Spark Magazine October 2017

spark THE FUEL FOR BUSINESS

M A G A Z I N E

5 Simple Rules of Effective Offshore Outsourcing STORY WRITING FOR BUSINESS MAKING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION A REALITY Book review AVOIDING THE M& A FAILURE CLUB

ISSUE NO.12 OCTOBER 2017

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Spark Magazine is “The fuel for business”.

The target audience is business people, with an interest in innovation, technology and new ideas. We provide the ideas, motivation, and inspiration for success.

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EDITORIAL

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paradiseinvitations@gmail.com The information in Spark Magazine is of a general nature only and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

In all cases take independent and professional investment, financial, tax and legal advice. Spark Magazine and all persons and entities associated therewith accept no responsibilities for loss or damage related to any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions in the magazine, or reliance on anything in the magazine. The views expressed in the magazine are those of the authors and do not imply endorsement by Spark Magazine, its controlling entity or associated persons. Similarly placement of an advertisement in the magazine does not imply endorsement by Spark Magazine its controlling entity or associated persons. In some cases journalists writing for SPARK Magazine may consult to or provide corporate writing for companies mentioned in articles. The journalists or Spark Magazine do not accept payment from companies to cover or include them. ©2015 ©2015 by byPow PowWow WowPty PtyLtd. Ltd.All All Rights Rights Reserved.

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Contents 6

Committing to Change in a Fast Moving Digital Economy

12 Unpacking Men’s Career Truth & Direction 16 Things Firms do that Destroy Brand 18 Innovation and Aussie Ingenuity The Savage Panda Snowboards Story 24 Five Simple Rules of Effective Offshore Outsourcing 30 It’s Who You Know – Networking that works 34 The Double-Edged Sword of Leadership 38 Using Stories to Build and Strengthen Relationships 44 Chief Strategy Officers Conference 48 Book Review: Avoiding the M&A Failure Club

The articles in Spark Magazine are of a general in nature only. Always seek independent financial, investment, tax and legal advice.

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5 SIMPLE RULES

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FOR EFFECTIVE OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING

Learn how SME’s can use the same tactics and tools as the world’s most successful companies to outperform their competition If you are considering Offshore Outsourcing or you have been doing it for a while and are looking to improve, our webinar is definitely for you.

Register and join our webinar at:

www.go-va.com.au/webinars

www.go-va.com.au

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WELCOME T O S PA R K M AGA Z I N E In September 2017 the editor was asked to chair Innovation Enterprise’s Chief Strategy Officers’ conference in Sydney. The conference, which was attended by some of the world’s top companies, ran alongside and at times joined, conferences on digitisation and technology.

The really strong takeaway from the conference, and its high quality speakers, was the massive fulcrum effect that digitisation is having on not just strategic planning but the success or failure of organisations themselves. It certainly must be “in for a penny, in for a pound.”

A secondary takeaway was that unlike the time before the acceleration of digitisation – say before the year 2000, when every speaker at conferences, who had been allocated an hour, ran over time, every speaker at this conference, having been allocated just 25 minutes, finished early.

This says something interesting about what digitisation has done to communications today and how short our attention spans have become. You can read a full report of the conference and the key issues it identified, and a piece from digitisation expert Mark Cutfield on how to really commit to digitisation and not be a “half pier.”

We also have a story about the surprisingly common mistakes companies make that destroy their brand. Have a read and see if you are in the clear on this one or “guilty as charged.” If so then take action to remedy the faults.

Although energy supply has been a challenge for Australia these last few months many other economic signs are positive. May it stay that way in the allimportant run up to Christmas.

Paul M Southwick CEO and Editor paul@psfj.co

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Committing to change in a fast moving digital economy

by Mark Cutfield

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his article takes a hard look at the fundamentals needed to adapt and change in a customer driven digital economy, so as to avoid getting stuck in legacy models, cultures and skill sets that contribute to the self - demise of business.

Don’t let the digital era be a burden to your business, embrace the required change and enjoy

the success that comes from commitment, adaptation and resetting old models, not change for change sake, measurable, accountable change that gives you a competitive edge.

Foundations At the risk of yet another repeated diatribe – the digital economy is affecting every industry, start - ups are leap frogging legacy companies, new operating models eclipse old ones and the customer is the centre of all business. Everything businesses do in operation should

provide the customer with the right product/service, information, and customer experience. That is, above and beyond competitors, and of course personalised. This is true value in the digital economy – faster, easier, cost effective and reduced cost to acquire and retain, with segmented and personalised experience.

Core fundamentals Here are the core fundamentals, assuming business change is required based on research. When adapting and updating, there will

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be varying degrees of maturity and understanding in how far companies need to stretch.

1. Executive and/or external review of existing models, competitors, benchmarks, data sets and current position.

2. Executive, founder, board and or other, evaluation of reports and recommendations and a commitment to upgrade, alter, repurpose or remodel the organisation under a clearly defined roadmap, with outlined and agreed strategies and completion timeframes.

Example 1: Energy company X Old models everywhere; coal produced power; escalating customer energy bills and cost to produce; customer demands better engagement and value and micro generation solutions; renewables and storage are forcing model shifts.

Review and evaluation produced the following four central strategies: • Decarbonisation - closing fossil fuel plants, replacing with renewables and set production targets for 2020 and beyond.

3. Review and assess skill sets, people, culture, and make decisions on what will support the model and what won’t. Required change won’t happen unless the whole organisation is on board.

• Decentralisation – energy supply is now away from long distance plants and is often micro generated, prompting need for energy solutions (battery for energy storage and solar for generation).

4. Set rolling budgets for initiatives with defined measures of success using data sets from analytics.

• Digitisation – digital applications and websites, where business and consumer can monitor and modify energy consumption reducing effect on bills and planet.

5. Set the agenda and cascade down and across the organisation and operationalise the plan.

Before unpacking the five fundamentals, it is prudent to give examples of three companies (unnamed) that are leading the digital revolution in their industry.

The article will not reference Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Marketo and SalesForce as they are highly developed search, social, software, automation and content companies that provide enabling tools, platforms and advertising products that assist businesses in driving better customer acquisition, connection and service.

• Energy efficiency - Cheaper, less harmful to the environment energy production and consumption, and new products to save on usage.

In essence this company has made a three year commitment to not only change their models, but to revolutionise the sector and consumer engagement. Digital advancements, industry and political pressure has driven them to create a digital experience with applications, so the consumer/ business can select the energy source, choose energy solutions, monitor energy use and manage consumption, all via mobile or hand

held device with integrated free apps.

Cleaner energy, self - sufficient consumers, new micro generation solutions, all from the availability of technology (apps, solar solutions, smart meters, energy production modes, lower cost to produce due to digital technology, reducing maintenance frequency and inefficiency). If they didn’t change, customers would be leaving in droves, driving profits down, not to mention the escalated cost from a fossil fuel energy generation model.

Finally, they also have a digital lab, a start up in a big company, yes indeed - where they invite individuals and companies to propose digital energy solutions. 150 have already been implemented (things like – smart city power grids, digital control of energy use in home/office, healthy living guides and promotion of renewables).

They also foster and fund start-up ventures inside the company that turn ideas into viable commercial solutions, creating new jobs now and ahead – giving back to the community and getting the community to partake in change, genius and simple at the same time.

Example 2: Peer to peer lending for invoice finance company Y SME’s operating to supply services and products; slaves to larger corporates with strict 30-120-day payment terms and the existence of somewhat scarce and costly working capital arrangements with banks. Conditions have prompted this company to disrupt the lending sector. Small, lean and agile, this start up with a little investment has revolutionised and

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digitised an old financial process into a fast, high demand platform.

They have linked with MYOB and XERO to ensure technology and financial processes are linked and balanced, creating more jobs, empowering SME’s and driving change.

With well researched and planned digital platform development, company Y enables SME’s to get paid immediately by pools of investors via a digital platform, where payments are exchanged and the investor is paid when the debtor pays. SME’s can now get paid at competitive discounted rates, raising finance without the leverage.

The banks’ working capital sector is being challenged like never before and the “Big 4” are quickly discovering, that turning convention on its heels will be difficult. This space of peer to peer lending in time, will become crowded and be the catalyst for further evolution – better rates, different industry sectors, business size, new contenders, start-ups

getting a footing. Digital doesn’t stand still. Opportunities are everywhere and can be harnessed immediately. So a start-up, writes $100 million in lending in year one, and enters into the black, profitable, just because someone seized a gap in existing marketplace and went for it.

Example 3: Payment process company Z This company allows consumers to purchase and pay in four subsequent equal fortnightly payments, revolutionising and disrupting payments for consumer goods. This new disruption has the technology engine and security frameworks to ensure seamless and secure payments.

Launched in 2014, retailers can’t get enough of the product, which in turn has assisted them in converting more sales from otherwise dropped purchase opportunities. They assume some of the risk and provide retailers with a gateway for consumers to access and purchase otherwise

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unattainable goods. Both online and offline, this payment model has shifted the way airlines, retailers and now wholesalers sell to existing and otherwise unfathomed consumers.

It opens up the old model of credit, with a purchase now, pay later model, creating more jobs, revenue and profitability all from one firm.

Companies may not need to invent anything however they can connect with the likes of this company to assist shifting their businesses to a new stream of revenue without sabotaging convention too much.

So there are a few of the many examples of how digital is affecting industry, supply chains, payments, processing and how you can aspire or shift models to embrace what others are creating that benefits businesses, especially something like peer to peer lending. Business should not rest in idle mode, waiting for the revenue bus to come to them. They must create and disrupt themselves.

The core fundamentals in detail:

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About the author Mark Cutfield is one of Australia and New Zealand’s visionary leaders and top digitsation practitioners. He is the author of several previous articles for both Spark and Acuity Magazines.

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Executive and/or external review of existing models, competitors, benchmarks, data sets and current position.

Action 1: Commonly referred to as the strategic review, look at revenue sources, budgets, operating models, financial models (creditor/ debtor terms), products and service, growth or not and why?

Competitors, are they eroding the business? Does the business have a point of difference and do clients and the market know this? Does the business have the right people to evolve? Can they be trained? Can the business open a new stream of revenue using digital (might be a way for clients to complete tax as they go with a system that is linked to their bank accounts and extracts the tax, the business gets a clip and saves client time)? Can the business acquire more customers with freely available marketing tools? Can the business automate service (CX) and retain and drive more value from clients? Budgets, do they support new initiatives, with ROI dependency? The list will need to be finite and cause the business to challenge convention and check what it can alter, stop doing, ride the back of etc. Start today, review and revive before legacy runs the business over.

Action 2: Once the business has conducted an honest review and outlined the report and recommendations it’s time to agree, COMMITT, set the roadmap and begin the implementation of new

strategies, ensure the business sets up time frames and measures of success.

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Action 4: If reviews are out of

cycle and the agreed actions require investment, fixed conventional budgets won’t stack up. Pre It might be a simple - let’s segment planning, rolling budgets and agreed customers using a database investment, with respective interrogation tool, find out what measures will. If the actions are a customers in each segment want, necessity and essential to growth the standard of service needed and and competitiveness, then as begin to market and engage with them as personalised as the business mentioned – do a test and learn, small steps, with data to measure can. This could start as simple outcomes, this keeps risk down as an update on new improved and allows businesses to move products, a survey and feedback progressively and organically, not loop. The importance is start small boom and bust and then retreat. and evolve with check points and measures (e.g. more sales, less Action 5: Assuming all reviews, attrition, more advocacy and repeat actions, budgets and the roadmap purchase). Digital offers businesses are in place, conversations at the opportunity to use data for good, individual levels and overall are not just an output of process and complete, you can begin cascading operation. down and across the organisation.

Segmentation is no secret and customers love personalised and relevant treatment. The effort will generate previous unrealised return.

It is mandatory that people have the confidence in their skill set, the required training to assist to reduce the resistance to change, and be advocates for implementation.

Action 3: Part of the review is to Too many times, great - plans, ascertain if the skill sets and culture new initiatives and ideas fail due are right and if new models will be to no executive buy in and the adapted. If the answer is people need organisation change roadmap not to change, then maybe it’s a simple having been considered or regarded upskill conversation, role change or as a dependency for success. something more definitive.

With individuals assessed, businesses need to review the culture, aversion to change or team and determine advocates.

With change comes transition, so if new models and new ways of operation are essential to growth and competitiveness, people and culture will need to be “on boarded” and part of the journey.

Summary With the above steps you have a procedural model to guide change in the digital economy.

Remember small steps, test and learn, personalise experience and measure success. Fixed models that don’t allow for change, adaptation and new thinking may just be the undoing.

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Unpacking Men’s Career Truth & Direction

by Sue Parker

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question just for the blokes: Are you living your own career and business truth, calling and passions? Or are you living someone else’s?

Perhaps they are those of family, friends, partners, workplaces or a culture and society you are a part of. The purpose of this challenging question to men is 3-fold: to confront with care, encourage vulnerable conversations, and give permission to share your truth.

As young children we are full of curiosity and a no holds barred dreamscape of what our careers and future life may be. Often it is played out, and often it is not, as life’s set backs can occur along the way. The core inner self of knowing who we are and what gives us joy is generally consistent throughout life. Unfortunately for many men those dreamscapes and passions can be ignored and buried as adulthood takes hold (and for women too for different and similar reasons)

Over many years as a business and

do and not be” both consciously and

career coach the author has sadly observed that the answer to the opening question to many men is met with sadness and regret. The next question of “If I had a magic wand over your career and life what would you wish for” is likewise met with confusion. People are truly stumped with the question as their eyes glaze upwards to the ceiling and shoulders slouch downwards to the floor.

sub-consciously for men is vast. It is entrenched across all ages, industries and occupations. It can be seen all the way from top tier corporate CEOs to plumbing sub-contractors. There are too many men grappling with and denying themselves a job or business path that they really want. And current society issues, aberrations and legalities can create additional fear in men as they consider changes.

There are however some men sitting happily in a place of true business ownership authenticity or career alignment.

Some men are filled with fear when attempting to connect with and express their deeper truths and career-life aspirations Men can be imprisoned in ingrained belief systems and dogma - both of their own and others’/society’s making.

Men are brought up to believe that: they must really achieve and succeed, make big money; be a strong leader; be in control; take it on the chin; man up; not display any emotion or workplace empathy etc. As a consequence many are following a career path that deep inside may be torture. They can be burnt out and dissatisfied.

The list of beliefs and “must not

So how do men start taking that leap of faith to unpack their career truth and direction?

It’s both an exciting and difficult process to dive deeply into your “who, what, where & why?” It requires courage to take yourself off the “expectation hook” and give yourself permission to be real and authentic. It’s asking yourself a heap of questions and reflecting on the answers without any judgement.

At the end of every question the why is the linchpin. You are on a mission to discover who you are, or perhaps

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have forgotten. Having a “reality vs judgement focus” is critical. A quick start to the process is to make lists around your:

Who are you?

What is your true character, personality, life and business values, core beliefs. hobbies, things that really excite you, lifestyle, community engagement, mannerisms, style/look, dress presentation, types of people you enjoy, and why?

What are you current career skills, education?

What do you like and dislike about what work you do? What are you great at doing and what gives your joy? What would you like to learn about and explore? What keeps you awake at night for yourself and others, and why?

Where – the Magic Wand (no holds barred). Where would you really like your career and business life to be? Where would that magic wand take you? This question is not about the end result it’s to connect with your authentic self and truth, And why?

How – would you like people to

remember you and know about you, and why?

As you take these exercises you will start to connect, re-align and or confirm some of your career truths.

You may realise that you have lived a career that is not what you wanted at all. Or you may realise a new-found passion for your current situation.

And it’s absolutely fine to be and do whatever you want to be and do.

Follow what gives you fulfilment.

It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a community to give permission to men to share and own their personal vulnerability and career truth. Let’s keep giving permission and encouragement to boys and men to follow their own path.

About the Author Sue Parker is the founder of DARE Group Australia.

A business trainer, writer, career coach and personal branding specialist, she is a champion of “Humanising business communications.” sparker@daregroupaustralia.com.au or 0416 385 779

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Things firms do that destroy brand

by Paul M Southwick

#1

Not paying bills on time

sign off; we need you to invoice a separate entity; you have missed the cut-off;” or even complete silence.

A disconnect between marketing and accounts payable is not uncommon, especially in big companies when it comes to paying contractors.

Make sure you review creditors aging regularly and pre warn accounts in time when any special or large payments are due so that they can plan for them. Set and monitor accounts payable aging metrics.

It may be the finance team think they are doing a wonderful job in optimising cash flow by delaying payments, but nothing infuriates suppliers, and turns them off the company more quickly.

#2

Cranky & overworked receptionists or front line staff

When suppliers are treated badly they tell a lot of other people, many of whom will be potential customers of the firm.

Sometimes, and for very good reasons, the receptionist is referred to as the “director of first impressions.”

This problem can be accentuated where the firm clearly has plenty of money, and or contract payment terms have been agreed but not met.

A common mistake is to have a cranky person with no people skills, and no knowledge of the organisation, staff the reception desk, and make guests feel uncomfortable from the get go.

Even worse is when, on inquiry, creditors are brushed off with comments like “it’s scheduled for payment / the next pay run (without giving a date); we are waiting for

Receptionists can be obviously overworked with additional duties – and piles of papers or unattended

deliveries stacked up around them, and clearly consider the appearance of a visitor, who could be a potential large new customer, nothing but a major imposition on their time.

The front line is a place for “Mary Poppins” type people of cherry disposition. Put your very best people person on the front desk and or telephone. Make sure they are not overworked, know the organisation structure, and present well. Give them access to the best tea, coffee and nibbles for guests.

Temps are not good on reception or on the switchboard, as they do not know the organisation.

#3

Being unavailable or unreachable

Some organisations omit profiles of key management, emails, telephone numbers, and even physical addresses from their public face. Certain executives even give instructions that they do not want to take calls from customers.

Being cut off from the real world of

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customer feedback is ivory tower suicide.

Make sure you are available and accessible. Spend regular time on the frontline, be that serving customers, listening into call centre conversations, or staffing booths at trade shows or conventions.

Most important of all, make sure you return calls.

#4

Treating employment candidates badly Similar to finance, there can be a real disconnect between stated mission or values around how people will be treated, and the recruitment team. The oldest HR joke in the world is about the difference between jobs as advertised and the reality.

Seek says that it is common for companies to massively over specify job requirements, with the effect of scaring off many (quality) female candidates.

Candidates often complain of not even receiving acknowledgment of their applications, or advice when the position has been filled and they have been unsuccessful.

Candidates may be forced to spend long periods of time providing detailed information and references, before even getting to the first interview. Even worse they may be asked for age and other personal details under the cloak of “ensuring we get a balance of candidates.”

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Team members sometimes complain that organisations and the management that control them do not live the company’s values. Or they do so only when it suits them.

Even worse they berate others for not doing so.

No matter how secure employment contract confidentiality clauses are, the word always gets out, be it good or bad, about how an organisation treats its employees The best advice here is that of Richard Branson:

Like unpaid creditors, unhappy recruits tell a lot of people bad things about the company.

“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to,” and “If you look after your staff, they’ll look after your With modern recruitment technology customers. It’s that simple.” packages, including email systems, candidate tracking, and resume About the Author reading capabilities, there is no Paul M Southwick CA is a New excuse for the above faults. In fact Zealand born, Melbourne based quite the opposite, the recruitment journalist, and former ASX listed process should be a shining company CFO, communications testament for the organisation. consultant, and pilot.

#5

Treating staff badly

Note: This article first appeared in Acuity Magazine

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Innovation and Aussie Ingenuity The Savage Panda Snowboards Story

by Paul M Southwick

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• First custom-made snowboard company in Australia • First woman (co) owner of a snowboard company in the world • Taking Aussie innovation global

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ustralasia now has its own manufacturer of fully customised snowboards - Savage Panda Snowboards.

Based at Queenscliff in Victoria the business was founded by Simon Thorne, a biologist with a successful career in multiple disciplines, including HR. Thorne has made a complete “mid life” change to business ownership in his fifties.

Thorne’s business partner is his life partner Kate Engler. Engler is the first woman to own or co-own a snowboard manufacturing business worldwide. She has a background in public relations, marketing, and brand management.

When asked how they came up with the idea for Savage Panda Snowboards Thorne said: “We asked ourselves three questions: What we loved, what was possible with

no boundaries, and what we could do together. I’m a snowboarder and Kate is a skier. We both love the snow.”

“We spent several years evaluating many possible businesses options.

We did not want to be a ‘me too’ but rather find a niche or gap in the market. It’s no good starting something that lots of other businesses are already trying.

Although surfboards have been custom built for decades, including here in Australia, we found that no one is custom building high quality snowboards in this part of the world.

After two years on research, which included time in Canada learning how to make them we decided upon the current business. We found and formed close relationships with the best snowboard makers and mentors for our business world-wide. The great thing about mentors, and those who have gone before us, is that they stopped us making too many expensive mistakes. This is

especially critical at start up time when revenue has not yet flowed.”

The Savage Panda Snowboards website informs potential customers that its ethos is “born out of a desire to create something that is not only ‘attached’ to people’s souls, but something that feels like a true extension of their very DNA something that breaks the rules and challenges the existing status quo.”

Segmentation to the individual level Thorne and Engler say “Golf, cycling, tennis and surfing have all embraced the need to understand their participants and give them an experience that is tailored to their skill and aspirations. The snowboard industry has, until now, still served up ‘off the rack’ solutions which constrain, limit and restrict. Our aim is to build truly bespoke custom snowboards that are an extension of each rider’s DNA.” Savage Panda Snowboards has

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brought together a team of experts from around the globe including designers and builders, professional athletes, coaches, production managers, artists and designers, marketers and advisers.

They are typical of a new breed of brave innovators powering the Australian economy today.

Personal service They key to success for Savage Panda Snowboards is to deliver not only a unique product but a personalised service too. They aim to produce boards which customers ride not on but with – “attached to the soul,” the company says.

For more information on Savage Panda Snowboards visit:

savagepandasnowboards.com

About the Author Paul M Southwick is the editor of Spark Magazine

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Simple Rules of 5Effective Offshore Outsourcing

How to increase revenue, decrease costs and improve customer service

by Fiona Kesby

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here are some negative stories about offshore outsourcing. Stories like “A friend hired a freelance software developer in another country, and the developer ran off with the code,” or “A company on the other side of the world promised a marketing manager a regular supply of tailored highquality articles, but the manager ended

up having to rewrite them and correct basic grammar.”

In both examples, a product was commissioned and promised, but the manager was disappointed. There was little control over the production or process. The manager received no or inconsistent updates, and rarely or never talked with the person creating the product or performing the task.

Despite these setbacks businesses shouldn’t give up on offshore outsourcing, as it can be more cost effective, by at least half, than what they would pay

locally. Competition is intense in most industries and businesses often cannot afford to only hire local team members.

One option is for businesses to establish their own offshore operation. But few businesses need to, can afford to, or will experience benefits greater than the risks. For example, in navigating the regulatory maze frequently found in low wage countries.

Is there a middle ground?

Is there a way to enjoy the benefits of offshore outsourcing (saving 50% to 70% of the cost of employing locally), while protecting a business from risks

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that jeopardise revenue?

Yes, there is. It’s called “Managed Operations.”

Managed Operations involves outsourcing the day-to-day management of an offshore team to a third party in a modern, professional and well-equipped office.

While Managed Operations tend to offer the best of both onshore and offshore worlds, they may not work if used to test the waters with just one small, shortterm project.

Managed Operations do not involve surrendering authority over offshore team members or losing control over team member’s/members’ tasks and processes.

This is why Managed Operations appeal to businesses as an attractive offshoring method.

Businesses choose who works for them, what they do, and ensure the offshore team members perform their tasks properly.

What makes Managed Operations work?

The Managed Operations method works when the offshore service provider managing the offshore team has business efficiency and productivity tools, as well as transparent processes, in place.

Managed Operations is an extension of the business’ office. The business is responsible for selecting and training their offshore team. This level of involvement, control and ownership is essential for quality output and protection of sensitive data.

THE FUNCTION OF A MANAGED OPERATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER • Provides the offshore workplace, hardware and software for each Virtual Assistant (VA).

• Minimises the impact of downtime with fibre optic internet and power generator.

leaders need to be clear on their goals. They must know exactly what they want to achieve by offshoring.

Goal / required outcome: (Verb) (Measure) from (x) to (y) by (when) For example: Increase client revenue from $4 million to $5.2 million by 31 December this year.

Let’s take the sales team’s goal above.

To increase client revenue to $5.2 Million by 31 December, the business may set these smaller supporting goals: • Meet five new clients a week.

• Send out a “hot offering” (e.g. promotional product, sample item, invite to a workshop) to 25 potential new clients a week.

• Handles offshore recruitment, hiring, payroll, employee relations and benefits.

• Contact and connect with >90% of potential new clients within seven days of sending the promotional material.

• Run offshore employee engagement programs that ensure loyalty and longevity of the offshore team.

So, what’s the ultimate goal for offshoring? Write it down as (verb) (measure) from (x) to (y) by (when).

• Ensures transparency and productivity.

QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE OFFSHORING

The key to business success in offshoring lies in the “Five Simple Rules for Effective Offshore Outsourcing.”

What are the business’ growth plans?

Rule #1

Begin with the end in mind In the absence of clear goals, it’s easy to make poor choices. Before deciding to send tasks offshore, business

• Which parts of the business will scale the most and give the best results if outsourced / sent offshore?

• Does the business need help with short-term or long-term projects?

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• What tasks does the business need help with? (see Rule #2).

• Have the processes been documented?

• Are the business’ leaders willing to give someone in another country access to parts of the business, such as the CRM database, website administration or social media accounts?

Rule #2

Deconstruct Level 3 Activities This helps identify potential tasks to outsource. It also helps to understand where time is being spent in the business. To do this, the business first needs to identify the tasks to act on, automate, delegate or discard.

Act on (Level 1, high-lifetime-value activities and Level 2, high-dollarper-hour activities).

If a task takes only a few minutes to complete, act on it. If it’s highly strategic, such as decision-making, or adds high value, for example, making a sales pitch, do it.

If there’s a task that only a local team member can do, ask: “Can a clearly defined process be created to teach someone else locally how to do this?”

If so, then this task can be delegated locally.

Automate (Level 2, high-dollar-perhour activities and Level 3, lowdollar-per-hour activities).

Automate recurring tasks that can be done in the same or similar way every time, especially if there’s a

budget to invest in automation software. This includes tasks such as sending thank-you emails, payment reminders or subscription renewal forms.

Rule #4

Delegate (Level 3, low dollar-perhour activities)

www.LucidChart.com.au

If a task can’t be automated or there isn’t the budget to do so, then send it offshore. These tend to be low-dollar-per-hour tasks, such as list-building, cleaning up databases, arranging and confirming meetings, compiling invoices, offering bonus tickets or emailing unsuccessful job candidates.

Discard (Level 4, negative-value activities) Every organisation has tasks that don’t add any value to the business. Discard these tasks.

Rule #3

Systematise for scale When a business has a clear and measurable goal, it’s amazing how fast the desired outcomes can be produced. Systematising the process achieves even more powerful results.

When a business hires someone offshore to support their team, the local team should identify the tasks to be handed over and rank those tasks according to importance. The local team also needs to document the specific process required in performing each task.

Technology is your friend Use online tools to your advantage - a few examples include:

Offshore team members can learn the process by creating documents (standard operating procedures), video tutorials and process maps. Using a collaborative tool such as LucidChart, creates a visual, understandable workflow. www.zoom.us Local and offshore team members working together using video conferencing www.zoom.us. Meet and discuss online, share screens and record the meeting for the offshore team to refer to later.

Say it Mail it Recorder App This app allows managers to record instructions for VAs. The recorded message is then instantly sent to the VA.

Rule #5

Use the Right Talent Selection Criteria Don’t confuse hourly rates with output. If a professional product is required, don’t hire an amateur.

• Test based on the specific tasks the VA will be performing.

• Test English comprehension (will the VA understand instructions) and attention to detail.

• Outsource to a country where

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most of the workforce speak fluent English. This is one reason why the Philippines has become a favoured outsourcing hotspot.

• Work with a trusted managed operations service provider. This significantly improves the quality of your hires.

• Profile applicants based on a history of longevity. “History repeats itself” - if an applicant has only lasted six months with various previous employers, it’s likely the same will happen again.

Case Study 1: Commercial Electrical Contractor - Admin VA and Estimator VA An administration assistant in Australia was going on maternity leave. The business owner knew his loyal administrator wanted to return part-time after maternity leave. Having a full-time and part-time administrator in Australia was not cost effective for the business. On seeing how www.zoom.us worked, using video calls and sharing screens, the owner hired his first VA. His loyal administrator returned from maternity leave, upskilled and took on marketing activities, increasing her engagement and loyalty.

After success with the admin VA position, the owner looked for other areas in the business that needed help for growth. His estimator was struggling to keep up with the volume of tenders

requiring submission. The owner knew that if he didn’t submit these tenders, he wouldn’t be asked again in the future. He also knew that the local estimator was under pressure, over worked, and likely to make mistakes that would cost the business financially. It was becoming a lose-lose situation.

The estimator needed a full-time assistant to update price lists and obtain quotes for materials (a Level 3 activity - not strategic).

However, as an SME, this fulltime position in Australia was not cost effective. A qualified electrical engineer was hired in the Philippines for a third of the cost.

The estimator in Australia went from submitting tenders worth a total value of $150K per month to over $600K a month. Rather than having peaks and troughs in work flows, business was now consistent and growing every month. With the increased work load, more electricians were hired in Australia.

A great win for everyone.

Case Study 2: Software Solutions Business Appointment Setter The Australian owner of a startup software business in the real estate industry was wearing many hats - software designer, head of sales, marketing manager and often operations manager as well.

A scenario many are familiar with.

This work load left no time for the administration involved with the sales pipeline.

Start-up funding and profits were invested back into the business.

The owner was stretched and knew he wasn’t spending enough face to face time with potential new clients.

The software was a game changer and the owner was an exceptional salesperson, but not a great administrator - it bored him! He knew he just needed to get in front of more people. There was no money left in the budget for a full-time sales administrator in Australia.

A VA appointment setter was hired in the Philippines saving 70% of the cost in Australia. A VA with a neutral international accent was selected and an Australian VoIP line number set up. Potential clients weren’t aware the newest team member was based offshore.

The owner sent photos of business cards of people he met at networking events to his VA. Along with these new contacts and people who were connecting with him on LinkedIn, the VA: • Entered prospect details into the CRM. • Emailed an invite to a free breakfast workshop on changes in the real estate industry.

• Followed up with a phone call three days later if the prospect hadn’t booked.

• A day before the event, emailed or called to remind and confirm attendance.

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• After the event, emailed promotional material.

• After the event, called and organised a face to face appointment with the owner.

• Once a potential client was booked in for a meeting, the VA searched the database for other prospects in the same geographical area. The VA then called these other prospects to let them know the owner would be in the area and available for a face to face meeting and demonstration.

• Meetings were booked into the owner’s calendar (including travel time between meetings, notes from the database on where the prospect came from and mutual connections on LinkedIn). This information was a great help as a conversation starter and trust builder.

• Individual calendar invites were sent to each person the owner was meeting with.

• A sign-up link was emailed after

each successful meeting.

• A follow up call was made if the sign-up link hadn’t been completed within 48 hours.

The results meant the owner tripled the number of meetings he attended in a week, doubled the amount of sales, and greatly improved both profitability and customer satisfaction.

About the Author Fiona Kesby, a leading offshore outsourcing expert, is CEO and Co-Founder of www.Resourcefull. cc and www.go-va.com.au In May 2015 Fiona relocated from Brisbane with her family and resides in Cebu, Philippines.

ResourceFull and GO-VA are Managed Operations Service Providers in the Philippines that house and care for over 220 offshore team members with centres in Cebu City, Mandaue City and Clark.

Fiona.kesby@go-va.com.au

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It’s Who You Know Networking that works

by Janine Garner

by Janine Garner

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N

etworking is essential for business growth and personal success. The adage “it’s not what you know its who you know” seems to have significantly more weight in this 21st century world of busyness, where jobs are filled before they are advertised, and previously unthought-of collaborations appear out of nowhere to create new and competitive markets and “steal” market share.

Individual talent, previous performance successes, educational achievement, or even good old sell reliance are no longer enough to survive in the fastmoving business landscape in which continued relevance, agility and innovative thinking are key.

Networking still matters – but it’s the network leaders build around themselves that matters more.

The Harvard Business Review article “Managing Yourself, A Smarter Way To Network” found that, “The executives

who consistently rank in the top 20% of their companies in both performance and wellbeing have diverse but select networks…made up of highquality relationships with people who come from several different spheres and from up and down the corporate hierarchy.

Building a successful network is both an art and a science. It is an art in that it requires basic human skills in communication, connection, authenticity and the ability to be “in the present” and engaged with people and conversation.

It is a science in that building a network strategically requires an ongoing analysis and audit of the people within the network and a sustained curiosity around the levels of diversity and connectivity within the group.

It’s about seeing the lines that connect people and ideas to create opportunity.

Here are four tips for building a network:

could maintain stable relationships, remember each other’s names, keep in contact and do each other favours. Anything larger than this, he said, results in the creation of other sub-groups and tribes.

Momentum, however, starts with a significantly smaller circle of influence. Engage with a smaller group of people who provide quality thinking and behaviours. Individuals that can push and stretch thinking, that can open doors and teach mastery and knowledge. Identify the quality of people and stop obsessing about the quantity.

2. UNDERTAKE A NETWORK AUDIT The ideal is a balanced and integrated network that bridges smaller diverse groups and is crosshierarchical, cross-functional and cross-organisational. A balanced, interconnected network enables diversity of learning, reduces bias in decision-making and increases opportunity for personal growth and success. Successful networks provide:

1. IDENTIFY THE CRITICAL FEW

•

Company, market or wider industry information.

British anthropologist Robin Dunbar said there is a limit to the number of relationships humans can comfortably maintain – 150, to be precise. He suggested this is the amount with which we

•

Influence through sharing insight, experience and connections.

•

Mentoring to accelerate personal growth.

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•

Accountability for action.

5. BE BRAVE AND DIVERSIFY

•

A sense of purpose, of balance and worth.

Be brave enough to seek out new individuals, be brave enough to connect. Strategically expand networks by diversifying connections, exploring other people, businesses and experiences. Successful networking is about understanding the connections that should be made, as opposed to those that are being made

3. VALUE EXCHANGE IS KEY Value exchange, the crossfertilisation of intelligence and sharing of skills and knowledge, is the new currency. Each party involved gains knowledge, information and eventually perhaps even financial reward for their involvement, but the priority is the sharing of information, the connection that is made and the network that is built. The use of skills and thought as currency is something that is only going to increase in a future where knowledge means money. Make connections that matter, share information that matters and foster a pay-it-forward relationship.

4. IT’S TIME TO SINK A FEW Knowing who to cut from a network is as important as knowing who to keep. Sometimes hard decisions have to be made to sink the energy zappers, the under miners, the dream stealers. The antithesis of networking, these people zap positivity and don’t add constructive thoughts thinking, ideation of strategic planning.

They dampen the collective conversation, instead stealing ideas and snuffing them out - or worse stealing them for themselves.

It was Richard Branson that said, “Nobody can be successful alone’” and in our fast-moving business world a network that works is critical to fast-track personal and business success. Choose to network wisely, building a circle of influence that allows transformational connections to be nurtured and business growth opportunities to be fostered.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Janine Garner is a Fortune 500 mentor, partner at Thought Leaders Global, and CEO of the LBDGroup. She is also the author of It’s Who You Know: How a network of 12 key people can fast-track your success (Wiley) and From Me To We: Why Commercial Collaboration Will Future Proof Business, Leaders and Personal Success (Wiley). Visit www.janinegarner.com.au

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The Double-Edged Sword of Leadership

S

ome leaders become sidetracked and fall into the trap of relating only to leadership as a position they deserve, an authority they’ve earned.

It’s not an overt awareness, there is no ill intent. In fact, it can be the most well-meaning, successful leaders who unconsciously lean on these self-protecting crutches for support when the job gets hard. It wouldn’t be a problem if leadership had nothing to do with eliciting the best from others.

Such limiting thoughts hide in a leader’s blind spot, impacting directly the engagement of those they lead.

Tug of war Leaders are in a tug of war, working hard to get more done, more doing than they know a great leader should, silently

by Karen Williams

searching for the confidence and interest to continue motivating people who are slower to respond.

Leaders aren’t as great as their best people. They are as great as the depth of engagement of all of their people. This is the obscure challenge of which most are unaware when proudly taking a position at the helm for the first time.

Natural talents Personality and personal style usually reign as first choice for leaders when engaging others.

With little or no awareness of how to communicate other than from what comes naturally, leaders default to drive, dedication, determination or diligence, whatever has served them well so far, to make things happen.

However, and even after great success, leaders discover that there is an expiry date to these natural talents.

Research on engagement A Gallup poll found that from 142 countries, a staggering 87% of employees considered themselves disengaged. Twentyfour percent of those categorised themselves as actively disengaged, intentionally influencing others with their negativity. These figures have barely moved since 2000.

Engagement looks and sounds like “people involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace.”

Importantly, it feels like open and proactive collaboration, conversations that deepen connection, trust and partnership that inspire innovation.

Engagement, simply and powerfully means, everyone gets more for less. Self-driven and self-motivated leaders can expect people will do as they do, think as they think but become

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frustrated when passionate direction and attempts at extrinsic motivation refuse to sustain best performance.

Sliding door moment This is the sliding door moment for leaders who’ve relied on experience and expertise to make things happen. It’s the moment of either digging in, doggedly relying on the known world, burrowing head down into an even more determined future; or of stepping through a new doorway into a deeper level of selfreflection. Acknowledging there is more to learn, more to become, more to understand. Those who step through the door take a hero’s leap in conquering the most intimidating ocean of all, the self-preserving, limiting ego that would do anything rather than admit to not knowing.

Finding what works The nature of human being is to try everything else first. A leader deciding someone is ‘difficult to deal with’, ‘under-performing,’ or

needs to ‘improve their attitude,’ limits the response to fixing, changing or motivating. Wheeling in a trainer or coach to deal with a growth opportunity is short-lived if it’s a stand-alone solution. Correctional methods, performance management and giving warnings all cost more than can be measured. From a leadership perspective, each one is an outside-in approach. These external focused solutions can also break, rather than build, trust if delivered in isolation.

The answer lies within It takes an uncommon level of selfacceptance and accountability to be open enough to consider that an opportunity for improvement may also lie in the style of leadership.

When leaders begin to open to what’s hiding in their blind spots, a realisation can hit hard. Where responsibility and accountability have been the reliable left-right duty march of leadership, it soon

becomes clear that it falls short. To lead free people to fulfil a compelling future, because they want to, a leader must take responsibility for more than their own role.

When leaders lean in to the uncomfortable challenge of facing the one in the mirror, cracks emerge where a lifetime of successful survival strategy had adequately covered them over. As the cracks are prised open, qualities of vulnerability, generosity, compassion and empathy that were once labelled as weakness and forever buried, begin to reveal themselves.

Developing self-awareness and emotional intelligence is more about peeling away than adding to. Letting go of what is known seems counterintuitive to a well-earned position of leadership, built on years of growing skills and building experience. But in letting go, a leader cultivates an authentic connection with, and compassion for, the imperfections of human being. This new awareness

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of self and others becomes a lighthouse to leaders who, while being the capable captain over many seas, find themselves out of their depth when engagement is lacking.

Self-awareness When leaders develop a certain quality of self-awareness, they know when to lead their teams from the front or hand over and empower from the rear. They sense when it will serve another to listen and hold presence, rather than fill the silence with knowledge and opinion. They will take the time to ask and wait, rather than direct and tell. It is leaders with nothing to prove and accepting of their flaws as fully as their strengths, who are willing to reflect. Asking themselves “who am I being?” when the team is failing, when the key manager is underperforming, when people are stuck in being busy and productivity is falling.

A self-aware leader is like a wash of wild ocean air in the middle of a Dubai summer. The integrity, openness and genuine interest wakes up all who are within range.

The steady self-acceptance gives others the permission to try and fail. The willingness to be real grants others space to share openly.

Trust is built on the certainty of clear expectations and committed communication. A culture of ownership and solution orientation evolves in response to the leader’s skill in working powerfully and effectively with different personalities.

privilege that offers fulfilment that cannot be described.

Inside out

Based in Melbourne, Karen Williams is a coach, trainer, and facilitator, helping women and men create and experience a life of fulfilment beyond success. Karen supports people to dive below the façade of what they show the world and discover real and intimate connection, find their passion and live life with meaning and purpose.

This is the inside-out approach.

This is conscious leadership: Leadership as a service to others; leadership that glitters like a double-edged sword; one edge, a cutting challenge that requires leaders to continue going beyond comfortable self-imposed limitations; the other, a gleaming

There are multiple sliding door moments in a leader’s life every day. Each one comes with a choice to dig in or open up. Digging in is predictable, same thinking causes similar results, it’s linear.

Choosing to step through is the uncommon path, challenging familiar patterns and shifting from the inside-out. It’s where new seas are sailed, transformation thrives and engagement is a natural consequence.

About the author

http://iamkarenwilliams.com/

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Using stories to build and strengthen relationships

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t the core of all human interaction lies emotion. It is therefore not surprising that we prefer to do business with people we like as we thrive on relationships and connections. This holds true in both our personal and professional lives.

Consequently, business people are looking for a way to fast track and strengthen relationships

by Gabrielle Dolan

within the workplace and storytelling has emerged as a natural and authentic way to do this.

CStorytelling has been around since the dawn of time, however it is only recently that modern business has started to realise the power and potential of this ancient art.

You might already be aware that telling a story makes good sense, but

it is more than that. It is actually based on science or more specifically how our brain operates.

Our brain has different parts, and each part has a different job. The left side of our brain, for example, helps us think logically and organise our thoughts, while the right side helps us experience emotions and recall personal memories. We also have a

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‘reptile brain’ that makes us act instinctively and a ‘mammal brain’ that helps us connect in relationships. And our brains have a neocortex, which is connected to a complex series of nerves and networks called the ‘limbic system’. This is responsible for the development of the bond and connection we feel between ourselves and another (like the mother–child bond).

When we tell stories different areas of our brain are stimulated and start to work together, combining words, logic, emotions and sensory images. Accordingly, we see the whole picture and communicate our experience. With all this activity going on, our emotions go into overdrive.

Essentially, this means that stories provoke an emotional response. Good stories make us feel something as we listen to them — excitement, anger, sadness, empathy or enthusiasm. Our emotional reaction can mean we feel something towards the person telling the story, which helps create connection — similar to the bond our neocortex helps develop.

In the 2014 Harvard Business

Review article ‘Why your brain loves good storytelling’, neuroeconomist Paul Zak revealed the powerful impact the love hormone oxytocin has on the brain when we tell stories.

logic drives our choices, the reality is that we have already made an emotional decision and we then use logic to justify the choice — to ourselves and to others.

Oxytocin is also often referred to as the ‘trust hormone’. Our bodies release it when we are with people we love and trust, when we hug, or even when we shake hands in a business meeting. And it’s released when we listen to stories. Oxytocin being released signals to the brain that everything is okay and it is safe to approach others — essentially, that we won’t be attacked or eaten, as would have been the risk back in the day.

Damasio’s research involved examining people with damage to their frontal lobe, which is the area of the brain where emotions are generated and that helps to regulate personality. Except for their inability to feel or express emotions, the participants had normal intellectual capacity in terms of working memory, attention, language comprehension and expression. However, they were unable to make decisions.

So not only does a good story make us feel different emotions and a connection to the storyteller but, at the same time, the love hormone oxytocin is also signalling that we can be trusted and therefore strengthens the connection.

This emotion is important because emotion impacts our decisions.

Decisions such as • Do I buy from you?

• Do I get behind this change?

• Do I accept the role with you?

The vast majority of participants could describe in logical terms what they thought they should be doing, but they found it difficult to actually make a decision, including making a simple choice like deciding what to eat. This indecision came from them going over the pros and cons for each option again and again.

Presented with a choice to make, we struggle to make a decision without some form of emotion influencing it.

Our audience will be forming these types of questions whether we’re trying to get them to buy-in to an organisational change or motivating them towards next year’s goals ...or simply trying to connect with them.

Damasio’s research does not stand alone. According to Christine Comaford, neuroscience expert and author of the New York Times bestseller Smart Tribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together, 90 per cent of human behaviour and decision-making is driven by our emotions.

Research by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio also shows emotion plays a significant role in our ability to make decisions. While many of us believe

Not fully understanding this is often why we get incredibly frustrated when our team members do not do what we want them to

• Do I trust and respect you?

• Do I want to do business with you?

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do. In our mind, our request makes logical sense! But as best-selling author Dale Carnegie put it, ‘When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion.’

Marketing executives and advertisers are acutely aware of the power of using storytelling and emotion in business to drive purchasing decisions. You only have to look at the latest car advert for proof!

A study of over 1400 marketing campaigns submitted to the UKbased Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) rated how effective marketing campaigns were, based on profit gains. The results showed: • campaigns based purely on emotion rated as 31 per cent effective • campaigns based purely on logic rated as only 16 per cent effective • campaigns that combined emotion and logic rated as 26 per cent effective.

This research indicates that using logic alone has the least impact and using emotion has almost double the impact. (For more on this research, go to www.neurosciencemarketing. com/blog and search ‘emotional ads’.)

All this science is telling us that storytelling is a powerful tool when it comes to building and strengthening relationships.

Essentially, well-told and purposeful stories initiate an emotional response in the listener, which helps us develop connections. Sharing a

personal story can lead to greater levels of trust between you and the listener, which is essential for strengthening relationships.

development program, it can achieve better results when attached to a current business need.

That’s why if you’re looking to build a relationship with someone it makes scientific sense to learn how to tell stories in business.

Companies are increasingly training their leaders in the art of storytelling so they can start sharing authentic and purposeful stories to build and strengthen relationships. Effective storytelling can build relationships with employees as well as customers and the wider community.

For example, in 2015 Bupa introduced storytelling to communicate their new global company values. Over the last 2 years, Australia Post has been driving cultural change through storytelling.

Implementing storytelling into an organisation is not as simple as instructing your leaders to start telling stories. Over the last 12 years I have been working with a variety of organisations to help them introduce storytelling into their business. Along the way, I have seen some spectacular successes and a few failures.

I have seen what works and what doesn’t. This experience has led me to understand the 5 critical success factors needed to introduce storytelling successfully into business to achieve maximum return on investment.

My 5 top critical success factors include: 1 - Attach storytelling to a current business issue Bring in storytelling for a specific purpose, such as to communicate a new strategy, cultural change or new organisational values. Whilst storytelling can be introduced as part of a general leadership

Step 2 - Provide business storytelling training Storytelling in business is a skill.

Just like any other skill you expect your employees to undertake, you need to provide effective training.

Even though some people may be naturally better at storytelling than others, the right training will enable all employees to improve their skills. The most common feedback I receive from the senior leaders I train in storytelling is, ‘This is a lot harder than I thought it would be’.

The biggest mistake a company can make is to assume that storytelling is not difficult and doesn’t require training. To ensure success with storytelling, ideally the skilling should start with the senior leaders and cascade down to lower levels. Whilst order is not crucial, it is important for the senior leaders to be included in the training.

Step 3 – Role model storytelling from the top It is critical for the most senior leaders to role model the successful use of business storytelling throughout the

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organisation. Once again, this reiterates the importance of ensuring the senior leaders are involved in the skilling process.

A few years ago I was asked to come in and train 40 senior leaders across an organisation but this did not include the CEO and the executive leadership team.

My suggestion to train them fell on deaf ears as the executive leadership team and CEO felt they did not need the training, nor did they have the time. Consequently, this meant that the power of storytelling was not role-modelled from the top down which resulted in reluctance from some employees to use their new storytelling skills.

Even though some individuals gained tremendous value from the training, I would say that from an organisational perspective it was a waste of time and money and certainly a lost opportunity.

Ironically, 3 years later I was asked to come in and training the CEO and senior executive team.

Step 4 – Train key support staff in storytelling Besides training the leaders, the skilling should also include key support people like Corporate Affairs, Marketing and Human Resources as well as other key influencers across the organisation. This allows them to support and encourage the use of storytelling throughout the organisation.

Many companies I work with provide additional training for these support people so they can take on the informal role as internal storytelling coaches. When the NAB trained their top 250 leaders in storytelling they also provided additional training for their Corporate Affairs specialists and Executive Managers. This way key support professionals working closely with the senior leaders could play a valuable role by being a sounding board for stories and encouraging leaders to use them.

They can also play a key role in helping leaders find stories.

Step 5 – Capture and share stories

This is about developing formal and informal strategies to capture stories throughout your organisation. The focus of the stories you gather should be around the values and behaviours you want to encourage or the results of a strategy you have implemented.

Once stories are captured you then need to start to share them. This includes sharing them with the leaders you have skilled so that they can start to use the stories in their day-to-day interactions with employees, customers, potential customers and other stakeholders.

You can also share stories across your already established formal channels of communication, such as newsletters and websites.

Following these 5 critical success factors when implementing storytelling in your organisation will ensure you get the maximum return on your investment with both time and money.

CASE STUDY - HOW BUPA USED STORYTELLING TO

ENGAGE THEIR EMPLOYEES IN THEIR GLOBAL VALUES. In 2015 Lizzy Geremia, Head of Internal communications at Bupa, Australia and New Zealand, alongside her global internal communication colleagues, was tasked with launching a completely new set of values throughout the organisation.

Bupa, a leading health and care organisation, had doubled their size due to several global acquisitions.

The challenge therefore was not your everyday revamp of the values.

What was needed was to consolidate a diverse set of global values across the entire organisation. The values were to be communicated globally and Australia would lead the launch with a 2-day leadership conference.

Lizzy recognised the importance of establishing the values in Australia and New Zealand first, knowing that there was the potential for the approach to be adopted globally.

Being involved in less than successful values rollouts previously in her career, she turned to business storytelling to communicate the values in a more meaningful and engaging way.

Reflecting on the process Lizzy stated, ‘When we looked at some of our values of authenticity, being open and courageous, I knew we had to use storytelling to bring them to life. Authenticity, being open and courageous is what storytelling is all about.’

Seven leaders were chosen across the region tasked with sharing a personal story to communicate one of the seven global values Bupa had adopted. The leaders received training in the art of storytelling and delivered their stories at the twoday conference. The following is an

example of one of these stories, shared by Jenni Coles, Director of Bupa Care Services around the value extraordinary.

My dad had six young children when he was diagnosed with a severe heart infection. He could have become a cardiac cripple and given up work, but he didn’t. He continued to work and support our family for the next 20 years.

Dad was a county engineer responsible for roads and bridges for a large rural area. Within that area, there were about 100 small old one-lane wooden bridges.

These needed to be replaced because they were dangerous for the stock trucks and families, but the county didn’t have sufficient funding to replace them all.

So Dad researched the options and decided the best approach was to replace the bridges with concrete two-lane bridges.

What he did next went above and beyond his role. In our own backyard he built a pre-stressed concrete plant, powered by an engine from a steam train, and got to work creating all the bridge piles and bridge spans for the 100 bridges.

issue no.12 bridges at Bupa but every day we have the opportunity to be extraordinary. To go above and beyond, to be the best we can dream to be — like my dad did.

Since the initial 2-day conference, further leaders have been trained including key support staff such as corporate affairs. In addition, the approach of storytelling was adopted globally. Lizzy stated that she was, ‘blown away by how quickly the values became part of life at Bupa and I believe the storytelling approach was the reason for this.’

One of the key success criteria for Bupa was that their people know the values and connect with them.

Anecdotal evidence showed that within 4 months of the launch the values were known across the globe at Bupa. The connection to the values was proven when Bupa introduced a concept called #bupathanks where employees were encouraged to send a card of thanks to others that have lived the values. Over 40,000 cards were sent globally.

When I think about my dad, a lasting image I have is of him standing beside a truck loaded with the makings of a bridge with a huge smile on this face.

Bupa provide a great case study on how to successfully introduce storytelling to bring company values alive. It is hard to imagine how companies can engage their employees with company values without using authentic, wellstructured stories.

I see my dad as extraordinary.

He battled through severe illness to provide for our family and he followed his desire to ensure our community had safe roads and bridges. Those bridges are still there today and will be for the next 100 years.

Gabrielle Dolan is considered a global thought leader in storytelling and business communications. Her latest book Stories for Work: The Essential Guide to Business Storytelling is available now. You can find out how to implement storytelling into your company at

We might not be building physical

www.gabrielledolan.com

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Chief Strategy Officers Conference Tips for SMES

by Paul M Southwick CA

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n September 2017 the editor was invited to chair the two day Chief Strategy Officers’ Conference in Sydney.

The conference was run

by Innovation Enterprise, part of the Argyle Group that runs similar conferences in all the world’s major financial capitals.

The conference, held at the Sheraton on Hyde Park, was one of three run by Innovation Enterprise on the same day, at the same venue, the other two being on digitisation and innovation.

SPEAKERS One hundred and seventy attendees heard a range of high quality speakers from leading companies including Google, News Corp Australia, PayPal, Fairfax, William Hill, and Aussie (home loans). There were also speakers from Sydney Water, Victoria’s Crime Stoppers and the CSIRO. An interesting observation by the chair on day two was “For those of you who used to come to conferences back in the nineties, you will remember that every speaker used to run over time. You could not get them off the stage.

Have you noticed that over the two days every speaker has finished well ahead of time?

Perhaps that is what digitisation has done to us all – we are used to concisely getting our message across in a SMS-like 160 characters, Twitter-like 140 characters, or even less in online advertisements.

For our speakers today 30 minutes talk time seems to have been an eternity.”

THE HISTORY OF STRATEGIC PLANNING Although planning is not new – the Bible tells us God had a plan, formalised strategic planning is a relatively new business concept.

The Harvard Business School developed a “Harvard Policy Manual” for private businesses to use in the 1920s. But it was not until the 1960s that strategic planning found its way into the boardrooms of large corporations in the United States. It took a score more years for strategic planning to become standard in government entities around the world.

Over the years, strategic planning (like human resources) has continually evolved, going through phases of different emphasis including, risk management, entity growth, acquiring and holding market share, and especially after Michael Porter’s 1985 book, gaining competitive advantage over other firms.

In the last ten years, and particularly in the last five, advances in digitisation have created an enormous fulcrum effect on organisational value, with the penalties for strategic planning failure, and rewards for success so much greater than even before.

Good strategic planning is now a billion dollar endeavour, and one that cannot be separated from technology or digitisation. Consequently it continues to evolve at a similar pace as these two.

Here are the top five points made by speakers:

PROFESSOR MICHAEL PORTER IS STILL RIGHT

In his famous 1985 book “Competitive Advantage,” Harvard Business School’s Michael E. Porter wrote that there are only two ways for organisations to gain competitive advantage over others. In summary they are “cost advantage” or “differentiation.”

The first strategy involves a business providing the same products and services as its competitors, at a lower price. The second strategy is where products or services superior to competitors are provided by the firm.

A panel of three - Ashton, Glen and Cathy from “Stump the Strategist” proved the point, to an initially sceptical audience, by taking strategic planning problems from the attendees, without notice, and solved them all in less than nine minutes each. In every case the starting point was price or differentiation.

As noted above, digitisation can accelerate competitive advantages on either basis. It is also clear that many firms which get stuck between the two strategies die a slow death.

EVERY SINGLE ORGANISATION NEEDS AN EXPERIMENT FACTORY Speakers agreed that innovation is a critical component of strategic planning, for all types and phases of organisational development including legacy, start-ups and renewal; be the organisation a corporate, SME, charity or NFP. No what matter the size or development stage of an organisation, or even its purpose, having a separate “experiment or ideas factory,” is a key to good strategic planning, indeed survival.

The size of the experiment factory

– it could be just one person, was not seen as the critical factor, but rather that one does exists and independently. Having team members attempt to squeeze in strategic planning to busy their days, as part of business as usual (BAU), is seen as a recipe for strategic planning failure. This is because BAU will always be a distraction, both in terms of time commitment, timing, and focus.

There is a different set of skills required for strategic planning than BAU. It is unlikely a person with good BAU skills will be the perfect strategic planner.

Many of the world’s leading technology companies engender a culture of innovation and creativity by giving staff up to 20% of their time to spend on “20 times” projects.

INCLUDE ALL DISCIPLINES WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE FIRM Successful strategic planning can never be achieved by accountants sitting on their own staring at historical data in a back room, and seeing everything though the skew-whiff view of debit and credit.

Having all the brightest kids on the block doesn’t work either - Enron proved that.

A parallel would be M&A deals driven by accountants and lawyers, which have a low success rate, because of such a poor understanding of and attention to issues around people and culture.

Strategic planning, like other business initiatives, needs a mix of all disciplines to both avoid group think and engender a true “big picture.”

Of particular value to numbers and legal are the arts, for its creativity and understanding of

life experiences; the sciences for their demands for evidence of provable and repeatable outcomes; statistics and analytics, for their ability to analyse the past and predict the future – a major emphasis now with increased processing capacity and artificial intelligence; and psychology, for its deep understanding of how people behave and motivation.

Top companies also have flat structures, with open cultures where everyone can see everything everyone else is working on, and can talk to anyone at any time.

AIM FOR THE SKY – TAKE IT ALL Top performers like Google and Amazon aim big – for market domination, and describe themselves as “growth businesses.”

They want to achieve quantum leaps in performance. These are the areas of focus for their innovative strategic planning.

Whereas increasing company performance by 5% or 10% every few years will, mathematically, due to compounding, yield significant improvement, it is not enough.

Expert practitioner speakers said strategic planning should focus on generating and implementing initiatives that potentially increase performance by ten times or more.

Otherwise the firm is in danger of being leapfrogged by a disruptive competitor. This fear appears as a key driver for many technology based businesses today.

One idea suggested by a speaker is for company executives to role play – or act like the firm’s competitor, so as to speculate how the firm could take itself on – and then counter it.

issue no.12

MAKE IT MEASURABLE TO MAKE IN MANAGEABLE Leading companies work hard to make all strategic planning objectives measurable, especially the hitherto unmeasurable. It enables predictability via known data sets and sophisticated modelling. Additionally it makes valuable performance incentives objectively manageable. That is in the interest of all stakeholders.

Far from being an expensive business may free tools and training are available online for analysis including Google Trends and Google Digital Garage.

Nirvana for strategic planners is to use technology to identify customers, right down to individual levels. It is then possible to implement strategies to reach customers with products and services so well tailed to their needs that they simply have no excuse not to purchase. Digitisation and analysis are making this increasingly possible.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES Strategic planning is a specialist and sought after area of employment. So many people list strategy or strategic planning in their LinkedIn profile or resumes.

But it is also a case of many have come many have failed.

When speakers were asked how to secure a job the answer was simply that it requires true expertise and thought leadership in a specific area. Most jobs are advertised and it is a matter of applying and convincing the company that you have expertise ahead of other players.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Paul M Southwick is the editor of Spark Magazine

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spark magazine

Book Review Avoiding the

M&A Failure Club

by Linley Watson

Reviewed by Paul M Southwick

issue no.12

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spark magazine

“

Everything looked good on paper, we had complimentary capabilities and we thought we were clear on what both parties brought to the table; we even compared personal and organisational values.

It looked like a great fit.

Then reality set it.”

Linley Watson, CEO of Melbourne based Peak Performance International has 30 plus years’ experience at executive level in both New Zealand and Australia. She has designed and implemented cultural change programs for companies including Air New Zealand, Bank of New Zealand, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Link Group, National Bank Australia, Suncorp, UBS, Vodafone and many more.

As a people and culture adviser, Watson has also been invited into organisations before, during, and perhaps more often, after multiple merger and acquisition (M&A) deals

in both countries. Her book is full of many (wisely) unnamed real life case studies.

• 5-8 years experience gained in Corporate Finance/M&A Advisory, Investment Banking or similar.

“Because it is so ubiquitous, people can be unaware of their culture until it is challenged or they experience a new culture.”

• Degree qualified along with either a CA, CFA or similar qualification

Watson addresses the fact that the (mostly) lawyers and accountants, who run M&A transactions – which tend to have high failure rates (some estimates say 70-90 percent), all too often dismiss the need for, or have no expertise in, people and culture. What makes it worse is that they sometimes falsely think that they are good at people and culture. And that causes real damage to people, business and society in general.

“The lack of diversity in the deal team is where the problem starts.”

Watson’s comment on lawyers and accountants is borne out by an advertisement for am M&A Director on Seek in September 2017 which

• Strong analytical skills • A ‘team player’ attitude • A high level of accuracy when completing work • Possess an inquisitive mind and real commercial acumen • Good report writing skills with the ability to express complex issues in a simple, logical manner • The ability to identify and develop new transaction opportunities • The ability to prioritise, manage multiple tasks.”

Through her years of experience Watson has developed a good sense of the issues and problems in M&A and outlines them in the early chapters of the book.

stated (note the lack of people skills experience or undersrtanding):

She has also developed a set of recommendations for M&A success, with people and culture experts, as

“The ideal candidate will have:

they should be, around the deal table.

issue no.12

Chapter 5, entitled, “Investing in human capital – people make or break the deal,” contains practical advice about imbedding people and culture into the transaction.

Chapter 6, headed “Creating customer value – keeping the momentum,” gives lots of practical ideas on how to sustain success.

Watson emphasises the need to involve people and culture experts on the M&A team from day zero.

She emphasises that these may or may not be the HR department and it is essential experienced experts are involved.

The book also outlines the “soothing” effects of good, honest and frequent communication by the CEO, and company in general, throughout the M&A timeframe: “Staff need to hear the same message, a number of times, in various ways, until it sticks. It is virtually impossible to overcommunicate in M&A.” In Chapter 6 Watson gives enterprise value enhancing advice regarding the importance

of maintaining sales focus – on acquired, acquiring, and combined sales teams during the transactions – driven by her real world observations and supported by case studies.

“He moved quickly to ensure that all salespeople knew what was expected. He gave them clear KPIs, held them accountable, kept the pressure on, and they rose to the occasion.”

This book is a good reflective read and recommended text for anyone involved in mergers or acquisitions. If lawyers, accountants, CFOs, CEOs do read it, and take the advice therein, [“This means you!”] it is likely that M&A success rates down under will improve. But more than that the book offers some wise advice about managing people and culture in general.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Paul M Southwick CA is the editor of Spark Magazine

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