When Times are Tough

Apart from a few well positioned and/or unique organisations out there, it would seem most are doing it tough. Predictions of a slow return to growth due to unprecedented natural disasters here and abroad, subdued international markets and a mass uprising taking place throughout North Africa - the combination of which are likely to curb consumer and investor confidence for months to come - make for a less than rosy outlook.

Given the above, what can leaders do to not only keep staff engaged, but to increase their capacity to perform so they are in a position to out-pace the market going forward?

In recent months I have heard many commentators talk about the need for companies to prepare themselves - to gear up for the future and indeed, to take advantage of improvements made when things return to normal.

While I have no wish to dampen spirits nor encourage a fatalistic outlook, I am not a fan of the idea that we should focus on preparing for better times simply because there is no guarantee those better times will appear when we need or expect them. What I suggest you think about is the idea of increasing your capacity to perform so you can excel in the market or conditions you are in rather than relying on changes that may take longer than you expect to eventuate.

In many ways times like these make it is easy for people to think that everything is a gamble. In fact even some of our most hardy operators have found themselves asking the question, are we backing the right horse (in regards to our business) or are we backing a dog? When things are going well, even so called dogs in the equestrian world can have their day. A nice fast track, limited competition and free flowing champagne by enthusiastic owners can mask reality. However when times are tough, or conditions less than ideal, those less able are quickly exposed.

Acid testing your business to ensure it is sound is not inappropriate. Nor is questioning your model, strategy or offering to ensure it is relevant and accessible. However losing heart because things are tough is not only unhelpful, it can be disruptive, traumatic and unwise.

At the end of the day, the most important thing business owners and managers need to do if they wish to remain in business is give their staff reason to believe that despite the challenges you face, there is a future. I have observed so many business leaders, due to their concerns about their ability to survive, impart fear in the minds of their people in the hope it will jolt them into action. Sadly however such tactics do nothing more than cause people to lose faith in us and ultimately their interest in our organisation.

What we need is our leaders, as many as we can rally, to impart a sense of confidence in their people – not to instigate a state of delusion, but to leverage their capability to enable them to advance. Tough times require our leaders to not only be resilient, but to be clear, strong and courageous. Most people look to their leaders to give them a reason to believe they can excel despite the challenges they face or the changes you must undertake.

This cannot be achieved through just better communication alone. Yes, people need to be better informed, but more importantly, they need to know they are relevant – or at least to know they could be if they chose to engage. You need to help them understand how to add value despite the appearance of reducing opportunities or contracting markets for at the end of the day, leadership is about causing changes and improvements to occur. It is not about trying to make your people perform at a level that is beyond them.

The depth of conversation required to create such a response will be a direct consequence of not only your confidence in your people (and your business), but equally how you perceive your people i.e. do you (and/or your leaders) think of your people as the key to your organisations success or do you (and/or they) consider them a resource you simply have to have to operate your business? Unfortunately, because of such limited consideration in this regard, many companies are only now discovering how their people believe they are perceived (by their employer) and thus finding themselves in a position to assess the depth of their commitment.

Until such time as we establish substance in our relationships i.e. until your workforce in its entirety understands you are all in this together and are therefore all equally important in terms of the need to excel for the company to succeed, you will never truly advance. This does not mean that people will come to believe ‘they’ are ‘more’ important than others and can therefore hold the company over a barrel. In fact the absolute opposite is true. What it means is they will know beyond any doubt that if they occupy a seat the company requires to perform - it must. If it doesn’t i.e. if they don’t, they shouldn’t feel any sense of unease or wrongdoing if the company either commits to addressing the issues or, if they prove they are either unwilling or unable to deliver what is required, removes them from their position i.e. they will not only realise that their performance and their performance alone (contribution) is what ultimately matters to the company, they will accept they are responsible for their performance.

Alternatively, I frequently observe leaders opting for the ‘gentle’ approach because they don’t want to push their people too hard when they know things are tough or spook them with the full knowledge of the truth. Unfortunately the consequences of such an approach are equally damaging in that it causes employees to assume that they are either viewed as less than relevant, or at the very least, they will assume they are no longer part of the future i.e. no longer ‘strategically’ relevant. In other words, when times are tough, you need to challenge your people. I don’t mean judge them or their worthiness as a human being, but rather cause them to understand that they as a member of your team, and their performance, matters whilst simultaneously enabling them to accept the fact that they will ultimately decide whether or not they are prepared to engage in the process of improving their performance in order to become increasingly relevant to the company.

In order to advance beyond the normal employee employer arrangement, which in my opinion is where the money lies, it is critical you engage your people in a deeper conversation as to what you as an organisation are about (your vision, mission and purpose) what their role is in helping you realise that vision (their purpose) and ultimately what they need to become to excel in your organisation in the future. In my opinion, this is one of your leaders’ principal responsibilities i.e. they are there to enable your team to excel. To say, we haven’t got the right people or we haven’t got good enough people is nothing short of a cop out. It doesn’t mean it is ever untrue but by and large it means (unless they are new appointments in which case it would indicate issues with your recruitment process) they have failed to develop their people the way your company needs them to be developed to ensure they can add value to your business – and thus help you achieve your strategic vision.    

Summary

If you are serious about increasing your team’s capacity to perform, call us. We will show you how to do it.

Contact us at info@steel-ip.com or visit www.steel-ip.com

3 April, 2011

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