Managing Crisis…..

While the ‘pundits’ and ‘experts’ are searching for the best answer to combat the dynamic and changing (actually, already changed!) economic times, let me make an honest attempt to give my point of view/s on what are the critical elements that a leader needs to include in his ‘Strategic Plan’ take in these times of ‘Economic Uncertainties’.

The more I read, the more I get affirmed on my chain of thought. Be it McKinsey, Booz-Allen or other ‘well-known’ Management Consulting outfits, across articles one common thread that I have been able to pick is – ‘Cash Conservation Strategy’. The more I hear experts on TV, the more I get affirmed on my chain of thought. I believe that all the ‘Cash Conservation Strategies’ are actually - ‘Tactical in nature’ that can at best support survival (Wait, no need to shake your head in disbelief as yet J please continue reading!)

Lets look at the symptoms - Marketing Communication budgets have been slashed, Travel budgets have been cut, (since I come from Media and Entertainment) Content Acquisition budgets have been slashed, Training budgets have been slashed, Increments been put on hold and so on and so forth. Pick up the phone and talk to your friend, and he/she will have more ‘uncomfortable’ stories to share with you on how companies are trying to save as much ‘cash/liquidity’ as possible.

There is nothing wrong with these measures (or may be there is!). But then these are ofcourse , but ‘tactical’ measures of survival. Pardon me with my analogy, but it’s like trying to save an accident patient. The first thing to do is to stop the blood flow. Organizations have realized that they are bleeding, and mind you, its not only because of the Recessionary times, but also because of the ‘inefficiencies’ that have crept in over a period of time, being exposed now, thanks to Recession. When things are hunky-dory, many a decisions skip the watchful eyes of either the ‘Board’ or the ‘Senior Management’, but when things go wrong, the proverbial – ‘Heads start rolling and blood starts spilling’ comes to light and everything goes through the ‘scanner’ (Just finished watching a Terentino movie, and hence the reference to ‘Blood’, please bear with me J)

So lets talk about these strategies or the ‘Blood-stopping’ measures. The only challenge I face with these strategies is that they are all ‘survival’ strategies. I am surprised why no one is talking about ‘Growth’ (wait, not the time to laugh right now!). Seriously, are we ‘Management experts’ either diffident or unsure about the revival of the World Economy? Or, are we saying that lets just ‘survive’ for the time being, we will talk about ‘Growth’ when times are right…much like ‘crossing the bridge when we get there’?

I believe the companies to come out of recession and get on the growth path will be the ones which still are eyeing ‘Growth’ (be it Organic or In-organic). Companies which are like Spartans, training their footsoldiers (read: Understanding employees engagement and training them), boosting their Artillery (Read: Product Innovation) and mapping their Warlands (read: Reading Customer / Mapping Market), will be the ones that will emerge victorious.

Imagine, over the last two quarters, most of the companies have done nothing but instilled fear in their employees (layoffs / paycuts etc) and shattered confidence amongst customers (no new launches, no aggressive marketing, no image building etc).

As things start taking turn (again, and for better), don’t leaders want to hit the ground running?

And it is here that I see the ‘Cash Conservation Strategy’ failing to imbibe the ‘tomorrow’ of the Business World. All the steps that are being promoted through the management literature are failing to prepare the executives and the leaders to charge and take the leap of faith when things turn positive again.

So keeping the aforementioned discussion in mind, here is what my ‘Strategic Bible’ would look like:

a) Customer Mindspace – In these times, customers are like ‘stimulus junkies’. They will switch at the drop of a hat. Make them feel comfortable with their brand choice (which is your brand). Build and cement the ‘connect’ with them. Study their ‘engagement levers’ and manage them with all force. The choice drivers and rationalizations change, read them, study them and offer as per the revised choice drivers. When marketing budgets are being slashed, wouldn’t you want your customers to spread ‘Great’ (not just positive) word of mouth about you?
b) Renewed emphasis on ‘Employee training’. Remembering, that the employees are the only ‘real asset’ with the company. It’s critical to identify the ‘Iacoccas’ and the ‘Welshes’ in your system. It’s important to do a thermometer reading of ‘Employee morale and engagement with the company’. A famous adage goes – ‘to cut a tree well in five hours, sharpen your axe for four hours’. Thus, training the employees becomes equally important as understanding their levels and levers of attachment. The training needs to be for both motivational aspects and skill-sets – Regular measurement and Management both would be extremely critical
c) Continued thrust on innovation / product development / experience development. Gone are those days when products use to ‘extinct’, now it’s the experiences. We are talking about ‘Experience Extinction’ now, and therefore there is a need to re-create newer experiences
d) Lean approach to Cost-Optimization – Inter-departmental shuffles, re-visit job profiles, exhort multi-tasking, discourage late staying in office (calculations on savings from electricity, water, tea-coffee, are mind boggling)
e) ‘Fund your learning’ – Each employee to contribute from his salary towards training needs (promoting understanding between employee / employer, make him/her feel part of the Company and therefore an indispensable part to deal with the crisis). Thus an employee wont feel ‘hurt’ with the pay cut, and as a leader I would prepare my work-force to hit the ground hard and running!
f) Renewed thrust on Corporate Alliances – Look at innovative ways of ‘Brand Building’ and sales, in other words – Corporate Alliances. For instance – if you are a cell-phone service provider, can you look at increasing the subscriber base, not at ‘Cash value’ but by doing tie-ups with Airliners, who in turn will carry your ‘Brand Message’ and your logo on their air-crafts, for a short period of time? Similar ways of improving topline score and ‘Brand’ score

If I were to be asked to put two thumbs on the two most critical elements, I would say – ‘Rigorous emphasis on Employee Attachment understanding and training’ and ‘Thrust on understanding the customer mindscape and the market landscape’

Let me end with these statements that I read in an article – “Despite the challenging times, this year’s strategic-planning process need not be an exercise in anxiety or futility. Developing scenarios in greater depth, monitoring strategies more rigorously, and remaining focused on the long term will all help strategists boost the odds of creating plans that can lead their companies through the turbulence”.

Wish you all the very best!

It’s important at times to pause…and smell the rose…

Amidst the worst economic catastrophe (Mr Tata calls it ‘Hand of God’) :), and times which can at best be described as ‘gloomy’, things are going haywire. People being laid off is a news which is as stale as a month old cottage cheese. The focus seems to have shifted on survival, both individually and organizationally. Semantics are being redefined and innovated to describe the economic depression. Essentially these times really call for a break! A break from everyday’s monotony, a break from the uncertainty, a break from …well you get the point :)!

Jyotsana and myself did the same…I bet you, it was imperative to get our sanity back :).

But when crisis is like a looming sword over one’s head, it becomes important to merge pragmatism with desires (it’s difficult, but well, adapt or perish has always been nature’s inexorable imperative). So Jyotsana did some research and arranged for a surprise ‘gift’ for me this valentine, in form of Agri-Tourism.

While we flaunt (particularly my north-indian counterparts) and take pride in – ‘phoren holidays’, let me tell you that this 2 day weekend-getaway (starting 14th morning and culminating on 15th evening) was one of the best trips I have had in my life. We went to a place called – ‘Katewadi’ which is the hailing place of Mr. Sharad Pawar, about 150 odd kms from Pune. We were greeted with authentic Maharashtrian food which totally mesmerized our senses, hospitality which reminded us of home, abode which took us back by centuries and weather which made us forget ourselves (and I am not exaggerating)!

We saw pre-historic temple made during the Pandavas era, we made a passable attempt to row boatJ, we saw how a state-run sugar-cane factory works without coal and electricity (more on that later) and is totally self-sufficient, we saw how jaggery is made, we attempted to chew on fresh sugarcane straight out of soil :) , we saw one of the most beautiful universities in a small town called Baramati (incidentally also a flying base), and ofcourse we tasted what we had always read in books – nature and man coexisting without the imprints of industrialization.

And now let me explain to you ‘self-sufficiency’ personified. We visited Malegaon State Co-operative Sugar Factory, where raw sugar-cane was being inputted in unspeakable quantities. The aroma of freshly cut sugarcane was mesmerizing enough, the factory tour was like an icing on the cake! In terms of the process layout - the sugarcane is first chopped into little pieces and then crushed to take the juice out. The remainder is not wasted! Whatever pulp (for want of better word) is left after the juice is taken out, is gutted into huge kilns which then generate electricity for the entire factory to run! So the running cost is only maintenance, the traditional form of generating energy is not used in this factory at all.

While we were enjoying our rendezvous with nature, there were deafening roars of modern civilization calling us back from our dreamland and thus we headed back on the 15th . While we had come empty-handed, we did take back with us fond memories to cherish, moments to relive and promise to return with our friends and families…. :)