December Reviews

BY MATTHEW D. MOHR

Many businesses conduct annual employee performance reviews during December in advance of the new year. Although the exact purpose of each employee review might differ, each is generally done to examine performance throughout the past year and expectations for the new one.

Smart business owners look closely at their company plan for the past year, how they performed and what influenced the overall outcome. What happened in 2015 will affect 2016, but things will be different. Who accurately planned for the dramatic drop in oil prices or the economic scenario in China?

When I was a control manager at Texas Instruments, we spent countless hours planning and creating accurate financial forecasts, which were off each month. Not only did we plan, but we were required to review the plans and explain the differences. It was not a fault-finding exercise. It was an exercise to understand the market changes and determine what we were going to do to be successful, based on our plan.

A good plan is nice to have, but a business owner wants great execution of a plan that leads to success. The old saying goes: “A poor plan violently executed is better than a perfect plan unexecuted.” A new twist to this is “A herd of deer led by a lion will beat a herd of lions led by a deer” (authors unknown).

As you review your results for the past year and put together a plan for the next year, keep in mind, unexpected changes in the market are going to happen, and execute your plan like a lion.

Matthew D. Mohr CEO, Dacotah Paper Co. mmohr@dacotahpaper.com