Turn Short-Term Challenges Into Long-Term Success

Helping Our Cultures Change and Grow

A “Just Fix It” mindset has been with us a long time.  There is a place for it in today’s world because of so much abrupt challenge and change.  With change at each and every door of our businesses and lives, healing processes and interactions become much more effective, comprehensive way to move forward.  Healing is an unusual word to use in business.  If we consider stresses and changes in personal lives, business operations and overall economic well-being in the world today — including tragedy, healing is the way.

Change and Challenge will be with us for some time.

Too much crisis and too much turmoil are hard on everyone—and can lead to disaster.  A much longer view must evolve where change, growth and success can be supported by healthier team environments and a more interactive process of education, mentorship and oversight.

Change towards more people-friendly environments is happening.  General businesses and professional organizations are focusing on not burning out people.  Owners and managers are considering not just “pushing through” or “taking on more tasks” to be more considerate of all stakeholders.  There has been a major rise in awareness in the mental health of our team members; there is a big push for emergency responders (especially firefighters and police officers) and others to get more emotional and trauma support.

How to begin to shift to a longer, healthier view of success?  Each situation is different but here are 3 areas to consider:

• Expand Succession and Succession Planning to a whole new level. Historically, succession has focused on senior management, ownership or special talent.  But, with today’s trend of team members moving jobs to find a better place to grow and succeed, helping people grow and learn more about their jobs as well as others is essential.  This will help them understand their worth to the business and themselves.  Hopefully, they will be there if others transition or take on new roles as the business grows–keeping institutional memory intact.
• Build a New Job Description Model that enhances individual growth, experience and ingenuity through Increased Responsibility and Authority. An example?  Dealing with customer service today, because of remote processing and other factors, team members are not connected as they were.  When one tries to get questions answered then, finally, demands a manager to help, no one is around.  Frontline people need more ability to make changes, get things resolved and create apositive experience for all.  Now, this is a simple example, but the situation is going on throughout business.  Give talent the authority, responsibility and training so they can learn, grow and be more valuable all around.
• Find ways to Reduce Stress and spend more Quality Time with team members. Before the Pandemic, we thought we could put up with our most difficult clients or customers—not today.  Many businesses are rethinking how best to help these distractive, often unprofitable influences either to change or be asked to leave.  If youare spending additional time with your bottom 20 customers and reducing time with your top 20 customers, that causes unnecessary stress throughout the organization.  Also, find the “1 in 20s” and help them transition to another job, inside or outside the business.  This concept relates to the fact that one person’s negative behavior or lack of effectiveness, etc. substantially reduces effectiveness of the other 19 in an organization or business.  This is a general relationship.  Depending on the individual’s position and authority, this numeric could be a 1 in 100 or 1 in 1,000.  These are just 2 of many ways stress can be reduced and time can be found to help business grow more effectively.

By healing and not just fixing (putting out fires) for the moment, you can begin to make changes in less reactive ways and produce more effective results without creating unnecessary stress and distraction.

Please consider how these recommendations can add to your success.

Learn more each month with the Always Creating Value™ Podcast.
Join Mark and industry leaders, entrepreneurs and authors discuss the way they continually add value in their endeavors. It is entertaining, thoughtful and intended to help others to create more sustainable value added ways to operate our businesses.

Subscribe to our Podcast!

Join our podcast live! Receive our Newsletter. Benefit from Mark H. Fowler’s progressive insights for your success, you can subscribe for free and receive Mark’s valuable experience in Business Consulting, Crisis Management, Managing Growth & Profitability, Mergers & Acquisitions, Succession Planning, Systems & Operational Analysis and more.