Finding Clarity: Tidy up your Business

Coming home from a run the other day I stumbled, almost literally, on rubbish bags scattered across the pavement with their contents scattered halfway down the road. The crows had been on the attack and it wasn’t pretty.?

An elderly neighbour appeared on his doorstep. He saw the mess, looked at me and sighed, as if to say “we’d better get started.” We got the job done, but it wasn’t a great job, without adequate resources. We could have done with a brush, maybe some gloves, an idea of where to start and how to do the job.?

Cleaning up can be messy work, but it doesn't have to be. When you have a clear approach, the right tools, and a good team to support you, it’s a great opportunity to get things sorted and move forward.?

I have been hearing about companies looking to find greater clarity in how they operate. In conversations with my clients there seem to be 4 key areas which are relevant:

• Strategy
• People
• Sales Processes
• Technology

1. A Clearly Defined Strategy

“If you plan, that’s a way to guarantee losing.

If you do strategy it gives you the best possible chance of winning.”

Talking to the Harvard Business Review, Roger Martin, from the Rotman School of Management, discusses how strategy may feel more challenging, even “angsty” than planning, but in fact it is at the heart of pushing businesses forward to greater success. The suggestion is that planning can take up more time and that the competition can get ahead of you while you are spending time just planning. His thesis is that planning concerns what you can control, such as your own resources and costs. Strategy, however, specifies a goal you want to achieve in terms of customers wanting your product or service.?

It’s important that companies have common goals and that internally, they are aligned towards achieving them. Companies who set clear strategies move faster while those who plan are left behind, and miss out on opportunities because of this. Does your business spend more time on planning, or do you prioritize “doing strategy”?

2. New People

How might you change your team? Where are your strengths? What could improve??

Stagnation can lead to decline, and it’s important to guard against that by bringing in fresh talent, new skills, and enhancing the level of what you already have.?

Changing your team may of course mean that poor performers need to be moved on. But not always. Change can be necessary even when things are going “OK”. A US-based FMCG company came to us recently, noting that their Country Manager was a safe pair of hands, but they wanted to accelerate their business as we eased out of the pandemic. They weren’t convinced that the current incumbent was the right person to lead such an acceleration and we worked with them to find a suitable replacement.?

Another company invested in us to help them build their new leadership team. They were well staffed at manager level but needed to build the team at a more senior level.??

3. A fresh approach to Sales Processes?

Talking to a CEO in the retail industry last year, I learned that his business had revolutionized sales processes by eliminating wholesale from their business model.?

This is a European apparel company with a massive scope across the whole of Japan, and they found that employing all store employees directly encouraged a better culture of engagement than “trusting” that the wholesaler would do the job to the required level. They now have a direct connection with their frontline staff, which enhanced communication, streamlined operations, and ensured a more personalized customer experience. It has also given greater visibility and control over all of their points of sale. The business was then able to stabilize their retail operations and helped to harness growth.?

4. New Tech Systems

How’s your CRM performing for you? How about your ERP? Do you need a finance team with an in-depth knowledge of BI tools or VBA? Now more than ever we are seeing businesses make technical advancements to get ahead of the rest of the market. I am seeing more and more cases where the chosen candidate is the one with the technical knowhow rather than those with the longer career history but lacking the technical skills.?

Marketers who know data analytics as well as creative tools such as Adobe suite are often chosen ahead of those who have become accustomed to relying on creative agencies. We worked with a company last year who?

As well as leveraging ERP systems and BI tools, CFOs who can move with current tech trends such as AI and machine learning will be more and more in demand. CEOs continue striving? to enhance the depth and accuracy of their analytical capabilities.?

The changing landscape of technology for business means that we have to adapt and grow with the tech. Leaders need to learn how their business can benefit from technology and which ones are likely to have the biggest impact on their business.?

What have you done to clean up your business recently? What factors did you decide were the priorities??

If you have any other questions or would like to discuss executive search in Japan, get in touch at [email protected] or here on LinkedIn. Looking forward to hearing from you!?