People are the critical element of your business! People create your customer satisfaction; people create your business results. It is not your processes, it is not your products, it is not the price, it is not your technology, it is not your marketing! All these mechanisms may draw the customers to your door but it is your people that complete and close the sale! The other components support your people but they don’t complete the process!
Why then do so many strategies focus on technologies, products, channels and marketing, with little to no mention around their people and environment? Is it that the people and leadership element are taken as a given in any strategy and transformation? It is our belief that this is the case and our research continues to highlight this. No wonder so many strategies fail to deliver the desired results!
We saw many of these examples during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).
The strategic focus immediately went to cost cutting measures, risk containment and mitigation of more losses. Whilst each of these elements is important, especially at times like the GFC, even more critical were the people elements. How were these addressed and managed? Was there a strategy around people, or was the only focus on how to manage and minimise people cost? They are clearly not the same thing! What strategies were put in place to support Leaders through this time of turmoil and transition?
Again our experience indicated very little. The major focus on people tended to be under the lense of minimising cost. Communication to people and leaders was at best, average in most cases, as organisations battled to understand what they were going to do to rectify the situation. Lack of communication resulted in wide spread turmoil, fear and worry about what that meant for the business and their people. Leaders were confused on what to position with their teams, which continued to create further turmoil. It is well known that at times of crisis culture takes over. The GFC continues to be an interesting case study for organisations on this.
Clearly the GFC was a unique situation however something that dramatic will highlight any weaknesses within strategies.
Major transformations bring about the same concerns for people and their leaders. During these times communication, unity, alignment and clarity are critical to ensure success of any major transformational strategy.
If People and Leadership are not at the forefront of these strategies, then any improvement seen will often only be short-term, if they eventuate at all, and definitely won’t be sustainable!
Why? Because people are the foundation of your business! If you do not have a solid foundation, forget about trying to build or change things you are on totally shaky ground.
If you consider your business like a house, then the foundation of that house needs to be solid to continue to build. People are your foundation in business and just like your house; the people foundation must be strong! If they are in turmoil or all running in different directions then you have a problem!
First and foremost before you start to build you need to lay the foundation, or check that the foundation is solid. What is happening at this level? If plans have been derived around cost cutting, new revenue generation, new processes without any clear focus on the people component you are in trouble! You are building on shaky ground!
During any transformation, your people, the leaders and the environment that you create are critical to be able to sustain any ongoing change. Has this been accounted for and managed within your strategy?
People and leaders are the key to ensuring strategies are sustainable. Ignore them at your peril!
