Build A Successful Organization
Entrepreneurs must build extraordinary organizations. What makes this
happen? Time and time again the difference between success and failure has
been the people and the organization.
Extraordinary organizations possess corporate DNA that dictates hiring
good people and treating them well. Employees need to be good at what they
do. Not every employee will make a good manager. Discern who is management
material and who is not. Grow people into functions where they can succeed
and excel.
Leaders display their values to their organizations. This makes a big
statement about what is expected and accepted. Remember, employees learn
by example. Be a good role model. Educate employees about the company's
mission, values, and culture. This becomes orientation by management.
Corporate culture makes a company and determines how well it functions.
Validation comes from the client/customer. Has your company devised a
strategy that evolves to where the customer needs to be? Does your company
do what it says it will? Does it continuously improve? Does it take the
high road and not rest on its laurels?
Hire the best people possible. Spend the time and money necessary for
thorough reference checks. Opt for experience, but look to youth for
energy. Make hard decisions early and do it fast. Firing an employee is
difficult but delaying rarely improves the situation.
Build a great culture and do it early. Define what is wanted, how to
create it, why it is needed, and what is important. Assemble the key
players and ask them what they want in a team because this can not be
decreed. Advocate and encourage collaboration between employees. This must
be a deliberate and continual process that becomes second nature.
Leverage intellectual property. Benefit from the brains of the whole
organization by establishing a "knowledge-net" facilitated by
online dialogue and other communication media. Make training readily
available. Service companies need to especially pay attention to this.
Maintain a work community where managers and executives are personally
involved with employees and the work place. Treat employees like family.
Often employee referrals make some of the best workers. Build a culture
where employees can have fun because a lot of their time is spent at work.
Celebrate successes.
Establish a true, open door policy where questions can be asked and
answers are given without fear. Set high company ethics and standards.
Extraordinary organizations are
- Client/customer obsessed. They keep listening to customers
and ask good questions.
- Honest. They deliver the best they can. Integrity drives the
quality of work. The question becomes "Is the world a better
place because of their company?"
- Helpful. It is important to assist the customer in becoming
more effective.
- Innovative. Giving the customer a better value shows this.
Telltale characteristics of highly functional organizations are
- A good work environment. Employees are having fun at work.
- Profitability. Financial success means continued growth.
- Flexibility. The strategy over time is to seize opportunities
and leverage them to advantage.
- A succession plan. This indicates forethought and planning
made for the organization's evolution or restructuring. It could mean
bringing in outside management skills to handle growth issues.
Building a Winning Team
Successful Organizations come from winning teams. It is difficult
to define what winning is and make it fun. Winning does not come easily.
It is a prerequisite for a company that scales. It means hard work.
Entrepreneurs must believe in what they are doing - both objectively and
subjectively. Employees sense if owners believe in what they are doing.
The management team must also be believers.
Key elements for winning include;
- Knowing the end points. Plan from the beginning to the end by
knowing where the start and finish are.
- Engineering for organizational and systems scalability. Begin
with experienced senior staff and build the rest from there. Ensure
the ability for rapid expansion. Build modular prototypes into
systems.
- Having three plans. The first one is the one used to work by.
The second one is used when the going gets tough. The last one is the
aggressive plan for rough times.
Some traits indicative of winning organizations are
- Mutual respect and diversity shown to customers and employees
- Appropriate action that follows the talk (walking the talk)
- Absence of political bull s--t
- Recognition of the moment of truth. Every contact with customers and
employees is that moment.
- Hard work and hard play
- Continual employee awareness about the key, evolving value drivers
of the organization
- Hiring good people
- Savvy organizational growth and learning styles
- Delegation of authority by ownership while relinquishing
responsibility
Written by Judy Kong, Analyst for TECHdivas.com |
