The 7 Habits of Highly Effective EXECUTIVES

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective EXECUTIVES

You might have read Stephen R. Covey’s top-seller - ‘The 7 habits of highly effective people’. Taking inspiration from the same and adding my own observations and experiences, here are the 7 habits of highly effective executives:

Habit 1: They endeavor for excellence in their domain AND keep track of super performers in their market space

Habit 2: They learn from the past, focus in the present AND lead into the future

Habit 3: They welcome diversity of thought among stakeholders AND collaborate with them to achieve the business objectives

Habit 4: They build dignified relations in their business community AND earn respect among their industry peers

Habit 5: They ascertain performance based on metrics AND differentiate reality from hype

Habit 6: They hold a healthy balance between their individual & business interests AND maintain integrity with their personal values

Habit 7: They foster a learning culture in their organization AND actively seek solutions to overcome challenges faced in their business

Writing a good job description to attract matching candidates

Writing a good job description to attract matching candidates

Once a need is felt to hire or augment a team, there’s pressure to recruit immediately. This often leads Managers to write job descriptions in a rush. They tend to write generic statements based on a template, and at best specify some skills and years of experience.

The pitfall is that these general descriptions don’t give a clear picture of the must-haves and/or soft attributes of the job.

Here are some tips to write job descriptions that are fairly specific and sell the opportunity to candidates. It can also help candidates ascertain whether they are a match for the role.

Analyze previously successful candidates in this role and list 3 to 5 key responsibilities that the person has to perform on a daily basis. Consider various factors to analyze the role such as: knowledge required, degree of autonomy, crucial issues/ problems to be solved.

Next, list 3 to 5 mandatory hard-skills that the candidate must-have in order to qualify for this opportunity.

Then, list 2 to 3 soft-attributes which are required to be successful in this role. Choose from traits such as: quick learning ability, attitude, work ethics, team adaptability, innovative thinking, customer service, communication skills, social aptitude etc. These are unique behavioral factors based on the job type, organizational culture, team dynamics, department structure, market situation etc.

Next, in order to attract applicants give a glimpse of the growth path for this role, possibility to be involved in engaging projects; and added perks to be earned based on performance.

Lastly, write a few self-assessment criteria/ questions for the candidate to self-evaluate whether this is a matching opportunity for them.

Which SALES PERSONALITY fits your business situation: Hunter or Farmer or Developer?

Which SALES PERSONALITY fits your business situation: Hunter or Farmer or Developer?

Normally, we hear about two sales personalities: Hunter or Farmer.

Adding one more: Developer.

Hunters: They are aggressive pursuers of sales leads. Hunters are straight shooters who are well-suited for closing deals. In the short-term they could give a boost to your sales revenue. However, they are ill-suited for business situations which require ongoing relationship building or a differentiation-based approach.

Farmers: They are relationship managers who are good at maintaining existing business or expanding sales in current client sites. Farmers are more suited for Account Management roles in established client accounts. Also, they are suited in roles which need managing a preferred vendor relationship with clients.

Developers: They are builders of new business and revenue enablers. Developers are more suited for roles requiring a consistent pursuit for building new revenue streams. They are relationship enhancers who also rate high on customer service. Also, they progressively build the confidence with the client to position the company as the preferred choice.

So the question is: which type suits a company’s situation?

‘Hunters’ are best suited when you:

•  need to go straight for the ‘kill’

•  already have the credentials/ references to differentiate from your competitors

•  are selling one-off deals viz. cars, appliances, or other commodities

•  know that there’s not much innovation or differentiation needed

Farmers are best suited when you:

•  need to manage an existing business relationship

•  are harvesting revenue based on a preferred vendor contract

•  want to provide for the client’s already defined needs

•  are selling existing products to existing accounts

Developers are best suited when you:

•  need to make a differentiation on an ongoing basis

•  want to consultatively sell value instead of features

•  need to scope-out opportunities and customize your approach to achieve the objective

•  you want to build the relationship and close the sale at the right time

Prioritization matrix for competitive advantage

Professional Services Organizations comprise a diverse set of firms - information technology, management consulting, audit & advisory, architecture, engineering, recruiting, marketing, advertising, public relations, legal, research & development, training etc.

Here’s a matrix for analyzing various initiatives/ business segments. It’s in the form of a quadrant (four boxes) taking as its axes – ‘cash flow’ against ‘differentiation’. It is useful for selecting initiatives to actively focus and allocate your resources in order to maximize profits and get highest value returns. It may also help you analyze your revenue stream and redefine offerings in the market.

Some of the business initiatives/ units for a typical Professional Services Organization are: 

Staffing services, advisory services, managed services, project-based consulting, strategic planning, process re-engineering, change management, integration services etc.

Quadrant 1: Low Cash-flow & Low Differentiation

These are commoditized areas where your market presence is weak due to lack of differentiation. These initiatives generate barely enough profit to maintain the sustainability of the unit. Furthermore, they depress the company's profitability over a period of time.

Recommended Actions:

•    Dilute your focus
•    Avoid any capital investments

Quadrant 2: High Cash-flow & Low Differentiation

These units generate quick & surplus cash in comparison to the amount needed to maintain them. If competition is high and there are few opportunities for differentiation; then it may be less attractive for further investment. These units are regarded as dull and boring in a mature market.

Recommended Actions:

•    Harvest the cash-flow & maximize profits
•    Invest resources only if it gets immediate ROI
•    Increase market share by volume discounting

Quadrant 3: Low Cash-flow & High Differentiation

These units are niche and/or fragmented segments with a potential to grow. They could generate higher revenue and improve the company’s competitive advantage. You need to work incrementally to gain market share. If you do not succeed then the unit might consume a lot of cash and hinder your profitability; and drain your resources.

Recommended Actions:

•    Expend efforts wisely and in a discretionary manner
•    Use innovation to differentiate from competition

Quadrant 4: High Cash-flow & High Differentiation

These are areas where you are well-established and you have a good reputation with clients. It’s a growing market with many opportunities and scope for building your own market share.

Recommended Actions:

•    Focus actively on this business
•    Grow market share by engaging your best resources
•    Make continued investments

Holistic management for profitable growth in Professional Services Organizations

Holistic management for profitable growth in Professional Services Organizations

Professional Services Organizations (PSOs) depend on the skills and experience of their employees for providing a range of services to their clients. In order to deliver on target margins, Practice Leaders at PSOs manage a few operational levers viz. fees, compensation, structure, manager-to-staff ratio, utilization etc. Making reactive adjustments to some of these levers with limited operational visibility and inaccurate grasp of inter-dependencies could create unintended long term effects. Instead, practice leaders must invest in timely and distinctive expertise that attracts new clients and sets the firm apart in the marketplace.

Observations:

·     Boosting utilization within an engagement and converting non-billable time into 

    billable time adds revenue and increases profitability

·     More precise management of individual staffing assignments helps to effectively 

    balance fees & compensation costs

·     Drastically lowering fees to win a competitive bid might get you locked to the low 

    rate structure for future engagements with that client

A PSO’s business framework comprises of these key priorities: 

Client Acquisition & Relationship Management

Practice leaders are concerned with better understanding their client portfolio and what they can do to expand the profitable segments of their portfolio most efficiently. To achieve company margin expectations, Practice Leaders need to control rate discounting during client-negotiation, and manage employee compensation expectations. For gaining new clients and cross-selling new services to existing clients, they must identify opportunities and coordinate a consistent, firm-wide approach to prioritization and pursuit.

Human Capital Acquisition & Performance Management

PSOs competency depends on their ability to attract, hire, retain, and motivate talented professionals. Delivering on commitments and building the firm’s brand depend on recruiting & assigning the right people to the right client service engagements. They have to balance the needs of the firm (engagement profitability) with the requirements of the individual (interesting work). Practice and Operations Leaders need to constantly recalibrate expectations about who will deliver services, and when & how the work will be done.

Contract Execution & Service Delivery

Planning and executing projects with phased milestones & deliverables is critical for predictable, repeatable, and ultimately profitable delivery of an engagement.  Practice leaders need to provision expertise and knowledge across the entire organization in order to optimize service delivery and drive operational consistency. They need to be responsive to each client’s unique service requirements, and manage the quality & efficiency within each project.

Financial Metrics & Control

PSOs need to focus on managing costs & maximizing the skills employed in client engagements. Maintaining intense focus and absolute control over expenses is an important condition for effective cost management. Financial executives need to scrutinize projects in greater depth and identify profitability and cost by client, project type, and project teams to better manage budgets & costs, and shorten billing cycles.

Benefits of an integrated software system

A seamlessly integrated software system is needed to manage processes associated with client relationship, sales & marketing, human resource engagement, project management, time and expense reporting, billing, and financial management. It helps Practice Leaders obtain an ‘apple-to-apple’ comparison of data between business groups and insight across the functional groups. Moreover, it helps practice managers effectively manage the human capital supply chain viz. rapidly finding competent & available resources and assigning them for the right assignment at the right time and place.

An integrated approach for paving the path to growth & profitability

In order to scale up to a higher business maturity and performance threshold, PSOs need a holistic management approach that integrates all key areas and roles within the organization. Practice Leaders need to find ways to breakdown the silos and make it simpler to identify human capital assets that may be leveraged to deliver services. In order to drive improvements in business performance, leaders need to connect changes in client demand with competency and capacity as well as address gaps in service delivery performance. By using a holistic approach based on integrated processes - firm leadership can optimize resource performance, streamline service operations, and fulfill profitable growth objectives.

Future Trends

PSOs face some long-term trends which will shape their future success and growth. They need to have a thorough contextual insight on how to engage and pursue new opportunities that arise due to changes in their client’s business model. Additionally, they need to use a collaborative and adaptive operational process for engaging a diverse talent pool that spans geographic distances.

Recommendations

· Attract and capitalize on the best available talent; and balance utilization across 

  time zones & business units

· Foster tighter communication & collaboration that help individuals work 

  smarter, optimize service execution, and catalyze innovation

· Provide distinctive services to clients and cultivate trusted advisory relationships 

  to enable long-term repeat business

· Monitor key performance metrics & identify risks before they become critical, and 

  take early corrective action

·  Take effective decisions and make differential investments for better ROI

· Maintain a balanced scorecard on the firm’s forecasted v/s achieved goals in 

  key areas viz. client satisfaction, financial performance, process maturity, and 

  talent development

Closing note: The strength of a PSO’s competency combined with a persistent commitment to deliver - is an unmatched value in today’s demanding market place.