Situation: A company has just hired a new CEO. Historically the company has focused on high quality and good customer service but has lacked good financial management and has experienced financial difficulties. As a result, they could not support their staffing needs. Where do you focus to build a strong company?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Critical areas where the CEO should focus:
  • Quality – assuring that the company continues to produce high quality products.
  • Customer service – assuring that the company continues to offer excellent customer service.
  • Quality and customer service must remain one and two, though they can be in either order.
  • Financial soundness; but not so focused on the bottom line that either quality or service suffer.
• How do you achieve or maintain focus on these areas?
  • High quality and good customer service are already well established.
  • What has been lacking is sound financial management. Evaluate whether the right people are in place, and what financial and financial record systems are in use. If expertise is needed, bring in an expert to evaluate both personnel and systems and recommended changes that need to be made.
• What other important factors should be the CEO’s focus?
  • Ethics – particularly when evaluating the company’s financial system, assure that both people and systems support a strong and reliable department. This may result in some hard decisions that are necessary to turn the situation around. If this is the case, be determined but fair.
  • Sustainable business practices – assure that any new practices that are instituted are sustainable. Look at case studies of similar companies that have turned themselves around.
  • Fun – an enjoyable workplace as far fewer issues than one that is difficult. It is important to build strong teams, and to give them the autonomy necessary to do their jobs well without overly taxing team members.
• Build a company that has a good balance between the first 3 critical factors. When new hires are necessary look for people with an established track record and business background who also have strong ethics.

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