With the economic balance of Australia changing rapidly primarily due to the decline in government mining revenue, there needs to be a real shift for managers and staff to become more innovative and entrepreneurial.
Failure of management to recognise the ever changing landscape or to plan for predictable problems will bring an absolute waste of manpower, materials and asset utilisation to their respective businesses. will progressively increase the costs which ultimately have to be borne by the customer/consumer. Past history tells us very clearly that the customer is not always willing to subsidise this avoidable waste.
Managers must be prepared to be measured by their ability to keep the business running with acceptable returns to all key stakeholders and to protect their investment.
In the absence of what the market now needs from managers, they could well face the unsociably acceptable task of dumping employees on unemployment queue.
There are many reasons which I hear today of why a company has failed. Unforeseen costs, overrun on costs, excess inventories, competition, government policies. Anything but the actual cause which is pure and simple – Bad Management.
I have found in almost all projects I have undertaken, that management must be willing to change. They must commit to new learning and new philosophy that filters through to all levels of the organisation. By just solving problems, both big and small, will not halt declining performances, and nor will a non-strategic change to the latest technology.
It is only the transformation of management thinking which will halt any decline.
Management must declare a policy for the future which is shared by and has ownership by all levels of the organisation. There needs to be a Business Review case undertaken by an independent consultant which is then worked into a Strategic Business Plan.
An independent consultant has no pre-conceived ideas about the company and sees things through a new set of eyes. It needs to be someone who can relate to all employees through personal achievement and success. People who have been there and done that and have personally made things happen.
We need to stand up and be counted. Put the ego trip behind us and call on assistance which is the greatest insurance policy for a sustainable future.
I once heard that the greatest failure today in business is ‘The investment in management ego’s’
