The Five Essential Elements of a Growth Strategy

1. Customer Focused – It’s based on market research. You’ve got the right product, packaged in the right solution with well thought out support systems that the right target market really needs and wants and you can prove it.

2. The Company is Oriented to Performance – Your people have the kinds of conversations that lead to process improvements through respectful collaborative idea generation. Incentives are aligned to self-responsibility, authority, accountability  and ability to take risks. You provide support and training for those elements to be accessible to all.

3. You’ve Removed the Rub Points – There is a smooth communication flow from what is promised to the customer all the way from sales through order processing, production, billing, delivery and after sales support. You have a feedback loop to ensure what was expected was delivered. And you have policies that set out boundaries for the negotiables and the non-negotiables. You don’t expect your people to dance to the customer always being right (or wrong). Who to blame isn’t a daily way of life in your company: how to solve the right problem with the right solution is.

4. Your People Understand how the Company Makes Money -Sounds simple but it’s not often done. Everyone should know how their expertise and efforts contribute to the bottom line and where they fit in the financial equation. Even the receptionist and the shipper. Each person has a role to play in the efficient delivery of the promise to the customer.

5. You Focus on and Make Decisions Based on the Right Key Performance Indicators – Forward looking, gross margin driven, utilization rates, cash flow and labour tracking. Your indicators should show you where you have cash leaks in the system, before you have to start bailing. First place to look? Do your estimate gross margins on each product become your actual gross margins. Got a variance? Find out why and fix the systemic problems that cause it. (Hint - most problems are systemic, not personal, not one individual’s fault.)

8 Rules for Preparing Your Company for Sale

1. Start Planning Early - 2-4 years before shareholders or partners want to sell. It can take that long for the changes described and recommended below to be made.

2. Know what type of Investor or Buyer is Best Suited for Your Company – Want to sell to your employees? Sell to another company in your industry or part of your supply chain? Want the company to continue as a viable going concern after you leave ? All these options require a different game plan to achieve the desired goal. Understand which type of buyer/investor is right for your circumstances and how to best position the company so that this exit event occurs.

3. Put a Growth Strategy in Place Now – Despite our tough economic times, a growth strategy is imperative to being able to realize a future liquidiation event, no matter what type of buyer/investor you are targeting.

4. Recognize the Buyer/Investor is Acquiring the Future – More than ever now, they are not buying past performance, they are buying the future performance of the management team’s ability to deliver on the promise of the growth strategy. So the growth strategy has to be be well under way and producing results by the time you are ready to sell. The management team that implements this strategy are the people that will be staying with the firm after the primary shareholders leave.

5. Recognize Your Role as Owner Has Changed – If you are planning to sell, you need think of yourself now as an investor, not an owner and certainly not a manager. Your knowledge, key relationships and abilities have to be transferred to and found in your management team now, not the day after you leave.  You are not your company.

6. Deliver What You Promise – The number of companies on the market looking for exit strategies will double as boomers retire over the next ten years. Your company will have to stand out from the pack. Your company should have an outstanding solution or product offering and the financial performance in the balance sheet and income statement to prove it out. Your internal systems deliver exactly what is promised to customers in a way that makes it hassle free, unique, of high value and delivers recurring revenue. Check in with your target market. What do they think about your offering? Set up key performance indicators to manage toward the future, rather than viewing only through the rearview mirror.

7. Difficult People? Conflicted Workplace Culture? Growth and Change Will Be Almost Impossible. If you’ve got some rub points that make delivering customer value or financial performance unreliable, now is the time to deal with them , not later. If you’re struggling to change entrenched ways of working, poor performance, lack of alignment between strategy and action, then get help sorting it out. Learn how to take a different approach and get to the heart of the issues that block change, growth and ultimately profitability. There is a much better way which is far less painful.

8. Get the Right Advisors on Board – You will need an accounting group familiar with exit transactions and tax issues, a legal firm able to prepare the foundation for an acquisition so the deal goes through smoothly without skeletons jumping out at inopportune times and investment advisors to help package the company. Know who to get on board, how to find them and strategize when you bring them in.

You may need help with some of these Valuation Planning Steps. Get it sooner rather than later. For a private seminar on any or all of these topics, please contact us.

Why You’re Failing to Engage Customers

Most companies face barriers that prevent them from fully engaging customers and employees.

Spirit West is a big believer in Gallup’s research. We use their Strengths Finder and their customer focused approach philosophy to achieving lifetime customers.

Why You’re Failing to Engage Customers

by Tom Rieger & Craig Kamins
From: The Gallup Management Journal

The five root causes

Gallup’s study identified about 200 barriers and evaluated the root causes of each. Surprisingly, virtually every barrier identified could be traced back to one of five primary causes, regardless of the industry, function, or geography of the company.

The barriers were often obvious and seemingly intractable, as they involved hundreds of variables and many job roles. Understanding the key variables helps companies identify the specific systems, structures, processes, and people in the organization that must change to overcome the barriers. And though the barriers can seem entrenched and complex, the root causes are not.
Root cause 1: fear

The most prevalent root cause of barriers to engagement is fear; at least one fear-based barrier existed in all the companies Gallup studied. While it may seem surprising that companies with rational, disciplined management would be subject to self-inflicted damage due to fear, the data indicate that it likely happens in all companies.

Fear-based barriers restrict employee and customer engagement in several ways. Fear stifles innovation and creativity, limits an organization’s flexibility in meeting customer requirements, prevents cross-functional collaboration in addressing problems, discourages empowerment, and causes turnover.

As companies grow, they begin to introduce rules, policies, and procedures that attempt to mitigate concern about loss — loss of control, respect, or certainty that employees will “do the right thing.”

Checks and balances are required in all businesses, but they can go too far. Examples of institutional fear-based barriers include excessive scripting of customer contacts and lack of frontline empowerment.

Managing institutional fear may sound daunting, but it can be done. For example, the customer center of a financial services company decided that rather than scripting its customer center interactions, it would provide guidelines to encourage customer service representatives (CSRs) to use “value added phrases.” The key is to establish limits while allowing employees to take some risks to meet customer or internal needs. Risks that succeed should be rewarded; risks that fail, but are attempted within the rules, should be treated as learning experiences rather than as a cause for discipline.

The second source of fear in an organization is at the individual level. Even when an organization is struggling, some employees will find power and contentment in the status quo. This leads them to resist change — actively or passively.

Typically, fearful employees fall into three categories:

• The reluctant gatekeepers: These employees tend to derail progress or innovation. Often, they are influential players who are more interested in protecting the “old way” than in adapting to a changing environment.
• The risk-averse: These workers are reluctant to challenge inefficiencies or to propose change — in the organization or in their own department — because they fear reprisal or are concerned about how change might affect their role or workload.
• The “speed bumps”: These employees aren’t necessarily in a position to directly influence thinking in the organization. But they can, through lack of knowledge or motivation, slow down the progress of groups tasked to investigate challenges and enact change.

Managing individual fear is more challenging because this type of fear can’t necessarily be conquered by modifications to process or policy. The first step is to ferret out the organizational factors leading to this fear.

For instance, change often inspires fear. One way to counteract this is to improve communication about changes by clearly establishing who is accountable for achieving strategic outcomes.

This helps managers and employees look past the initial hardships of change (such as increased or varying workload, or loss of power or valuable connections) while focusing on the eventual benefits of success (such as increased efficiency and productivity, improved customer relations, or increased sales and incentive-based compensation).

Root cause 2: information flow

Like fear-based barriers, information-flow barriers also existed in all the companies Gallup studied. Information-flow barriers can appear within or across departments and from the front line up to management. These barriers limit employee and customer engagement by preventing employees from getting the information they need to maximize their performance.

In many organizations, departments work at cross purposes or fail to understand other departments’ strengths.

There are two main types of communication barriers. The first is a transmission failure: when information fails to flow smoothly from management to frontline employees or from the front lines back to management. Here are two examples:

• A number of the companies Gallup studied failed to provide their frontline employees with sufficient information to do their job well. This can happen when departments hoard crucial information that other departments may need. Or, system limitations can prevent a holistic view if customer-facing employees cannot access every customer account, leading to missed opportunities and slower service delivery.
• Other companies failed to incorporate frontline input into their decision-making process. One manufacturing plant installed new equipment without input from frontline employees, even though those workers knew immediately that the machine wouldn’t achieve its goal. The equipment was pulled from the line at a tremendous cost. Incidentally, there is significant evidence to suggest that involving frontline workers in decision making not only helps reduce turnover, but it also increases revenue.

The second type of communication barrier occurs when employees fail to assimilate information or use it effectively. The most common causes of this are a lack of time to process or understand new information or insufficient access to needed fact.

• According to executives in a public utility service center, CSRs in a call center must often absorb and implement more than 50 process changes per week. However, many call centers provide very little time for CSRs to read their e-mail (if they even have e-mail access) or learn about changes in other ways.
• A large national pharmacy and convenience store never has employee meetings, so employees don’t always learn about policy changes or new initiatives promptly. When communication does occur, it often leaves out the “why” behind the change. As noted earlier, a failure to explain change initiatives can lead to fear. Without appropriate communication — and time to assimilate it — frontline employees struggle to adapt.

There are many ways to address transmission barriers. A good strategy is to analyze how information flows across an organization — between departments, to the front line, and to management. Mapping communication can pinpoint where information is being lost, blocked, or distorted.

It’s just as important to analyze how communication is assimilated. A particular department or group may be receiving information — but are they receiving it when they need it? Do workers have time to read it? Is the technology used to send the message appropriate? Is the message easy to understand, and can employees apply it immediately to their work? Does it conflict with other messages? Is there a way for managers or workers to request additional information, and how quickly is it provided? Addressing questions like these is the key to providing timely strategic and tactical information.

Root cause 3: organizational alignment

Successful communication alone isn’t enough to ensure that operations will run smoothly between departments. In many organizations, departments work at cross purposes or fail to understand other departments’ strengths. Barriers like these existed in 92% of the organizations analyzed in the Gallup study.

Lack of goal alignment was the most common barrier of this kind, found in 83% of the organizations. As companies grow larger and individual fiefdoms become more powerful, some departments set goals that don’t necessarily mesh with the goals of other departments. Friction invariably results.

Barriers like these typically appear as conflicts between departments with competing goals: sales and service (customer acquisition versus customer retention), sales and operations (revenue generation versus cost control), human resources and operations (controlling hiring decisions versus living with them). Here are three examples of poor goal alignment:

• Promises made in the sales process can place burdens on the service organization. A balance transfer on a credit card may sound attractive, but customers may become unhappy if they later learn that “low rate” balances get paid off first, while interest on the remaining balance and new charges continue to accrue at a higher rate.
• A call center may have strict goals for handling as many service calls as it can as quickly as it can. However, if the CSRs answering the phones don’t share the same goals as the field technicians, the CSRs may be tempted to “just send a technician,” even though, by spending a little more time with callers, they could have solved the problem over the phone.
• Important information “left unsaid” in a mortgage loan-acquisition process, such as prepayment penalties, servicing fees, and additional closing costs may create unpleasant surprises for the customer. These surprises then must be dealt with by escrow, closing, and service personnel.

In each of these examples, departments end up working against each other at the expense of employee engagement, customer engagement, and profitability. In each case, the system rewards one group at the expense of another.

Addressing alignment barriers starts with an analysis of the company’s goals. Companies that want alignment across all functions must aggressively manage their goal-setting process. Each goal should make a definable contribution to a key business outcome, such as revenue, repeat purchases, or increased customer engagement. Similarly, each employee should make a definable contribution to other departments as well as his or her own.

Goals should not be set in a parochial manner, in which local success trumps corporate success. But neither should department goals be so focused that success on local, tactical goals isn’t rewarded at all. Finding the correct mix of local and shared accountabilities with clear links to outcomes greatly improves the odds that alignment barriers won’t hinder a company’s success. A strong performance management system can help structure goals into appropriate success metrics and incentives.

Another manifestation of friction-based barriers is a lack of a holistic customer strategy. It’s not unusual for organizations to treat customers more like transactions than like people, but people never see themselves that way. Business banking customers also have personal checking accounts. People with checking accounts also have credit cards. Business travelers also take family vacations. Luxury car buyers may have teenagers who need a more modest automobile. Yet companies rarely are able to cross-reference activity across channels.

Organizations frequently overlook the reality that poor performance in one channel will affect perceptions of the company as a whole, or that excellent performance in one channel may represent an opportunity to broaden the customer relationship in other areas. Both opportunities to improve are lost when the channels don’t align.

Improved knowledge management systems can help companies implement a holistic customer strategy. However, employees from different departments also need to provide one another with consistent service. Too often, departments lack insight into how their actions affect other areas of the company, leading to mutual distrust and competing claims that the other departments are inefficient, uncooperative, or just “don’t get it.” Consistent service to internal customers — whether it’s employee to employee or team to team — can help companies identify cross-selling or process-efficiency opportunities that can benefit external customers too.

Root cause 4: money

Money-related barriers existed in 82% of the companies Gallup studied. However, the actual percentage was likely higher, as these types of barriers may have existed in some pockets of the organization that were not included in each study. There are two main types of financial barriers.

Not all incentives need to be financial. Recognition can be a powerful reward, too.

First, people generally do what they are rewarded to do. It follows, then, that improperly balanced compensation and incentives can actually encourage the wrong behaviors. For example, if a customer service call center only provides incentives for cross sales and low handle time, CSRs will be highly motivated to rush customers, while pushing as many products as possible as quickly as possible. Worse yet, CSRs might even be rewarded for hanging up on callers before their problem is resolved, forcing customers to call back a second time.

The second type of financial barrier is related to internal resource allocation decisions. Budget battles are often won based on the best sales presentation, the loudest voice, or personal relationships rather than on a set of unbiased guiding principles, such as the impact of each budget decision on customers, employees, financials, or risk.

Even when there is a level playing field, resource allocations aren’t always aligned with strategy if decisions are too closely tied to the previous year’s budget. In that case, departments are unlikely to surrender budget willingly to another, even though corporate strategy or change initiatives make the other department’s needs more urgent.

The best way to address compensation and allocation barriers is not necessarily to fight self-interest, as employees and department heads usually gravitate toward the money. Instead, companies should ensure that self-interest is aligned with corporate goals.

For employees, all desired behaviors should be rewarded under a balanced incentive system. For example, if a company is focused on both revenue growth and customer retention, it may want to reward sales representatives for total sales and individual account growth. This would reduce a rep’s inclination to focus primarily on new sales and to keep him or her from taking the “quick win” if it comes at the expense of the long-term health of the account. (See “Roadblocks to Customer Engagement [Part 1]” and “Giving Them What They Deserve” in the “See Also” area on this page.)

Not all incentives need to be financial. More often than many managers realize, recognition itself can be a powerful reward, especially when the type of position, a union contract, or other circumstances make praise the only way to reward employees. Specific behaviors or outcomes may be treated as milestones toward advancement or promotion, rather than directly rewarding employees through base or incentive pay. (See “The Best Ways to Recognize Employees” and “Don’t Promote Your Stars” in the “See Also” area on this page.)

Some allocation barriers may relate to the company’s goals. As discussed earlier, a lack of shared goals may generate barriers to engagement by inadvertently pitting one department against another. However, shared goals alone don’t guarantee that a company will be free from these types of challenges. Shared goals must be balanced with local and tactical objectives that address the role a business unit, division, or department plays in driving corporate strategy.

Transparency is also helpful. Resource allocation can have a strong impact on employee engagement, particularly if budgeting decisions seem to be based on favoritism or in support of “flavor-of-the-month” initiatives.

Root cause 5: short-term focus

These “quick-fix” barriers existed in 82% of the companies Gallup studied. The barriers included acts of commission, or actions taken in the interest of near-term benefits that may have a negative impact on mid- to long-term revenues and profits, and acts of omission, which occur when the company takes no action in an area that requires long-term planning or analysis.

Adopting a short-term focus is not necessarily a barrier to engagement.

Acts of commission are common, particularly in public companies that focus more on quarterly earnings than on long-term horizons. In many cases, these acts involve significant near-term cutbacks. For example:

• To make this quarter’s numbers, a company may stop hiring new employees. However, after a few months, staffing shortages may result in overtime, lost customers, and inefficiencies that far outweigh the initial savings.
• A plant may delay needed equipment repairs to save a few dollars in the short term but suffer even greater repair needs and downtime when the machine fails.

Acts of commission are not always the result of cost cutting. Some companies drive employees to the breaking point to generate an increase in near-term sales; others strive to achieve the same sales goal through extreme discounting of their products or services. Both strategies may drive short-term sales while damaging relationships with employees — or undermining customer relationships or the brand.

When it comes to acts of omission, the most common barrier is a lack of succession planning. This goes beyond identifying potential stars for future leadership in the organization. Many companies fail to make a “plan for success” for employees in crucial but less prestigious roles. These barriers also occur when there is an urgent need to “put out the fire” without carefully thinking about how badly you have “flooded the house.” For example, resources may be pulled from other projects to handle an emergency, which later causes those projects to fail or miss deadlines.

Given the realities of the marketplace, companies will always struggle with balancing short-term and long-term needs. Adopting a short-term focus is not necessarily a barrier to engagement. To determine whether its near-term actions will have a negative impact on long-term engagement, a company needs to ask itself three questions:

1. Do these actions achieve a strategic goal? Some companies must take immediate measures to drive a lagging stock price or to capitalize on an opportunity to grab market share from a weakened competitor. But a myopic focus can also be a symptom of other barriers mentioned above, such as fear, communication breakdowns, or lack of collaboration between departments.

2. What are the implications of these actions? There are situations in which a short-term gain is justified, but a near-term focus can become a barrier when mid- to long-term implications aren’t considered. Logic and discipline must be added to resource-allocation decisions to avoid these types of barriers. By implementing a set of guiding principles that balance short- and long-term costs and rewards, a company should be able to rationally prioritize long-terms decisions. Guiding principles for decision making may include questions such as:

• How will this decision affect our revenue?
• How will this decision affect our costs?
• To what extent will this decision decrease or increase liability or risk?
• Will this decision prevent or inadvertently encourage any catastrophic failures that could lead to higher costs?
• How will this decision affect employee engagement?

3. What will these actions communicate to employees and customers? Employees must feel that the company is making the right moves. Consistent communication about change and change initiatives is important, particularly if the company is concerned about maintaining employee engagement. Companies should give change initiatives the appropriate resources and support even if that increases short-term costs.

Pulling down barriers

If organizations want to build and sustain a great workplace that, in turn, builds strong customer relationships, it’s not enough to simply measure employee or customer engagement, then hold team meetings to discuss it. Workgroups can meet to identify and address local issues, but institutional systems outside the control of managers and employees can remain thorny barriers to employee and customer engagement. Barriers like these must be systematically addressed by company leaders; organizations that fail to address them may find that they are limiting their ability to achieve strategic targets.

Having a disciplined, objective approach to identifying and removing systemic barriers related to fear, information flow, organizational alignment, money, and short-term focus can help clear a path toward organic growth.

Tom Rieger is a Partner and Senior Consultant in Brand Loyalty Management for The Gallup Organization.
Craig Kamins is an Assocate Partner with The Gallup Organization.

More Information…

The Creative Class

The Creative Class now comprises about 30% of the entire workforce. The choices these people make will determine how the workplace is organized, what companies will prosper or go bankrupt, and what brands will survive and thrive.

The Gallup Organization and GSD&M have partnered with Richard Florida to develop the first-ever segmentation study of the Creative Class, shedding light on who they are, how they live, and how they can be reached. By understanding the segments that exist within the Creative Class, organizations can identify the right audiences and deliver the right products and services using the right messages in the right places.

To learn more about the event or to register, visit the The Creative Class page on the Gallup Consulting site or contact Mary Penner-Lovci at 212-899-4890, Krista Volzke at 402-938-6001, or Amy White at 609-279-2233.

For a complete schedule of learning opportunities, visit the Learning Events page on the Gallup Consulting Web site.

14 Warning Signals Post Acquisition

Post Acquisition Integration – Do you know the warning signs it isn’t going well?

Introduction

Spirit West works on the people and strategy issues which undermine productivity. After a merger, interpersonal and cultural issues often prevent the new strategy from unfolding. We have developed a proven methodology and set of tools to teach and mentor leaders the “how to” of leading change.

From getting buy-in for building the change management plan to working through roles and responsibilities, our job is to help leaders and managers recognize the pot holes before they fall in. We show them how to remedy the endless Catch 22 situations that arises before during and after a merger or an acquisition. We don’t keep busy executives away from the office, we keep them engaged and participating in highly focused sessions on the work of integration.

Post Merger Integration – 14 Warning Signals All Executives Should Watch For

by Lorraine Rieger, Copyright © 2005 All Rights Reserved

This list of warning signals is based on direct experience with out clients. To determine whether there are warning signals, spend time observing people, listening to their stories, the words they use and the attitudes that emerge. After a few days, you should have sufficient data to assess whether the signals are present.

The following list of warning signals is in order of severity of the problem, least to most. If all that is observed is the first or second signal but none of the others, a small problem exists which can be rectified with a communications plan. If there are at least five warning signals, the problem is escalating and will affect productivity. If there are more than five warning signals present, then productivity is already a problem. The company may soon lose some of their best people who refuse to work in a polarized workplace. More than nine? The company has a toxic problem: There are many elephants in many rooms. Need help naming and clearing out the elephants? Call Rob McGregor 604-377-4307.

1. Merger Purpose Fuzzy:

The purpose of the merger and how it relates to each employee is unclear. People can’t explain it, they argue about what it is or isn’t or make jokes about it. Their minds are occupied on the change and their confusion about it. How can you buy-in to something you don’t understand yet? This removes 50% of your productive capacity.

Answer:

When people comply, only 50% of their mental capacity, willingness and contributions are available to the company. Why? No one wants to risk jumping in 100% until they know what it means for them. How do you get willingness? Let them participate in creating their part of the future. This has huge implications for productivity and profitability. The Vision Event facilitates this process.

2. What’s in it for me?

People are waiting for the parent company or their own leaders to provide contextual direction. Often what they have heard to date is just a restatement of the party-line. You keep hearing the party line but managers have yet to give it context for a department or project area.

Answer:

Department leaders and teams need to work on developing their own vision based on what they do have control over.

How can you help the people on your team to find some aspect of the vision that can be made relevant and personal to them? They want to know how to be successful in the “new” and near future. Explore the topic with them. Team coaching is needed.

3. This is a Good Thing?

Leaders are so busy selling the optimism of this merged vision they can’t see how it is affecting stakeholders and managers. They miss the body language, water-cooler talk, resistance and use of negative and cautionary language being used. Or if they can see the affect, they don’t know how to influence proactive change. “This merger is a good thing” will not change the hearts and minds to start making it work.

Answer:

Sure the merger will be good, but in the mean time, acknowledging it’s difficult to change and that uncertainty about how to proceed is everyone’s concern, can go a long way to helping leaders deal with employee resistance. A thing is what it is. Telling them otherwise sends resistance down deep where you can’t see it.

4. Culture Clash.

There is culture clash of mannerisms. The acquired company was loose in their communication style and “shot from the hip”. The acquiring company is more formal and reserved in how they work together. They see the acquired company as “rude and unprofessional”. The acquired company sees their new parent as “dinosaurs stuck in analysis paralysis”, afraid to make things happen. Both sides are fed up and offended. Meetings are unproductive.

Answer:

This is a classic problem that has to be brought out into the open or it will fester and few synergies will ever be found. People will just “put up with each other” and eventually leave. Bridge builders must be found and cultivated to provide interpretation for both sides. Peace talks need to occur where both sides air their assumptions and make new agreements about how to talk to each other, work together and make decisions.

5. New Teams Have Poor Communication.

Leaders feel frustrated with their direct reports. Their people don’t talk. The leader sends an email to the team and gets back six different responses rather than a well thought-out unified response.

Answer:

Set the boundary – if you want a unified response, ask your new team for it. You may need to facilitate the first meeting to show them how to work collaboratively to find a unified response. Then let them select their own spokesperson on a rotating basis. Sometimes, people just don’t know how to “get off their need to be right”. They need a role model. So think about it, if you need to be right, does that mean I am automatically wrong for presenting another opinion or idea? Collaboration starts at the top.

6. Un-communicated Expectations.

Real planning for the future is blocked by short-term focus on immediate crises and pet projects. In the absence of planning, some over plan their parts and live in fear that the ‘others’ will be too disorganized and sabotage the projects they have meticulously planned. The result? Endless disappointment and blame from un-communicated expectations.

Answer:

This often means the leaders don’t have a vision for their own role in the future. Their own uncertainty about their power and position in the company blocks their ability to think long-term. Each project has a hidden agenda to protect image, power and reputation. It’s a difficult conversation to start but expressing your own vision to the executive may spark some inspiration.

7. Blame Creeps in.

Uncertainty about the future causes fear. Fear causes conflict. Conflict starts the cycle of blame. A culture of blame fosters a workforce and leadership team that avoids self-responsibility, originality and collaboration. This diminishes mental capacity, productivity and performance. Listen to the tone and what people say in meetings and casual conversation and you will hear the judgment, blame and conflict.

Answer:

Talk about the uncertainty. If the boss and leaders acknowledge it, then everyone else can breathe a sigh of relief. Lead by example: Be transparent in your communication, stop the judgment and as leaders, take responsibility for your part in everything. Learn how to “name the elephant”… that atmosphere in the air that everyone notices but no one can talk about. One-on-One coaching teaches leaders how to listen, interpret and resolve the dynamics of conflict.

8. Us versus Them.

Listen to people’s stories: People cast others in the role of a villain… ‘the them’s’, seeing ‘them’ as malicious and uncaring. Especially the management of the acquiring company. There is a lot of finger pointing starting. People actually say “management doesn’t get it and isn’t listening”.

Answer:

When people’s concerns are not heard, or there is no appropriate forum for them to voice questions, ideas and problems, the boss and those in power become the bad guys. Start one-on-one and group forums. Hold them frequently. This is not your moment to defend your position or decisions. It’s the time to really listen and do something with what is heard. You need good data to make decisions. Your employees own the data. The Vision Event is a good forum for planning and opening people to the possibilities instead of the negatives.

9. New Ideas Not Welcome Here.

At meetings with a mix of old and new people, new ideas are shot down first and then they and their owner are held in contempt for their failings. Since testing out new ideas are viewed as “mistakes”, innovation stagnates and problems go underground.

Answer:

Look to your own style first. Do you help people explore ideas or turn them down as soon as they are voiced? Talk about the issue of judging and criticizing new ways of thinking, and how you work with new initiatives with your team. How do you want to acknowledge and work with your own ideas? Are you going to grow or stick with the status quo? As a leader, you set the atmosphere through your approach.

10. Meetings Missed.

When leaders don’t know how to get their people to do more than just comply, they often stop holding meetings, or meetings remain unproductive. This leaderless leadership team becomes competitive rather than collaborative in order to get back the attention of the boss.

Answer:

This is evidence of a lot more going on under the surface. When leaders can’t get results, they need to understand how they get in their own way. There are also many good collaboration tools to run meetings that get results. But first, leaders have to decide what they want to achieve.

11. Finding Fault Then Fixing Symptoms.

Decisions are based on solutions-minded ideas that fail to address the real needs of the organization, and the more difficult research to understand the root of the problem is skipped in favour of instantly gratifying action plans.

Answer:

The first step in addressing a problem is to frame it properly. Design the frame for the positive outcome you want, not for the problem it points to. Now explore the reasons for the issue. Look further than your own team for the answers.

12. Camps Have Formed.

Teams are polarized into us versus them camps. Camps often operate under blind consensus with their ringleader. They defend their right to be right. They occupy their time with discussion, derision, and dissection of decisions after they have been made. Camps are a major warning sign that the division is lacking leadership or the leader has set up the competitive atmosphere. It’s a major productivity drain which affects performance and profitability.

Answer:

If camps have emerged, many of the above issues have been going on for a long time. They are a sign that people feel powerless and this is their way to gain back some sense of control to deal with their fear. There is a lot of foundation work to be done to regain trust and productivity to reunite everyone.

13. Fiefdoms Ignore Each Other.

Leadership teams demand decisions and direction, but each member of the team acts independently when they don’t get what they want.

Answer:

This is a symptom of lack of trust. It is not OK to speak the truth on this team. Look back at which events caused uncertainty. Ask yourself if that was when people’s communication started to get blocked. Not sure what to look for? How often do your people really look each other in the eye at meetings? Not much? Too much? You’ve got unfinished business. Be transparent yourself. Don’t blame those that acted independently, investigate why communication stopped if you want to understand how to deal with the problem.

14. No One Cares Anymore.

Some say no one else is doing their job well enough and that they are the only ones who care. The others revert to activities that are easy for them, that don’t involve leadership or needing to deal with problems. Another group is trying to mediate the others or help everyone else understand the nature of their problems. The leaders avoid and self-blame and are then overcome by paralysis.

Answer:

Everyone copes with change and uncertainty in their own way. Their behaviour can help you to understand how they personally perceive the change. A facilitated group discussion on the topic may clear the air.

Dealing with Difficult People or Situations

Difficult people are often the canary in the coal mine.

Difficult people, cliques, inter-deparmental fighting, and ’strong personalities’ running around are all symptoms of:

• A systems breakdown or an indication there is a need for a system or process and your people can’t have the kind of discussion needed to develop something useful for all involved.
• An inability to manage without being the ‘bad guy’, the victim or the hero. There is another way.
• A strong personality influencing others means there may be a need for new role and responsibility definitions. People need boundaries and leadership to hold the boundary steady.
• A lack of clear vision. What are you trying to achieve as a company? Does everyone know and do they know how you intend to get there and what role they play in making that vision reality?
• A chronic interpersonal situation where resentment has built up to the point where conversation is possible. Time for an intervention.

Any of these situations ringing a bell? We can help… but you have to be willing to make some significant changes. We have tools to help people in each of these situations learn how to change. When they change, so does your productivity and performance.

Call 604-377-4307 to discuss your frustration confidentially.

Ready for more growth?

Then you have to be ready for change

Whether you want to get ready to sell or want to expand, growth is required. What’s the fastest way to grow? Have a company where the systems are in place to deal with every aspect of business from lead generation through to delivery, follow up and repeat business. How do you know if you are ready for growth?

• When something goes wrong, your people know that the problem indicates there is something wrong with the system not the guy down the hall. Then they get together with all involved to work out a better process.
• Your management team can uniformly describe in one sentence what problem you solve for customers. (Ask your top five people and listen carefully to what they say). If not, your company doesn’t meet customer expectations.
• You have entered more than one market and grown your sales each time. If not, how do you know there is a market for what you do elsewhere?
• Your gross margin is steady, stable and increasing each year. If not, you don’t know how to keep the company profitable enough to fund growth.

Not there yet? We can help… but you have to be willing to make some significant changes.

Two out of four occurring? There is room for improvement. What do you want to deal with first?

Three out of four? Let’s resolve that one issue and work on the growth plan together.

Call 604-306-7707 to discuss growth goals.

Ready to Expand Your Company Through Acquisition?

How do you know your company and your management team are ready to take on the operations of another entity?

• There is a clear reason for the acquisition strategically, financially, geographically and operationally. You have a purpose and a plan to expand your market, gain distribution, achieve competitive advantage and offer a more complete solution for your target market.
• You have an acquisition integration plan.
• Your people understand how to manage change, and people really well.
• Your focus will be to take the best of your company’s processes and the acquired company’s processes and build a better larger company all around.
• You know where the hot points are for losing value in the first six months post-acquisition and have a plan to manage through or avoid these pot holes.

Not sure you’ve got the foundation for an acquisition in place? Spirit West has the experience to work with your team… but you have to be willing to make some significant changes. We have tools to guide you through how to manage acquisitions and more importantly, select the right acquisition in the due diligence phase.

Call 604-306-7707 to discuss your acquisition ambitions so your deals get done well and for the right reasons.

Its a Big Decision – Are you Prepared the Day Your Company Changes Hands?

You’ve spent years building your organization looking forward to this day with perhaps a mix of dread, relief, joy and uncertainty. If you are thinking that its time to sell, then you should do three things first before making your decision:

• Learn to look at your company from the investor’s perspective. Would you invest in it today? What future growth can you guarantee?
• Get professional advisory assistance to assess what needs cleaning up if you want to realize a good return in the deal. Not sure who to call? We maintain relationships with M&A specialists in accounting, law, family estates, tax and investment banking.
• Understand what different kinds of investors look for and what they are willing to pay. We can put you in touch with a valuation specialist.

To find out, schedule an appointment to review Spirit West’s Maximize Your Company’s Worth Checklist to see how your company stacks up.

Call Lorraine Rieger McGregor at 604-306-7707

Know what you need to do to get the best valuation, before your plans for the future change suddenly. It can take 2-3 years to make the transition to be ready for investment.

For referrals to advisory specialists please call 604-306-7707

How to Maximize Your Company’s Worth – Seminar

Learn to see your company through the eyes of a future buyer, lender or investor, so you can maximize the value of your business?

It’s a buyers’ market for investors. Does your company stand out? Minimize the risk by preparing your company now. Learn the eight essential elements that if done now, will increase the value of your company when it’s time to transition ownership.

Meet with bankers, lawyers, tax specialists, growth consultants and investors to learn what you can do to increase your chances of getting growth loans, capital to help key managers buy you out, or how to position your company to be bought by another company or a private equity investor. This is an educational workshop, not a sales seminar.

It might only be a thought in the back of your mind now or high on your agenda, however you should know now how to achieve a profitable exit, buyout or obtain growth capital, by getting your company primed to be seen in its best light.

Is your company investor-ready?

To find out, you are invited to attend:

How to Maximize Your Company’s Worth:
The CEO’s Guide to Becoming Prepared for Investment

Thursday March 19th – Surrey, BC REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED

Seminar: 8:00 to 5:00 PM and Reception: 5-7 PM

For more information, please call the event hotline at     60…    OR email events@spiritwest.com

Ready to Change the Value of your Future?

Would you spend $395 today to learn how to increase the value of your company by 20% or 30%? This in depth seminar will show you how to reap the rewards of all your hard work so your business has a greater opportunity to get the value price you had always hoped for. This is Valuation Planning. It’s what you have to do first to prepare your company so you can actually achieve your growth and succession planning goals.

As a successful CEO you know first impressions are vital. What the private equity investor, banker or lender sees when they meet you and your company speaks volumes. Learn to see your company through their eyes. Why must you do this sooner rather than later?

• If you’re thinking of a change in ownership. It is becoming a buyer’s market for private equity and corporate investors. What does that mean for you? It means that over the next ten years, a staggering 8 million businesses will be put up for sale as baby boomers look to retire across North America. Many will not be able to find a buyer or an investor because they have not positioned their companies for obvious value. Don’t let your company get lost in the pack. Learn how to show value to investors so your company has immediate street appeal.
• If you’re thinking about growth capital. The economy has changed. Lenders have tightened their criteria. They want to see a history of profitability and a capable team able to execute some very sharp plans. In this economy you have to find recession-proof markets and deliver customer value or you’ll see declines in your profit margin too. Don’t let your company get caught in this economic noose. Learn how to build value points no matter what business you are in.

Join Spirit West Management, Deloitte, BMO Bank of Montreal and Miller Thomson LLP in Surrey on Thursday March 19, 2009.

Enjoy a confidential and fast paced day away from distractions as you learn with other CEO owners. Your day starts with breakfast, and includes private equity keynote speaker Grant Wallace from CopperLion Capital during lunch and an evening cash bar reception to give you time to privately consult with our team of M&A and business growth professionals.

Here are the secrets you will learn about to see how investor-ready your company is:
1. What aspects of your business will detract from your valuation;
2. How and where to make the most important improvements in your operation;
3. How a private equity investor and a corporate buyer view your company and either decides to pass or invest time in further due diligence;
4. How a lender assesses whether to give you capital for growth or not (you might need debt and leverage to get the sales pipeline investors look for);
5. How to change the way you lead and manage so that your company and your team is prepared for that investment and primed for growth;
6. How to ensure your legal issues are risk free and in order;
7. How to prepare yourself (and your future buyer) now for tax advantages later;

So why come?

At the end of this seminar, you will have in your hands a detailed self-assessment on how investor-ready your company really is. Why is this valuable? If you know what needs changing, you can build a plan which will increase the price an investor would be willing to pay and increase the chances you will be successful with lenders.

Attendance is limited to the CEO/owners of the first 50 companies with 2007 revenue greater than $10 million that sign up. To get the early bird individual rate of $395 register in one of four ways. More than one owner? Want to bring your CFO or partners? Register up to 3 people for the early bird rate of $595:

To Register, click here

For more information, please call the event hotline at     604-290-0880     OR email events@spiritwest.com

More questions? Look at our Frequently Asked Questions list here

Learn the secrets of what investors and lenders look for, before you want to sell. It could change your future by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Attend this seminar not only for your benefit, but for the benefit of your partners, employees as well as the stakeholders, suppliers and customers in your community that depend on your business. Your company deserves the best future it can get.

Sincerely,

Lorraine Rieger McGregor
CEO, Spirit West Management

Keynote Speakers

Grant Wallace
Vice President, CopperLion Capital part of the Washington Group of Companies

Robin Chakrabarti
Vice President, T&M Group, Owners of Boston Pizza and Mr. Lube

Sponsors and Speakers

Jeremy South
Partner, Deloitte

Ken Burnett
Partner, Miller Thomson LLP

Karen Dickson
Partner, Miller Thomson LLP

Dallas McMurtrie
Senior Tax Manager
Deloitte & Touche LLP

Paul Corcoran
Commercial Banking Area Manager
Bank of Montreal

David Lam
Vice President with the Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance Inc
Vancouver

Lorraine Rieger McGregor
Spirit West Management

Rob McGregor
Spirit West Management

Areef Abraham
Spirit West Management