Does the image above resemble your current platform for business growth? Here are 5 areas you may need to address

Without a strong platform for growth in place, the demands of a changing/growing business will soon exceed the capabilities of your key people. Gradually, the cracks start to appear in things like speed of response, quality issues, attention to detail, staff retention, ability to recruit, general motivation, meeting deadlines, profitability, productivity, cash flow, etc. These could very well undermine what you built your reputation and success upon. Further business growth in this scenario just makes the problems worse!

The answer lies in building a stronger, more capable management team as this will create a stronger platform for manageable, sustainable, and profitable business growth. Here are five areas you may need to address…

1. Clear Direction – Where are we going? The direction a company wishes to go provides the context for every business decision made. With respect, just an increase in turnover or profit will not get most people out of bed in the morning excited to go to work! You must have a longer-term, motivational vision of the whole picture that your management team especially all buy into. So, what is it?
2. Objectives – Who, needs to achieve what by when? Clear ownership, responsibility and accountability are fundamental to building a stronger platform for growth – otherwise, it’s always SER (someone else’s responsibility). As a culture, we must all do what we say we are going to do, when we say we will do it.
3. We, not Me – Many managers fail to recognise that they are collectively responsible for the business as a whole, not just their own area of responsibility. A shift in thinking from “me to we” needs to take place so if there is a problem in another part of the business or a colleague is struggling, it’s also their responsibility also.
4. Less DIY – Ever heard a manager say, “It’s quicker to do it myself”? That’s a clear indication that the manager concerned has failed to develop or recruit people they can trust to do the job or understands how to delegate properly. In these circumstances, the growth of the business will be severely restricted.
5. Tools for the job – How much management is actually going on? Not much, according to our ongoing surveys; it’s just supervision at best. The reason? It may astonish you to know that many managers have never been formally trained in management. Give them the “tools to do the job” through professional training in management and team leadership. Knowing what to do, why, how to do it, when to do it, where to do it and with whom quickly builds more confidence and skill. Better managers also deliver better business results

If you are looking to build a stronger platform for business growth and would like to develop some or all of your management team, Auricas offers a number of solutions such as Management Training and Executive Coaching.