Profit is a strange word.
I remember Dad teaching me that profit was the ultimate guide on the strength of the leadership and management of a company.
"Profit is a snapshot of employee engagement. It is the sign that people understand their roles, their market and their vision. It is the only business scorecard that you need.
It is not a given, it is a reward for what a company has given to society"
He was a huge believer that a strong track record of sensible profit over several years, was the ultimate 'prophet' of a company who understand, promised and delivered value.
I agree....too often I hear people argue so many reasons why they can't make a profit...when that is the case then one of the following reasons applies
- Living on past reputation with complacency now having replaced true innovation - a line extension is not innovation!
- Too many managers...people rewarded with titles which don't reflect their true skills.
- Not understanding how to differentiate from their competitors
- Too internally focused...pleasing bosses is more important than providing true value added to the consumer
- Too much paperwork...often caused by people in the wrong jobs, not sure of their responsibility, covering backs etc etc.....why deal with the problem of someone not doing their job, when you can just add a layer of bureaucracy!!
The sadness is that often the 'workers' know which or even which combination is affecting the bottom line....the great manager or leader...well they recognise it before it becomes a problem.
