May 2007

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2007</I></div> <div> <I>The following article was first published in the Eastern Daily Press' 'The Business'  on 9 May 2007</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Problems? - or opportunities?</B></div> <bR> <div> Years ago, I used to cringe when colleagues, full of the joys of the latest management development course they'd just returned from, would zealously correct anyone who talked about problems they were facing, saying, rather, that they should think of them as `opportunities'. I think now that euphemisms such as this were merely a harbinger of some of the politically correct jargon we suffer today, but it did generate a noticeable degree of cynicism at the time.</div> <bR> <div> With the wisdom of hindsight, and having faced many problems, made lots of mistakes and witnessed even more in businesses I've worked in and consulted to, I now believe passionately that problems and mistakes are, without question, opportunities - opportunities to improve and grow. But improvement can only come if an effort is made to learn from the problem and change the way some things are done.</div> <bR> <div> A major problem for many business owners is that of attracting and retaining good employees. Keeping a good team together and functioning well is one of the primary responsibilities of anyone in a leadership role. In terms of time, money and disruption, the cost of replacing good members of staff who leave is enormous. Often, whilst the recruitment process is underway, experienced employees have to pick up the slack (and, often, quite a lot of overtime as well) or temporary staff utilised, frequently performing less well than permanent employees. When a new member is finally recruited to the team, it takes some time before they are fully effective in their job. So, all in all, losing good people is expensive and unsettling - a problem, indeed. So why do so few businesses seem to learn from this situation and take steps to improve things in the future?</div> <bR> <div> When a member of your team decides to leave, do you conduct an open, honest and constructive interview with them, seeking to understand why they are leaving, to learn as much as you can about what their experience of working in your organisation was like, what was good and what wasn't? If you do, you're in the minority.</div> <div>  </div> <div> It's an interesting observation of human nature that people who might otherwise be reticent to provide honest feedback to their employer whilst still employed have no such inhibitions when they're on their way out. I think the reason that worthwhile exit interviews are so seldom done, particularly in smaller, owner-managed businesses, is that the boss is afraid of what they might learn. They might be presented with some unpalatable truths about themselves or their colleagues. But, as the owner, what could be more important to learn than what problems exist in your business (including, perhaps, many that you didn't know about) so you can do something to make it better in the future? If you do nothing, the problems won't go away. Treat them as opportunities to learn, however, and the changes you make as a result can bring real benefits for all.</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width=180 BGCOLOR="#CC3333" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>