How to make 'we're all in this together' more than just a platitude. BY BILL FOTSCH AND JOHN CASE, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF OPEN-BOOK COACHING; AUTHOR OF 'OPEN-BOOK MANAGEMENT' Crises have a way of focusing company owners' attention on a single critical indicator of the business's health. If owners are smart, they help everyone on the payroll understand what the key number is, so that people can pitch in and help. If your business has tanked because of the Covid pandemic, the one number you're probably watching most closely right now is revenue. If business has skyrocketed, you'll have some other metric you are tracking every day--maybe inventory levels or the number of qualified job applicants. There's a lesson here for normal times--and for the many businesses right now that are slogging through the pandemic without either famine or feast. Almost every company can use a key number: a simple, easily trackable metric that ties directly to the business's financial results. Companies can put that number up on a big scoreboard. They can get everyone involved in tracking it, forecasting it, and figuring out how to move it in the right direction. As we argued in a previous post, a highly visible key number tells everyone in the organization whether they're winning or losing right now. It helps frontline employees understand the business. It gets them thinking more like partners than like hired hands. If you tie a bonus to agreed-on improvements in the number, so much the better. Suddenly, everyone's on the same team. So how do you determine your key number? In our experience, the process is just as important as the result. There are four steps, all of which can be undertaken more or less simultaneously: Turning Ideas into Success Stories
We have seen all kinds of key numbers emerge from this process. Rework costs at a manufacturer. Direct profitability (revenue minus direct costs) at a travel agent. Revenue per employee at a professional services firm. Average tab per table at a restaurant. Note that each of these numbers directly affects the company's financial performance. Yet everyone can understand them and learn how to move the needle. The best key numbers combine an "offense" measure, such as revenue, and a "defense" measure, such as "per employee" or "per dollar revenue." And they aren't necessarily permanent. The manufacturer we mentioned began tracking rework costs assiduously and soon got them under control, so it was time for a change. Your company's annual planning process is a good time to revisit the number. One number gets people pulling together. Years ago, our friend and mentor Jack Stack said, "It's easy to stop one guy, but it's pretty hard to stop 100." Change "100" to the size of your company--and then see how hard it is for competitors to stop you. Read more from INC ## CMS owned www.PayOnlyForSales.com Pay Only For Sales dot com is a network partner of the largest reward network in the USA. PayOnlyForSales.com Call us 631-780-4607 Watch This Video Click Here Restaurants, Retailers & Service Businesses Pay Only For Sales Not You're Advertising Advertise on the best websites & apps FOR FREE and only pay for in-store sales. We Bring ChaChing ©™SM Lower your cost of Business POS Credit Card transaction fees fast! ChaChingBiz.com ©™SM Accept Credit Cards Every Way Customers Want to Pay Never Miss a Sale Again. Sign Up Now Accept All Major Credit Cards. No waiting to get your money, Get your money daily, yes 7 days a week! We can reverse fees to customers at your option to encourage cash transactions. We are global and part of the largest network of business services in this space, provide direct personal customer service we have what you need for all business types restaurants, gas stations, startups, online, retail, hotel, motel, services business small business, street fair, food trucks, landscaper, contractor, swipe, POS systems for all needs. Cha Ching Biz ©™SM |
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