Most companies come to a point where their previously employed strategies for productivity aren’t yielding desired results. This can be comparable to the law of diminishing returns in economics. In a situation like this, the next step for any business trying to salvage such a situation would be to conduct a comprehensive review of operations and strategy to determine a practical plan of action effectively. Now, let’s paint a problem scenario from which we can glean practical lessons.
Take, for instance, a situation where a business’s revenue has been flat for 2 years, and the business has already begun to lose money. In addition, there is uneven profitability across products and customers. Furthermore, company culture is being impacted negatively due to conflict and communication issues. This, in turn, is impeding the company from recruiting top talent and creating an undesirable turnover. To worsen matters further, a great deal of burnout is experienced, particularly by the owners.
Proferring a lasting solution to the problems plaguing this business would involve evaluating from the business, owner, and staff’s point of view. Regarding the business, creating a strategic plan, business valuation, and structuring and implementing an action plan to grow profits is a necessary step to take. While this approach may require the involvement of staff or the owners, it is more business-centric. Since employees play such a crucial role in achieving results, a solid approach could be implementing a dashboard for team alignment and accountability. This would further make the individual employee pay close attention to the tasks they are responsible for, and it could foster unity.
Furthermore, staff DiSC assessments (dominance (D), influence (i), steadiness (S), and (C) conscientiousness) to determine workers’ personality traits and better understand their workplace behavior can be a valuable recourse too. Improving communication through workshops and training can prove to be effective as well. Other plans to implement would be team time mastery with improved focus on daily, weekly, and monthly prioritize “rocks”. Similarly, orchestrating daily and weekly team meetings for alignment and accountability could improve communication and responsibility assumptions, helping company culture.
If these are properly implemented, there’s a pretty solid chance of attaining an employee net promoter score above the industry average and initial target. A culmination of the various strategies to be implemented for business and staff would also see productivity and sales come out of a slump, with quarterly revenues likely to be well above plan. In terms of actual figures, a projected 10% net margin. If this looks like the kind of result you want to achieve, then a business coach can help create a strategic plan.
My name is Charlie Janes, and I’m a certified business and executive coach. As an executive, I have successfully grown sales and customer engagement organizations from the ground up to the $70 million-$100+ million revenue plateau three times. One of these businesses exited for $330 million. I have also helped seven startups acquire investors, define a unique market niche, develop an initial product and acquire the first 10-50 customers. I’m passionate about applying my experience to help individuals and businesses thrive. If this sounds exactly what you’re seeking, let’s get started!
