social distancing and working from home simply made every business pivot or adapt to less touch and more connection via technology.
If Forrester is right, the technology we marketers use to reach intended customers needs to pivot and more companies need to become customer-obsessed to succeed.
Staying ahead of that trend will be very difficult, very difficult indeed.
Doug Reifschneider
Doug Reifschneider is a 30+ year marketing veteran in the foodservice industry. He currently works with Chief Outsiders as a fractional CMO.
Growing up on a small farm in South Georgia, I learned at an early age there were laws that governed the growth of crops and animals. Now as an adult I hear everyone talking about growing a business, growing a family, growing a political party, growing a church – it seems like everybody is trying to grow something!! It has occurred to me that the Laws of Growth I learned on the farm about growing an organism might also apply to grow an organization.
The First Law of Growth is that Growth is the NATURAL RESULT of a healthy organism. We did not go out every morning and wake the cows up and encourage them to grow! We kept them fed and watered and they just grew! For those of you who have children, you never had to go in the baby’s room and tell Junior it was time to start stretching so he would grow! You just had to keep him fed and watered and he grew!
May I be so bold as to suggest that if we have a healthy organization, it too will naturally grow? If we build an organization where people want to work and contribute, they will not want to leave and will become a brand ambassador for other people looking for a healthy work environment. And our clients and customers will benefit from their loyalty and will want to purchase as many of our products and services as they can use, and they too will become brand ambassadors for others needing what you provide!
So how do you go about creating that healthy organization?
The Second Law of Growth is you must Plant the Seeds to Reap a Harvest. You can’t just lay the seeds on top of the ground and expect to reap anything on the farm, and you can’t just talk about what you’re going to do, you must actually DO something!
You have to break up the fallow ground, plow it up, loosen the soil, allow it to breathe and accept rainwater! When is the last time you took a long, hard look at how you do what it is that you do? How long have you been doing the same old thing the same old way? Are there parts of your organization that needs the refreshing of a good plowing?
Now, this is not the “just change something to be changing” mantra, but would any of your key people benefit from some additional training or a motivational seminar? Are there processes that could be changed to produce better outcomes? Would it help to have a consultant or outside advisor come in and give your organization a complete evaluation top to bottom? What would happen in your organization if you pulled your salespeople into work in operations and sent your operations people out to make sales calls – even for a short period of time?
It has been said that a RUT is just a grave with the ends knocked out and ruts can be deadly in an organization if not plowed up!
The Third Law is you REAP what you SOW! This could be a book in itself! You will reap the ATTITUDE you sow! You will reap the employees you hire! You will reap the character you develop! You will reap the policies you implement!
On the farm, it didn’t cost much more to purchase the BEST seeds, and, in the long run, they always gave the best yield. Might I propose that hiring the best people will, in the long run, be your best bargain? Hiring less than the best is a false economy – you will always get what you pay for!
The Fourth Law is that your Harvest is directly proportional to the care you provide your crops. You have to make sure your plants are receiving adequate water and fertilizer, and your employees must be receiving adequate compensation and training! Your clients and customers must be receiving high-touch relationships and quality products and services! Start being stingy and your organization will react.
The Fifth Law is you must PULL the WEEDS! If there is someone in your organization that is not contributing, either motivate them, train them or fire them. If there is anyone sowing discord, fire them immediately. Crops cannot compete with weeds for water and fertilizer and your employees are not going to thrive with negativity in their world. And dare I say sometimes a client or customer can become a weed. Don’t be afraid to fire one of them if they are creating more problems than they are worth.
The Sixth Law is you will always reap MORE than you sow! For every seed of corn you plant, you will reap 2 to 4 EARS of corn come the harvest! There should be a positive ROI on every employee and every customer, and that ROI is going to be influenced by how well the leader leads. Unfortunately, this law also works in the negative – reaping more grief than was sown.
The Seventh Law is you reap LATER than you sow! There is no magic wand to instantly create a healthy organization. It takes time for the efforts you put in to produce the results you are wanting, but don’t let that discourage you from starting the process. Consider it motivation to start NOW! Get a sense of urgency about creating a great organization.
So, in closing, I recall the words of Kevin Costner in The Field of Dreams, you build a healthy organization and they will come! Employees will come! Clients and customers will come! Profits will come!
Ralph Watson
Ralph Watson has a varied and extensive career spanning 45 years of increasingly responsible positions in both sales and operations in a very diverse mix of industry specialties, including food processing, textile and apparel, financial services, and professional management consulting.
Ralph served as a Senior Executive Analyst with a number of international consulting companies focused on the family-owned, privately held market where he distinguished himself as one of the top analysts in a highly competitive field. In early 2014, he personally coached 10 businesses in Europe.
Ralph C. Watson, Jr. 404-520-1030
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All organizations can benefit from a robust Succession Planning process. Larger organizations often use sophisticated software solutions to administer the process which is often way too much for smaller businesses. Think SalesForce which I have found in several smaller organizations as their CRM and are not used due to their complexity. Like CRM’s, there are technology solutions for Succession Planning that fit the size of your company and have a much higher engagement level of use. While the administrative part of Succession Planning is important, identifying the desired “outcomes and impact” on the organization with Succession Planning needs to be clearly established along with a high commitment level from the ELT (Executive Leadership Team). Taking this step is a critical part of the equation.
Technology will help enable a significant amount of the New Normal. Remote Team Management tools have been around for a while and continue to grow in their adoption. Video Conferencing will evolve. Electronic whiteboards will be the norm for Team brainstorming. Workflow Management solutions will increase the velocity of deliverables through an organization. We will find that the effective use of technology will not only enable business in the New Normal but evolve and enhance it like never before.
change is part and parcel to an effective strategy. In its simplest form, the “essence” of strategy is to “look over the horizon” and identify macro trends – i.e., read “change” – that justifies the investment. The need to understand what is over the horizon and see those macro trends that merit the investment of manpower, capital, and time is more important than ever.
SECONDLY, the New Normal will certainly contain “holdovers” from our current isolation phase that will represent – in some cases radical – changes to our lives in general and how we conduct business specifically. Yes, we will make more use of, be more comfortable with, and find ways to enhance the virtual experience that we have been forced to at the present moment. One individual I recently read said, “We’re currently in the epicenter of the biggest remote-work experiment in history….” Clearly, there will be part of the population that permanently embraces “electronic presence” over “physical presence” and will want to continue to live and work that way.
