Have You Got The Right People On The Bus?

Many who know me are aware that I like Jim Collins as an author. I am a fan of his first book published in 2001 titled

"Good to Great" "Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't"

Jim Collins states that you would think the first step in taking a company from good to great would be to set a new direction, a new vision and strategy for the company, and then to get people committed and aligned behind that new direction.

But despite the hype promoted and peddled by coaches and mentors around "the what" and telling senior executives that they need to create a vision and mission, and focus on a new sense of direction and purpose; Jim Collins' experience is very different, based on what he found in his research on companies that made the leap from good to great.

He found the seniors who made the leap from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and then get people to take it there.

Jim Collins writes:

"No, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it".

They said, in essence:

“Look, I don’t really know where we should take this bus. But I know this much:

If we get the right people on the bus; the right people in the right seats; and the wrong people off the bus, then we’ll figure out how to take it someplace great.”??

Jim Collins goes on to say that "the good-to-great leaders understood three simple truths.

First, if you begin with “who,” rather than “what,” you can more easily adapt to a changing world.

Second, if you have the right people on the bus, the problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away.? The right people don’t need to be tightly managed or fired up; they will be self-motivated by the inner drive to produce the best results and to be part of creating something great.

Third, if you have the wrong people, it doesn’t matter whether you discover the right direction; you still won’t have a great company.

Great vision without great people is?irrelevant".

Why is all this so powerful and relevant as we kick off another new year of business in emerging markets such as Sub-Saharan Africa?

It is relevant as part of my mantra that "to get a different set of results, a senior executive in charge of Africa or any distributor markets has to do things differently."

In a previous article leading up to the end of 2023, I stated that for many companies in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2023 was another year of disappointing results that failed to deliver the budgets. Refreshed after the Festive Season, these senors now return to work, committed to delivering the numbers that were submitted and finalised for 2024 in quarter 4 2023.

Another year has just started. I predict that by the quarter 1 business review, many will declare a position of being "below budget". Not an encouraging start.

Most of these seniors will rely on their internal folk to make sure that 2024 is a success and that these folk fulfill their promises of the numbers to their senior Executive Board and Regional Senior Executive Team.

BIG MISTAKE!

Relying on a bunch of internal members who have repeatedly failed to deliver their promises is doing more of the same. And Einstein once said that "doing more of the same and expecting a different set of results was the first sign of lunacy!"

To discover what needs to be done differently, I offer clients an independent review of their business models and how they are structured across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

And I am alarmed! Sometimes I cannot believe what I unwrap!

You have to remember that many of these markets are small-value businesses versus the major established markets of Western Europe, the US, and Japan.

No one country in this Sub-Saharan Africa cluster is likely to be doing over $50m.

The appeal with distributor markets is the growth potential from a smaller base admittedly. But every CEO is chasing growth and investing in growth.

So when budgets are not met, it means also the growth target was not met against which that budget was set.

When clients invite me in to help them with this situation, I find a review of the organisation structure is a very high value-add. You see, these folks expanded headcount and roles expecting big results that they promised to deliver in the investment cases they proposed.

When those big results were not delivered, they (largely) left the structure intact - give or take an odd head or two rolling such as the head of a cluster, etc. They are massively overloaded in the wrong places with headcount clinging on to an organisation that is listing like the picture of the bus above.

Every organisation needs fine pruning of the rose bushes from time to time.

But in the case of Sub-Saharan Africa where results fail to be delivered year-on-year, the fine pair of secateurs is of no use. Sometimes, they might need to don a leather mask and wield a petrol chainsaw when the organisation has become overloaded and too crowded.

When I look at the organisation structure I see layer-upon-layer of staff in which it is unclear what value (if any) they add as a function, role, or as a person.

Secondly, those staff failed to perform and are still there! HR should have processes in place to get rid of such underperformers. Why are they still there?

My inquiries usually reveal that the senior executive did not have a big role in the structure inherited. That structure was created by HR which knows nothing about commercially how to succeed in SSA.

The structure is soaking up costs, with layers of staff that add little or no value. And remember, costs come out of margin. That is sales minus cost of goods.

Margin minus costs is gross profit (unless there are royalty payments and such like).

So imagine having your profit eaten away by an expensive headcount that is not needed on an overloaded listing bus, and the headcount does not add value and does not perform in the job?

Repetition of roles that are largely similar and not different from each other is common.

Another feature is too many persons versus the capacity of reporting headcount. Some staff have a headcount of two or three reporting to them (including themselves!). A sales manager with four reps and a field sales manager in between. You don't need one of those managers. A sales manager should be able to manage a span of 8-10 headcount (reps).

Then, of course, non-roles (in my estimation) comprising a whole department calling itself "Commercial Excellence" and CRM with or without 'digital'. This is not a full-time role. I did the role of Commercial Excellence as part of my Territory Director role for Africa.

As we start the New Year, if seniors are contemplating a year of delivery, they can reduce their risk of failure and delivery yet again by bringing me in to review the business models and structure. I can find savings and efficiencies through my structured approach, methodology, and reviews. It will challenge HR to explain how they arrived at their structure. I ask questions to which I get no answer or just dumb looks:

"How does this job differ from this other job with the same or similar title and job description?"

"How does CRM add value versus the cost of the investment?"

"What wasn't happening before CRM and what is still not happening after CRM? Why?"

"What does 'digital' look like in these markets where only around 5-10% of the population can afford your products?"

"If I took away this job in the organisation, what would NOT get done?"

"Why has the productivity per rep not increased with the increased headcount investment?"

"What do you set as an organisation productivity target?"

"You do set a productivity target don't you?"

Which bus do you want? Which one will it be in 2024?

OR

If these questions interest you and you want to explore how I can ensure that

(a) you have the right bus to manage the journey and

(b) the right people on the bus,

then reach out with the link below and book a free 'discovery' call to explore how we may help you. Remember Jim Collins' message:

First, get the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus).

Then, figure out where to drive it.

"Who" comes before "what"

And my message to readers is:

"Make sure you have the right bus (the organisation) to begin with if you want to stand a chance to get you to where you want to go!"

"Get expert independent help from a person who has experience in designing winning structures and teams in emerging and distributor markets."

https://www.calendly.com/amitvaidya2021/