Using up the spare change

HVCA, Business Plus
Maintaining cash flow — Mike Jenkins

Former US president John F. Kennedy said the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is unchangeable or certain. An ability to manage unavoidable change is at the heart of every successful business, says Mike Jenkins.

There is a management maxim that says:

‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always win what you’ve always won.’

The underlying message is compelling — in a fast-moving world, staying the same is simply not an option. If you stand still while your competitors continue to improve, your company will struggle to survive.

So the choice does not revolve around whether to change. It is really a question of how far and how fast, and this will depend on a number of variables.

Big change, fast — sometimes referred to in the jargon as ‘business re-engineering’ —is only really called for if the company is in imminent danger of going under.

Most businesses evolve in smaller, incremental steps through a process of continuous improvement. Indeed, this process has become so ingrained in business culture that it has even developed into an oriental philosophy called Kaizen, which is Japanese for ‘improvement’ or ‘change for the better’.

In short, Kaizen should lead to getting processes right first time, every time. Adhering strictly to this principle increases productivity and quality, and reduces wasted time and misplaced effort.

But change in the form of continuous improvement does not impact only on products. It is just as valid when applied to services such as those supplied by building-services-engineering designers. These people, too, will benefit from managing change to improve their performance.

Author and Harvard Business School professor John Kotter describes an 8-step model that neatly sums up the change management process

• Increase urgency — inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.

• Build the guiding team — get the right people in place with the right commitment and mix of skills and levels.

• Develop the right vision — get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focusing on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.

• Communicate for buy-in — involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials simply and to appeal to people's needs. De-clutter communications.

• Empower action — remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders, and reward and recognise progress and achievements.

• Create short-term wins — set aims that are easy to achieve in bite-sized chunks. Produce a manageable number of initiatives and finish one stage before starting a new one.

• Don't let up — encourage determination, persistence and progress reporting, and highlight milestones (both achieved and sought after).

 

• Make change stick — reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion and new change leaders. Weave change into the business culture.

The HVCA, together with its subsidiaries, provides a first-rate source of information on a range of business issues — including training and accreditation, contract management, safety, and employee welfare schemes — that all touch on various aspects of the change agenda.

 

HVCA members have access advice and guidance on employment law, people management, systems and procedures.

We started with a quote about change so let us end with one too, this time from American businessman Robert C. Gallagher: ‘Change is inevitable… except from a vending machine.’

Mike Jenkins is Business Development Manager of Welplan and group co-ordinator of HVCA Business Plus.

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