Tag Archives: Environment

How Do You Sell in an Adverse Market? Three Points

Situation: A CEO is concerned that while interacting with trusted advisors and key contacts in the market the challenge is not the words, but in the environment of nervousness about the state of the economy. He feels a need to increase prospecting and to become more proactive – particularly with trusted advisors. What is the advice of the CEOs around the table for doing this? How do you sell in an adverse market?
Advice from the CEOs:
• Get the team to believe – adjust the message to the environment.
• Get together with the team and brainstorm how your company’s offering provides advantages in an uncertain market. Craft this into a message that everyone can use.
• To spark the discussion get a digital copy of the movie Glengarry Glen Ross and watch it together. This is a wonderful example of what NOT to do, but will engage the imaginations of the team. After watching the movie brainstorm what your more effective message will be.

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How Do You Position a Professional Services Company for Growth? Part 1 Three Suggestions

Situation: The CEO of a professional services company wants to position her company for growth. What suggestions do others have to assist her? How do you position a professional services company for growth?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Focus on Dynamic Processes – The world and business environments are changing rapidly in response to economic, business and political stimuli. This places a premium on developing dynamic and highly adaptable business models. Companies that develop these models will have a much more sustainable competitive advantage than those who do not.
  • Leverage Information – Along with rapid change comes a great deal of new information. Companies with a sustainable competitive advantage will leverage information from both traditional and new sources to develop new opportunities and new applications for older but still valuable technologies and processes.
  • Be Sensitive to Cultural Issues – The expanding global economy means that customers, suppliers and employees will come from all over the world, bringing with them different cultural backgrounds. By adapting business models to address and respond to varying cultural needs – by celebrating differences instead of being inhibited by them – a company enhances its competitive advantage.

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How Do You Use Metrics to Focus Your Team? Three Points

Situation: A CEO wants to improve company performance and is interested in how others use metrics to focus their teams. How do you use metrics to focus your team?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Engage your employees in the development of metrics.
    • The team members are close to the customer and the company’s key vendors. What makes sense to measure? What metrics are tied both to performance and a healthy or supportive but competitive environment? What would create adverse conflicts within the business or with either customers or vendors?
  • Metrics need to be meaningful and applicable.
    • They have to directly pertain to day-to-day, week-to-week and month-to-month objectives and performance.
  • Factor in personal issues.
    • Everyone doesn’t need to have the same metrics – instead formulate metrics that are pertinent to the different roles and individuals within the company.

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How Do You Attract Investment to a Small Company? Four Perspectives

Situation: A small company seeks outside investment to support its growth. The company’s industry is dominated by large, well-recognized players. These companies have historically been the company’s customers; however, they have a quarterly mindset, and are increasingly looking to support their own development groups. How do you attract investment to a small company?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • What is the company’s ROI and risk profile?
    • Positive ROI, particularly taking advantage of new distribution channels.
    • ROI turnaround is typically 1-2 years.
    • There are about 50 similar companies in the market.
    • The company possesses intellectual property that makes it appealing.
    • Project maturity is generally considered a risk in the industry – it is not as experienced or mature as other industries.
    • An additional risk is that new developments in online distribution are continually changing the industry environment in unpredictable ways.
  • Investigate and approach companies in other industries with similar structures – dominated by large players but with a healthy presence of smaller companies. Examples include the movie industry and real estate pools.
    • Talk to investors who are familiar with these industries to see whether they would be interested in investing in the company’s projects.
  • There is a good deal of money out there looking to beat the current returns available through the stock market and paper investments. Look for an angel investor.
  • Given the Risk/Reward structure of the industry, approaching professional investors may be the best bet for the company.

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How Do You Increase a Team’s “Voltage”? Three Suggestions

Situation: A CEO is concerned that his team feels like it has lost energy. This could be temporary or seasonal, but he feels that something needs to be done to increase the excitement or “voltage” of the team and workplace. What have others done in a similar situation. How do you increase a team’s “voltage”?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Anoint a “Champion of Fun.”
    • The objective is to recreate the excitement and joy that has been present in the company in the past. The individual assigned should be someone who has frequently or consistently demonstrated high energy and enthusiasm.
    • The person should be an employee – not management.
    • This could be two people who focus on different things – one for small, day to day activities, and one for big events, like a Habitat for Humanity Day.
  • Create a sense that employees have some control over their environment. This adds energy.
    • Circulate an Office Depot catalogue and give each employee a modest budget that they can spend to dress up their work space.
    • This has an amazing impact on the pride that they feel in their work space.
  • Bring in lunch as a surprise a couple of times a month. This is for getting reacquainted, not for business discussions during lunch.
    • The objective is to build the team camaraderie, and to enhance communication and collaboration among the team.

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How Do You Maintain Your Culture as You Grow? Five Points

Situation: A company has been growing well and has developed a solid culture. Currently a key individual has decided to leave the company and has said that he is uncomfortable with the company’s culture and values and feels that he could make more money elsewhere. This has caused the CEO to question how he maintains the company’s culture. How do you maintain your culture as you grow?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The individual who is leaving was the wrong person for the company. The company is lucky that he is leaving.
    • As this individual departs the company, conduct an exit interview and listen closely to what he has to say.
  • Develop a simple statement of the company’s culture. This is not the current vision and mission but is a statement that represents the core values to be maintained by the company and staff.
    • This will help to identify and evaluate new people as they are brought onboard.
    • It will also help to guide the company as it faces both new opportunities and the numerous business choices that will be encountered in managing both current business and future growth.
    • As an example, J&J’s “Credo” starts: “We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services. In meeting their needs everything we do must be of high quality.”
    • This statement of values guides everything that J&J does and saved them as they formulated their response to the Tylenol scare.
  • The team leads are the key to cultural fit. They determine whether the culture of their teams is consistent with the culture of the company.
  • Look at the culture of subgroups within the company. These have a huge impact and represent areas where the company truly excels.
    • Microsoft excels at managing software development but does not have the skill set to manage networks – nor do they care to develop this. Focus on what the company’s leadership are staff are best at doing.
  • From what has been said, it appears that the company was founded:
    • To create a professional work environment – to the founder’s standards; and
    • To be of uncommon value to the company’s clients.
    • If leadership conforms to these two standards, they will guide decisions about new opportunities and directions. Either a particular choice fits these standards, or it does not.

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How Do You Counteract the Dog Days of August? Three Ideas

Situation: A CEO knows that his employees have been working hard and have been productive all year. Now that we’re coming to the end of the summer, he’s concerned that in the past he has seen an energy drop every August. What can be done to increase the voltage? How do you counteract the Dog Days of August?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Anoint a “Champion of Fun.”
    • The Champion of Fun should be an employee – not management.
    • This may be a team of two people who focus on different things – one for small, day to day activities, and one for big events, like a Habitat for Humanity day.
    • Provide a budget for the Champion. Allow discretion to create excitement around the office or workplace. This includes posters announcing events and other ways to make the most out of each event or activity planned.
    • If out of office activities are anticipated, encourage employees to involve family members if they wish. Maybe a picnic and softball game at a local park, or an early evening of go-kart racing.
  • Create a sense that your employees have some control over their environment. This adds energy.
    • Circulate an Office Depot catalogue and give each employee a budget that they can spend to dress up their space.
    • It’s amazing how much a small investment like this can rejuvenate people and the overall atmosphere.
  • Bring in lunch as a surprise a couple of times during the month. Take some extra time and let people enjoy each other’s company. This is for deepening personal connections, not for lunchtime business discussions.

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How Do You Set Appropriate Expectations? Four Suggestions

Situation: A CEO asks: How do you help people appreciate the difference between where they want to be verses where you need them to be? How do you help them understand the realities of career and financial potential that have been set for your company? What do you do to help your employees understand what has to happen before they get to the next step? How do you set appropriate expectations?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The current labor market has yielded a different employment environment compared with 20 years ago. Many new hires are either:
    • Young – without long term expectations or perspective;
    • Possess an entitlement mentality;
    • More seasoned and possibly looking toward retirement; or
    • Have personality challenges.

 This is just current reality and will last until the next contraction.

  • If you have a clear policy on compensation and promotion you are way ahead of the game because you can communicate this clearly at onset of employment. If you don’t have this, create it and make sure that it is communicated consistently to new employees and during all employee reviews.
  • Once you have established and communicated a clear policy on compensation and promotion the question becomes, on an individual basis, whether an employee “gets it” or not. If they don’t, perhaps your company is not for them.
  • Is there value to stock options as a bonus?
    • If you are a public company, they have value because stock options are tradable within legal guidelines.
    • If you are a private company it’s a different matter. Other than as an emotional boost, without a liquidity event the stock has no value except for possible periodic distributions against shares held.

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How Do You Motivate Hourly Employees? Five Suggestions

Situation: A company pays employees based on skill level. Raises are given as an employee learns additional skills. In some cases, when they give an employee a raise, productivity drops. The company has tried other approaches including bonus systems and profit sharing but did not find these effective. How do you effectively motivate hourly employees?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Before trying a new motivation scheme, find out what matters to your employees. It may not be either bonuses or profit sharing.
    • Develop and send out a questionnaire listing different factors – revenue sharing, bonuses, creativity, doing quality work – ask what matters to you? Get their feedback.
    • People work for respect – many studies have shown that as long as the payment offered is fair, salary is secondary.
  • Hire an advocate for your employees – a part-time HR person. An important role for this individual will be to determine what motivates employees, what they want from their jobs, and how improvements in both processes and the working environment can boost productivity.
  • What is the real issue: employee motivation, employee productivity or cost reduction?
    • If material waste is more expensive that labor – create metrics and rewards to reduce waste.
      • At companies that use the Toyota Production System employees receive points for process improvements. At the end of the year they receive a cash payout based on the points earned during the year.
      • Employees are rewarded publicly. The incentives are cash, recognition and respect. These companies find that recognition and respect trumps cash.
    • Depending upon your cost structure, it may be more productive to focus on scrap reduction. Bring in someone with experience who can find the sources of scrap. The effort will pay for itself rapidly.
  • During the hiring process, require educational attainment as evidence of the individual’s commitment.
    • Look for skills experience – machinist, etc. Match skills and experience to your needs. This will lead to faster learning curves and will help to reduce waste.

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Are Your Folks Getting Offers from Others? Five Thoughts

Situation: A company’s employees are increasingly getting offers from other companies. They believe that they have a good team, a good work environment and offer a competitive pay and benefit package. However, they are concerned that the job market in Silicon Valley is heating up. How do you keep your employees on-board when they start receiving offers from others?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Make sure that your wage and benefit scale continues to be competitive. The Silicon Valley Index, published by Assets Unlimited in Campbell, is the best local survey covering Silicon Valley and the San Francisco technology market.
  • Survey after survey finds that compensation is basically a hygiene factor – it has to be good enough so that needs are satisfied, but it isn’t one of the more important factors in retention. The Gallup Organization has determined that respect, challenging responsibilities, and personal recognition are much more important factors in employee retention. Be sure that you are actively involving your key personnel as leaders in formulating and updating your processes, and that there are plenty of opportunities for recognition and celebration for your staff.
  • If you are generating a profit, share this with the employees as an incentive. This may well be better spent in fun and team-building activities like a weekend in Tahoe for a team, or supporting their creative needs by sponsoring their efforts in engineering design competitions. Whatever is appropriate for your company, involve your employees in setting company performance goals and give them a voice in determining how achievement should be rewarded. Making them part of the process builds better long-term loyalty.
  • On the sales side, establish a reward incentive structure for bringing in new business for the company to prompt field personnel to develop and exercise their business development skills.
  • Whatever you and your team decide, be sure that your choices support your overall strategic plan.

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