top of page
Comprendre les enjeux de l'entreprise

Understand companies main stakes

Temps de lecture | Reading time
Reading time: 15 min
Date de publication | Released date
January 12, 2024

AUTOR
Pascal NAPARTY
CEO & Founder

In a nutshell

 
The company can become its own worst enemy. In this case, poor performance is regularly associated with a lack of clarity in expectations and in the functioning of the company.
 
Set a vision, a mission, clear objectives, well-thought-out strategies, a definition of key initiatives... constitute essential elements in establishing a common framework.
 
Taking the time to listen to and support employees increases the power of individuals by clarifying protections and confirming permissions.
 
Human management is often neglected in the face of operational pressures. This results in disengagement and sometimes even intentional blocking.

Providing access to information for all employees encourages initiative and increases innovation. It also makes delegation easier and helps provide better careers.

The company is in constant motion. It faces internal and external challenges. It must adapt while developing competitive advantages.

Implementing a business plan and managing it are essential to achieving growth objectives. This unites employees and helps the management team grow.

The development of company values ​​is essential to facilitate the major transitions that must be deployed. It is also a key factor in talent retention.
 

In a nutshell

Introduction

​

Companies face many challenges. In addition to seeking maximum productivity, they must monitor and adpat to threats and obligations.

​

Among these issues we find :

  1. Competition :  it is fierce in global markets, forcing companies to innovate, improve efficiency and differentiate themselves to remain competitive,
     

  2. Technology and Digital Transformations : the speed of technology progress and digital transformations are challenges but also opportunities for companies,
     

  3. Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility : copmanies are increasingly called upon to adopt sustainable and responsible practices on social, environmental and ethical levels,
     

  4. Globalization : growth opportunities linked to the globalization of markets and supply chains expose businesses to risks linked to political instability, exchange rate fluctuations, cultural differences and international regulations,
     

  5. Workforce and talent management : in a context of skills shortages and increased competition in the labor market, recruiting, retaining and developing qualified talent constitutes a major challenge for many companies,
     

  6. Innovation and adaptation : the constant evolution of customer needs and market trends require companies to constantly innovate and adapt,
     

  7. Regulation and compliance : companies must comply with government regulations and industry standards. Traceability, training and compliance can represent significant financial and administrative costs,
     

  8. Cyber security : copmanies are increasingly exposed to cyber threats, such as cyber attacks, data breaches and hacks. They must invest in cybersecurity to protect data,

​

Based on our experiences, in this study we offer you an overview of 4 issues which are most often excluded from companies' thinking because they are considered obvious to already understood by employees ... reality is a bit different.  ​

 

A revisit of these first 4 topics can - at low cost - bring significant and rapid changes and free up time to be dedicated to other crises or simply to business development.

​

Company's fundamentals

​

Many issues in the company are linked to vagueness about methods and responsibilities. In other words, the internal functioning of the company, which leads it to become its own worst enemy.

 

To introduce fluidity into execution but also to establish a better climate at work, it is essential to spend a little time on this dimension and to train employees regularly.

What we observe :

  • A poor definition of the vision and/or the mission often lead to a problem of alignment in the teams and generates latencies and dispersion,
     

  • A poor definition and a bad communication of company's processes create inconsistencies in execution and lead to integrity and quality problems,
     

  • A poor definition on roles and responsibilities, slow down decision-making, or generate decisions with a lack of understanding about hiden risks the company is taking .
     

If you can't answer the following questions in 2 minutes: What? Why ? Who ?  When ? Or ?How ? ...it will be difficult to explain it to new collaborators and even more difficult to justify a decision.

​

Another consequence is dependence on the few people who hold the knowledge (the "Rain Makers"). Which puts them in a position to be very regularly overloaded and less available. Their efficiency will be progressively impacted.  If these "Raine Makers" leave the company, it will mean more work for those who remain and ultimately exhaustion.

 

In this case, it may be wise to start with this study and get the fundamentals of the business straight.

​

Develop competitive advantages

 

Be or not to be competitive : that is the question that will dertermine the future of your business.

 

Having a product or service to sell is not enough. You must position it adequately with market demands but also know how to differentiate yourself from potential competitors.

 

Product line managers or Solution portfolio managers will have many questions to address:

  • Are my products/services still in demand by the market? Or are they becoming obsolete?

  • Who are the competitors? How do they position their products/services?

  • Who sells the most? Where ?  How do they sell more ? Why ?

  • What are the differentiators of my products/services versus competiton?

  • Will the market be receptive to these differences ?

  • How to promote my differences/my value ?

  • What are the new needs ? 

  • Is there a possibility to respond and be the first to offer an innovative product/service ?

  • What is the total adressable market size ?

  • Is there convergence or divergence from the company's vision and mission? What changes should be made to grab these new market shares?

  • Etc.

​​

To answers these questions, several disciplines are needed :
 

  1. Sales, they are the eyes and ears of the company in the market, they understand the weaknesses of the portfolio but also its strengths, they are able to articulate a winning equation for the customer who is going to buy. They face competition on a daily basis and they should understand copmetitors' strengths and weaknesses,
     

  2. Research and Development, people having this mission are observing and listening to the trends and choices of the market. They will propose the use of new technologies, to introduce new capabilities, to improve existing processes, to reduce costs and make products more reliable,
     

  3. Market interlligence, people having this mission should study the competitive market, understand the behavioral changes of the targeted audience (customers/consummers). They have to analyze and compare competitors' products and services in order to provide avenues for improvement, and explain needed changes for the company,
     

  4. Marketing whose mission is to promote the brand, the products/services and to generate new opportunities (“leads”). For several years now, marketing has developed a digital dimension and implemented initiatives to reach new "suspects" (MQL: Marketing Qualified Lead), which in the hands of the sales team will perhaps become new “prospects”.

 

The challenge of competitiveness is to develop differentiators which become advantages that are difficult to to be copied. To do this, copmany must go beyond the product or service, they must develop the customer's experience and succeed in developping an emotion. ​

 

The strategy of offering a new product will indeed be quickly overtaken by a competitor who will provide the same product but at a lower cost. The investment to develop that difference will therefore not last very long. Technological innovation which is a permanent cycle will have a short return on investment.​

​

Listening to your market, your customers and making the company agile to quickly respond to their demands becomes a working standard. This is the only way to make the customer feel like they are the most important person for your business. They must be able to identify with your brand as undeniably their preferred (or even unique) supplier for your products and services...why ? Because you understand them, because your anticipation of their needs show that you have similar values.

​​

This is called developing customer loyalty.

​

Many brands are succeeding this approach and have change their products and services to meet the expectations of their customers/consumers. Their main strategy was to create the need, thus forcing the competition to follow and therefore adapt ... or risk disappearing. ​

 

Competitiveness is one of the company's major stake. Not devoting enough time and money to it means sailing by sight and seeing the reef when it is too late. This task cannot be the work of one man. You need a team whose mission is to confirm that the business trajectory is still the right one. That team should be able to embrace the transformation needed, and lead it.

 

Adapting the organization and roles in the company, get the right partners on board is key to success.

​​

Human management

 

A business needs men and women to operate. Management, Operations, Support : all company's processes remain under the control of managerial supervision (humans) and under the execution of daily tasks by experts (again humans).

 

Tools, machines and technologies are only means at their disposal to eliminate non-value-added, physically painful activities and allow humans to concentrate on interesting and rewarding tasks.

​

 The company measures its performance on 4 indicators :

  • Time,

  • Quality,

  • Margins,

  • Capability to innovate


The humans who work there only measure their devotion against 2 criteria :

  • Compensation

  • ​Quality of life at work

 

Company expectations and employees expectations are inherently misaligned. It is the hiring contract which stabilizes the agreement and lays the foundations for good collaboration between the company and its employees. Therefore, it is necessary to spend time on it, to ensure that the expected area of ​​tight collaboration and responsibilities are clearly defined. Salary (compensation) conditions must therefore also be detailed.

 

However, the company must change to move forward and remain competitive in its market (or grow in new markets). Often, the company assumes that by announcing a change to employees they will adhere to it immediately.  The reality is different. Because humans are not machines that can be reprogrammed, it is complicated to get them out of their comfort zone. If the requested change seems too important to them, it becomes a concern. This concern can turn rapidly into fear, of failure and leads the employee to resist. For them, there is potentially a risk to fail, so to loose their job, their career and naturally they foresee the risk of loosing their salary.  In other words:  their life stability seems directly threatened.

​​

Change management and communication are the two keys available to managerial teams to prepare employees and support them through change. Reassuring men and women by involving them in the changes, and supporting them, is the best way to implement the agility that the company is looking for.

 

To achieve this, business leaders have options :

  • Develop strong values,

  • Hire qualified personnel,

  • Maintain continuing education,

  • Involve management experts to establish corrective plans,

  • Establish two-way communications between employees and management,

  • Develop suitable career paths,

  • Develop compensation models including on target bonus,

  • Promote taking initiative that helps the company,

  • Celebrate successes and promotions,

  • Develop a corporate culture so that employees feel part of a collective,

  • Adapt the advantages,

  • Introduce some flexibility.​​

​

The absence of a plan to manage the employees during an important change will inevitably leads the company to have a high turnover rate.

However, the resignation of an employee is visible in :

  • The overload of work for those who remain,

  • A recurrent wondering for those who remain (stay or leave too),

  • Costs of finding a new employee,

  • Training costs for a replacement,

  • Retention costs for other people who fear that the company will become too weak to guarantee them stability. ​

 

The human dimension must be taken very seriously.

 

In the 2000s, IBM was teaching to its managers that a good climate leads to up to 27% additional productivity. This gain justifies the investment in training of managerial teams.  ​

 

On the other hand, the news regularly highlights the consequences of a bad management of teams in companies, cascading too much continuous pressure to the employees. The consequences range from disengagement, sabotage, verbal violence and even physical violence. What a reputation for these companies and what a negative impact on the consumers. ​

 

The company's responsibility is huge on this topic and it is important to question regularly the good health/wellbeing of teams. ​

 

Implementing an employee satisfaction survey is a good first step to understand where to start.

​​

 

Operational Processes

 

Three main processes govern the company. Among them, the operational process describes the daily interactions of employees. It is important to spend time to it.

 

To properly align management and teams, there is nothing like a roadmap of well-defined activities. Modeling business processes and transparent communication on planned tasks to stakeholders becomes mandatory to efficiency and satisfaction.

 

Too many companies do not take the time to set out, on paper, their expected way of working. Not getting the full picture, they miss the opportunity to use this view to make continuous improvement. 

 

Instead, they rely on the few people who have mastered the subject and who have naturally become the "Rain Makers" for specialized subjects. They create a dependence on these people but above all they introduce an enormous risk in the event of their departure.

 

BPM is a methodology that allows leadership and management teams to be more in control and to be able to make rapid decisions for the company. 

 

If you do not have clear descriptions of your processes, nor a succession plan for the key people on whom you depend, it becomes urgent to launch a study on this subject.

Conclusion


The list of challenges tha face a company is long: competition, new technologies, digital transformation, sustainability, the globalization of markets, the globalization of supply chains, the shortage of labor competent work, talent management, retention of the best people, innovation, government regulations, proof of compliance, cyber security, lack of clarity of expectations and objectives, vagueness on certain protocols , etc.

Analyzing these issues carefully allows you to build a pragmatic business plan, define achievable objectives, adapt strategies to accelerate growth and above all allows to federate and empower employees while deploying a solid, reassuring and reliable model.  

The development of corporate culture reflects the company's values.  Focusing on the fundamentals allows managers to establish a solid foundation to address all economic and environmental issues by involving and empowering all employees. ​
​

bottom of page