Posts Tagged ‘Sustainability’
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
 If you search Google for “why businesses fail” you will get about 3.7 million results. Many of those articles will talk about the pitfalls and untold reasons why organizations go out of business. Our stance is, instead of focusing on what went wrong, focus on planning and building for success. Outcomes that are focused on are typically the outcomes that are generated. If you want to build a successful business you need to focus on success.
We can learn a great deal from businesses that fail and apply that knowledge to action steps that propel a business toward success and away from failure. Here are some important elements of a successful business to consider:
- Develop a plan. You can get where you are going much faster if you have a road map. Developing a plan for your business that includes a vision, objectives, and critical success factors creates a road map. Evaluating potential problems and challenges before they happen often eliminates crises. Reviewing financial, equipment, and employee needs creates preparation. Developing a plan for marketing, advertising, and customer growth ensures focusing on the right activities. Develop a plan and revisit it frequently.
- Execution is key. Developing a plan is the first step to executing your plan. Daily action steps are what make it come to fruition. Do you and your team members know what they need to do, focus on, and accomplish in order to make the business goals a reality? Frequent and consistent communication with your team will help ensure that everyone is working towards the right outcomes.
Know your customers. Who are your customers, and why do they buy from you? What makes your product or service different or better? Creating and growing a loyal customer base is the key to business sustainability. If asked, customers will tell you exactly what they need. Ask frequently and listen intently. As the world changes so do customers’ requirements of your products or services. - Evaluate competition. Who is your competition and how do you compare? Competitive research is well worth the time and effort. Know what your business is up against. Understand competitors’ products and services and how potential customers compare those products or services to your company. This knowledge is vital as it allows you to make well-informed advertising and marketing decisions.
- Be able to adapt. Business environments and customers change. The ability to adapt to the ever-changing face of business is just as important as planning. Your plan provides the roadmap but occasionally there will be obstacles located in the middle of the road which will necessitate a course correction. Being able to adapt quickly will allow the course correction to be as seamless as possible.
- Maintain focus. Know where you going and what you want to achieve at all times. Distractions can mean death to a business. It becomes very easy to lose sight of the big picture when a distraction presents itself. Distractions have a bad habit of allowing us to race down blind alleys and take our eyes off of the real objectives. Again, count on your plan to provide the roadmap and make goal-oriented decisions.
Creating a successful and sustainable business is not always easy; however, the rewards often outweigh the challenges. Put yourself in a position to win at business by giving yourself all of the advantages listed above, and the results you desire will follow!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. RAC is the first choice among business professional for assistance in creating, building and expanding a successful consulting or coaching practice. RAC trained consultants and coaches specialize in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how by visiting our website or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Business Success, Coach, competition, consultant, customers, planning, Sustainability, sustainable business, why businesses fail
Posted in Coaching, Consulting, Strategic Planning, Sustainability | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
“In good times, sustainability can be a competitive differentiator; in lean times, it’s a defensive strategy and in really hard times, it can determine your survival.” - Richard Goode, Director of Sustainability at Alcatel-Lucent
As we have discussed in previous blog posts, sustainability as a business strategy needs to be uniquely defined for each company. Understanding the industry, company size, product or service line, the supply chain, and stakeholders’/stockholders’ concerns are all important to create a meaningful definition. Understanding sustainability may start with a definition, but sustainability is really a corporate wide strategy and culture that ultimately focuses on increasing productivity and/or the reduction of consumed resources without compromising product or service quality, competitiveness, or profitability. Embracing a true strategy of sustainability is never ending, as it ultimately should become part of the culture and fabric of the organization.
After defining sustainability for your organization, the next important question to ask is, “Where does our company stand as it relates to our sustainability initiative?” Many companies are quick to react to new initiatives without assessing what it really means for their organization.
Important questions to consider include:
- Where are they currently?
- Where do they want to go?
- What will it take to get there?
Similar to the beginning of the quality movement, many companies got on the bandwagon and implemented the concepts haphazardly with no intent or strategy, reaped some results from low-hanging fruit, but never really saw the full impact and the possible results that could have been theirs to realize.
Kevin Myette, Director of Product Integrity at Recreational Equipment Inc (REI) says that “sustainability is the next quality movement … and it is no longer just for big companies.”
If sustainability is viewed as a strategy to be developed over time, then there needs to be a systematic approach to be able to move from where your company is now to where it wants or needs to be. Our systematic approach looks at sustainability through the progression of five levels.
Level 1: Recognize
At this level, an organization begins to recognize that something needs to be done. Perhaps outside forces such as industry regulations or stakeholders’/stockholders’ concerns are driving some action; however, there is no real strategy in place. In fact, if industry standards are driving whatever sustainability action currently exists, the organization is most likely acting out of shear conformance.
Level 2: Initiate
At this level, management agrees that it is time to look at sustainability as a business strategy. Management begins to see a solid business case for why sustainability makes sense in their organization and management begins defining their strategy for sustainability. Short-term, measurable results start being obtained.
Level 3: Implement
At level 3, there is a clearer understanding and awareness of what sustainability really means to the organization. A detailed action plan has been created and communicated to employees, customers, and all other stakeholders. Larger projects within the initiatives are beginning to get traction and see results.
Level 4: Operationalize
At level 4, there is full commitment to the sustainability strategy and the action plan is in full force. The organization is maximizing its people and processes to ensure a positive impact on the environment while seeing improvements in their own profitability and core business measurements.
Level 5: Transformation
The value of continuous sustainability is now embedded in the organization’s culture. It is part of how they think and make decisions. There is a commitment to continually review where they stand on sustainability issues, and they are committed to take the necessary action steps today and in the future.
At what level is your organization currently? Where should you be?
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve high levels of excellence and success by adopting sustainability as a critical success factor of organizational success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: defining sustainability, Kevin Myette, Lucent, profitability, REI, Richard Goode, strategy, Sustainability
Posted in Sustainability | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
Sustainability, green, social responsibility, and corporate citizenship are all descriptors used to explain the initiative of businesses doing good while doing well. In our experience, developing a strategy of sustainability is a commitment to all people, all processes, and the environment while building profitable businesses.
Business leaders are becoming more knowledgeable about how sustainability impacts their businesses but there is still a large learning curve that needs to be addressed. In a recent ASQ research study (American Society for Quality) 40% of the respondents noted they are only somewhat familiar or not really familiar with the concept of sustainability.
Depending on your business, the opportunities for enhanced business by embracing a strategy of sustainability can be multiple. In a recent study by Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and the Hitachi Foundation (released in 2010), they verified several business opportunities generated by sustainability initiatives. It is the only research to provide a comprehensive view of small, medium, and large sized US businesses.
- 72% of the companies surveyed are reducing costs through improved materials efficiency.
- 58% are manufacturing or sourcing domestically/locally.
- 53% are increasing brand awareness as “green” or socially responsible.
- 52% are designing and offering sustainable products/services.
- 50% are providing customers with more information about products’/services’ social and environmental impacts.
- 48% are offering more energy efficient products/services.
- 46% are providing frontline employees with business training to broaden and improve commercial awareness.
- 22% are using sustainability as a market differentiator.
Many of the early adaptors have been large organizations and often their adaptation was forced by customer and stakeholder pressure, regulations, or sometimes both. However, the sustainability initiative is fast taking hold in the small to mid-sized organizations for similar reasons.
Case Study 1: Berea College located in Berea, Kentucky; founded in 1855; employs 485 people. The college focuses on providing a strong academic program as well as a holistic approach to social and environmental issues. Some of their early initiatives included:
- Developing a multidisciplinary sustainability and environmental studies program
- Developing an eco-village
- Developing sustainable agriculture
Due to these initiatives and the college’s long-term commitment to sustainability, Berea College used 52% less BTU’s of natural gas in 2009 over its 1999 usages, and provides 15% of its cafeteria food from its own farm and local producers.
Case Study 2: Johnson Financial Group, founded in 1970, is a full service financial services company and employs 1,267 people. A privately held company, they thought showing their customers that they had a commitment to keep operating costs down in tough economic times was a message of strength. Their sustainability campaign focuses on improving operations while generating social, environmental, and economic success. Their campaign includes:
- Reducing transportation
- Development green buildings
- Reducing energy use
- Education
- Paper reduction and recycling
- Waste reduction
Their results are clear. Johnson Financial has reduced energy consumption at its corporate headquarters for three consecutive years. One project saved 500,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, 17,000 terms of natural gas, and eliminated more than one million pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
Case studies abound of companies who have embraced the concept of sustainability, whether by choice or by force, and have found the strategy to be a sound business move.
Sustainability is a sound investment and not just another way to drive up cost and diminish profitability. It is about looking at the big picture and doing the right things for the right reasons, while growing a successful and profitable organization.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation and a founder of The Institute for Sustainability, www.theinstituteforsustainability.com. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve high levels of excellence and success by adopting sustainability as a critical success factor of organizational success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: ASQ, Berea College, Boston College, corporate citizenship, Energy, environment, green, Johnson Financial Group, reducing cost, resource associates, social responsibility, Sustainability
Posted in Sustainability | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 21st, 2011
A recent survey published by Boston Consulting Group and MIT revealed that there is no single, established definition for sustainability. Some companies engaged in sustainability focus solely on environmental issues while others include economic, stakeholder, and governmental issues. The study also revealed that although companies differ in their definition, sustainability is a force to be reckoned with and is a concept that is here to stay. (The Business of Sustainability, 2009, Boston Consulting Group)
In our research, sustainability emerged out of the concept of “going green.” Because of outside pressure from the community and special interest groups and in an effort to meet new regulatory requirements, some industries were forced to change how their processes and products impacted the environment and people. Even through the last 18 months of economic challenges, sustainability has not gone away. Companies have been forced to remain in compliance while figuring out how to make progress with less capital and resources. Therefore, we can assume sustainability is more than just going green … although being green is a big part of it.
 To senior management the question is, what does sustainability mean to your business? Leadership teams often lack a full understanding of how to apply the concepts of sustainability to the context of their strategic plan, their operating processes, their employees’ attitudes and skills, and their stakeholders concerns. In our experience, the successful implementation of sustainability will have a measurable and positive impact on the planet, through their people, and the result is improved profitability. Therefore, it is highly likely that sustainability will be defined conceptually as a megatrend, which applies equally to all types of organizations. Organizations that have defined what sustainability means to their business and who have a successful implementation model are seeing significant benefits. Based on the success of early adaptors, sustainability has proven to provide a sound business case of creating value through innovation and employee involvement.
Most organizations need to be presented with measurable reasons why embracing or incorporating a new strategy like sustainability makes sense. Early adaptors like WalMart, IBM, Nike, and GE are measuring value in key business areas. It is our experience that similar outcomes are just as possible in the small and mid-size markets.
The benefits have been shown to include:
- A Stronger Brand
- Greater Pricing Power
- Greater Operational Efficiencies
- More Efficient Use of Resources
- Supply Chain Optimization
- Enhanced Ability to Enter New Markets
- Enhanced Ability to Attract, Retain, and Motivate Employees
- Increased Customer Loyalty
- Reduced Environmental Impact
- Improved Innovation
In our experience, an organization should not tackle sustainability overnight without first understanding its strategic intent and developing a sustainability implementation plan. It’s not difficult, but an organization needs to understand what it is doing, why it’s doing it, and how it’s going to measure it. Most importantly what sustainability requires is, first and foremost, commitment from the leadership of the organization. “You cannot implement these kinds of programs bottom-up, it’s impossible. It’s always top-down, always. Because it is a cultural change, you cannot do it organically.” George Kern, CEO, IWC
After commitment is established, sustainability needs to be defined for your organization. What outcomes do you want to accomplish in what time frame? How will you measure the outcomes? How will you communicate your plan and establish buy-in with your employees and other stakeholders? These questions are important and need to be addressed before implementation begins. The answers to these questions need to be laid over the existing strategic plan. Do these new objectives require any course corrections? If your organization does not have an existing strategic plan, it will be critical to develop one that includes sustainability, as sustainability is not a strategic plan in of itself. Another often over-looked requirement is structure. Since many of the sustainability initiatives require interdepartmental cooperation there needs to be a systems linkage in both innovation and tactical implementation.
As evidenced by the research, sustainability is not going away. If your organization recognizes this fact and positions itself as a sustainable organization you will have a sizeable competitive advantage while also improving our planet.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve high levels of excellence through sustainability. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: environmental issues, GE, IBM, innovation, MIT, RAC, regulation, Resource Associates Corporation, strategy, Sustainability, WalMart
Posted in Strategic Planning, Sustainability | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011
If you search Google for “why businesses fail” you will get about 6.9 million results. Many of those articles will talk about the pitfalls and untold reasons why businesses go out of business. Our stance is, instead of the focusing on what went wrong, focus on planning and building for success. Outcomes that are focused on are typically the outcomes that are generated. If you want to build a successful business you need to focus on success.
We can learn a great deal from businesses that fail and apply that knowledge to actions step that propel a business toward success and away from failure. Here are some important elements of a successful business to consider.
- Develop a plan. You can get where you are going much faster if you have a road map. Developing a plan for your business that includes a vision, objectives, and critical success factors creates a road map. Evaluating potential problems and challenges before they happen often eliminates crisis. Reviewing financial, equipment, and employee needs creates preparation. Developing a marketing, advertising, and customer growth plan ensures focusing on the right activities. Develop a plan and revisit it frequently.
- Execution is key. Developing a plan is the first step to executing your plan. Daily action steps are what make it come to fruition. Do you and your team members know what they need to do, focus on, and accomplish in order to make the business goals a reality? Frequent and consistent communication with your team will help ensure that everyone is working towards the right outcomes.
- Know your customers. Who are your customers and why do they buy from you? What makes your product or service different or better? Creating and growing a loyal customer base is the key to business sustainability. If asked, customers will tell you exactly what they need. Ask frequently and listen intently. As the world changes so do customers requirements of your product or service.
- Evaluate competition. Who is your competition and how do you compare? Competitive research is well worth the time and effort. Know what your business is up against. Understand competitor’s products and services and how potential customers compare those products or services to your company. This knowledge is vital as it allows you to make well-informed advertising and marketing decisions.
- Be able to adapt. Business environments and customers change. The ability to adapt to the ever-changing face of business is just as important as planning. Your plan provides the road map but every once in awhile there will be obstacles located in the middle of the road and a course correction will be necessary. Being able to adapt quickly will allow the course correction to be as seamless as possible.
- Maintain focus. Know where you going and what you want to achieve at all times. Distractions can mean death to a business. It becomes very easy to lose sight of the big picture when a distraction presents itself. Again, count on your plan to provide the road map and make goal-oriented decisions. Distractions have a bad habit to allowing us to race down blind alleys and take our eyes off of the real objectives.
Creating a successful and sustainable business is not always easy; however, the rewards often out weigh the challenges. Put yourself in a position to win at business by giving yourself all the advantages listed above and the results you desire will follow!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: competition, customers, Execution, failure, focus, goggle, planning, Resource Associates Corporation, Success, Sustainability, sustainable business rac, why businesses fail
Posted in Business Management, Sustainability | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Often times when companies have to squeeze the financial belt, developing employees and creating future leaders gets pushed aside. However building a sustainable company requires having a leadership growth and succession plan in place at all times.
In a recent study conducted by OI Partners, the data indicated that 54% of the companies surveyed do not have enough leadership successors in place and 14% of the companies are not sure if they have enough leadership successors in place. These findings confirm that many organizations are not prepared for the future, which means their organizations are not as sustainable as current management may believe. Closing the knowledge and talent gap needs to be a management strategy during good or interesting times in business.
The benefit of investing and growing employees for the future provides staggering long-term results for the entire organization. Some of the outcomes of employee development management should never lose sight of include:
- Maintaining or growing competiveness in the market
- Sustaining or increasing overall employee and organizational performance
- Building capabilities required to win when business circumstances change
- Sustaining the organization’s culture
- Shortening the time needed for an employee to make an important role transition
- Building strong leaders breeds sustainability
- Creating strategic alignment between the strategy, the employees, and the internal processes
- Innovation
- Creating loyal employees which in turn helps create a loyal customer base
The last point listed is particularly important. Revenue and profitability, albeit critical, are predictors of past decisions. Creating and growing a loyal customer base is a predictor of future success and sustainability. A key to creating and growing a loyal customer base is creating loyal employees. An employee’s loyalty to the organization is enhanced by working with each individual to create a personal development plan. Tim Shoonover, Chairman of OI Partners, said in a recent article “To sustain growth in your company, there must be a path to leadership. If an employee doesn’t have a leadership development plan in place and isn’t able to see her career progression she is less likely to be engaged or to expend discretionary effort.”
Right now organizations have a bit of an advantage, as employees are not as quick to pursue new career opportunities. But as economic conditions improve, disengaged employees will begin comparing and perhaps looking for new career opportunities. Therefore, creating and committing to an employee leadership and development plan is not only critical to organizational success it also plays a significant role limiting employee turnover to a minimum.
Employees who see a commitment to their growth and development are employees who give the organization 110%. That extra 10% is where innovative ideas come from that could propel your organization to new heights. What is creating an employee development process worth to your company?
Here are some questions that may be useful as you review your company’s employee development strategy.
- If you had to fill a key leadership position in your company tomorrow, is there someone ready and able to fill the position? Are you confident he/she has the right skills, knowledge, and attitude or are you guessing?
- Does your organization have a published employee development plan?
- Do you or your team of managers have a documented development plan for each employee they manage?
If any of your answers to the questions listed above cause you concern or you just do not know the answer, then perhaps it is time to make employee development a priority. The sustainability and success of your organization depend, on it!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through leadership development and executive coaching. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Customer Loyalty, employee loyalty, future leaders, Leadership, leadership succession, OI partners, Succession, Sustainability
Posted in Customer Loyalty, Leadership, Succession | No Comments »
|
