Inspiring Greater Productivity

40 leaders of small and medium-sized businesses share their productivity improvements

Inspiring Greater Productivity 40 leaders of small and medium-sized businesses share their productivity improvements

This book is self-published by The Productivity Group, trading as Be the Business, 26-28 Glasshouse Yard, London EC1A 4JU Charities Commission number: 1173660 Published by Be the Business 2023 Copyright of Be the Business 2023 This book is not to be used for commercial purposes.

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Foreword Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman, Be the Business

Leaders of small and medium-sized businesses are among the hardest-working people you’ll ever meet.

Yes, that includes you.

In my role, I’m very fortunate to spend time collaborating with some of the best entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders that the UK has to offer, all of whom put in the hours well beyond the standard 9-5.

So, I’m very aware that when I preach greater productivity, it can feel like just another thing on the to-do list. After all, it’s just one of those economic phrases that doesn’t have much real-world impact, right?

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

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When you strip it back, it means getting more from the same effort. Doing more with less has the ability to boost the UK’s growth, safeguard jobs, support higher take-home pay, and it’s essential to improving public services.

Boosting country-wide productivity, however, is easier said than done.

As you’re well aware, it’s never been harder to run a business. External factors – the kind that lead to sleepless nights – are rife.

As a business leader, you don’t have control over energy prices or what the government chooses to invest in – but you do have control over your own business and the improvements that you can make.

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And it CAN be done. At Be the Business, we’ve seen leaders we’ve worked with transforming their businesses, turning challenges and shocks, – like Covid-19 – into opportunity and performance that are fuelling their growth.

So, how do they do it? The answer is always the same – by taking the first step.

At Be the Business, we believe in dispersing ideas and information throughout the business community.

This is a collection of stories from fellow business leaders who have taken that first step and reaped the rewards.

I hope you feel inspiration and encouragement and that fuels your desire to go further faster or get started and join the journey.

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Contents CHAP TER ONE

What productivity means 15 takes on what productivity looks like 3 to 4 minute reads

14 Let’s start being more productive by reducing waste Nick Coleman, CEO, Snaffling Pig

16 As the company grew, we stopped talking about our business values Paul Bulpitt, co-founder, The Wow Company

18 We rolled out a profit-share scheme to reward staff commitment Alex Ingham, CEO, MI Supplies

20 We used collaborative tools to make remote working a success Claude Schneider, founder, SmarterQueue

23 Our mental health training reduced employee turnover

Katrina Parson, HR manager, LSI Architects

25 We used coaching and peer reviews to turn around outdated management Alexandra Thompson, head of people, Harvey Water Softeners

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27 We stopped trying to shoehorn people into a role needing to be filled Robert Fernandez, founder, Rattan Direct

29 We improved our efficiency to stick to our growth targets Simon Joyce, MD, Anchor Vans

31 We turned down cheaper alternatives to stick to our sustainable values Tim Brownstone, CEO, KYMIRA

33 My technology failed because I didn’t think big enough Lorraine Dallmeier, founder, Formula Botanica

35 We invested in after-sales support to create a sustainable business Ian Griffiths, co-founder, WhoCanFixMyCar.com

37 A focus on brand consistency guided us through a risky expansion Anna Garrod, brand director, The Coconut Tree

40 Moving beyond paid acquisition broadened our marketing reach

Kerry Fawcett, marketing manager, BusinessComparison

42 We used customer feedback to prioritise our marketing spend Danny Scholfield, MD, Expert Security

44 We lost sight of how important managing customers proactively is Marc Trup, founder, Arthur Online

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CHAP TER TWO

Why productivity underpins everything Exploring themes crucial to success 4 to 8 minute reads

48 Creating targets and KPIs for employees that work When managed properly, targets and KPIs provide direction and motivation for employees. This can boost your sales and revenue – and help your business grow.

56 Identify the skillsets that are missing from your business

There’s an important gap between the skills you have now and those you need for the future. Identifying those skillsets reduces risk and empowers growth.

63 How to hold on to your best members of staff

Every company has a handful of employees that are irreplaceable. You might value their creative mindset or impeccable sales record, or perhaps they have a way of motivating everyone around them.

70 Get better at delegating and giving your team autonomy

As businesses grow, many leaders find it difficult to give up control. However, giving your team autonomy benefits both you and your staff.

77 Use the data you have to improve decision-making Data plays an important part in effective decisionmaking, whether it’s around company growth, hiring practices, sales, or marketing campaigns.

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CHAP TER THREE

Why is productivity important?

Productive leadership insights 6 to 8 minute reads

86 Tap into customer needs to develop your products Rob Law, CEO, Trunki

Whether you’re launching a new product or improving an existing one, market research is an essential component. So make sure you’re set up to get it right.

89 How to deal with 60m customer experiences a year Humphrey Cobbold, CEO, PureGym

Expanding your company – and running multi-location sites – can raise challenges. So put measures in place to protect the culture of your business as you grow.

92 Find everyday improvements to drive your productivity Anthony Fletcher, CEO, Graze

Where are the hidden gains to be made in your business?

Tap into what’s happening around you to find the small changes that could make a big difference.

98 Ecommerce insights

Kath Brown, ecommerce director, Mountain Warehouse and Emma Bridgewater

If you sell online, or plan to, you’ll need to stay on top of how ecommerce works, and what drives behaviour for people engaging with your company through the internet.

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103 Bring innovation and growth to a heritage brand

Sadie Lofthouse, culture director, Adnams, and Andy Wood, CEO, Adnams

Heritage brands can struggle to adapt as the market changes. What can you do to prepare for changes in the market, while safeguarding the legacy of your brand?

109 How an obsession with waste drove a fivefold increase in manufacturing capacity Will Butler-Adams, MD, Brompton Bicycle

Are you pouring profits down the drain? Find out where you might be wasting resources, and see how tackling waste could improve your bottom line.

113 Don’t be afraid to shake things up to become more productive Chloe Watmore, MD, Thermotex

Sometimes, you need to challenge behaviour to shift things forward. What does it take to bring people round to a new way of thinking?

118 Focus on doing one thing well Dan Black, co-founder, Black+Blum

Are you swamping potential customers with too much choice? Streamlining your products and services could help give you a competitive advantage.

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123 Do your research before investing in new tech

Tom Mathew and Hannah Barlow, company directors, Dunsters Farm

Sometimes, the shiny new product or biggest brand name isn’t the best fit for your business. So make sure you’ve asked the right questions before you invest in a new tech partner.

127 Empower your people in new techniques to boost your efficiency Ian Watson, CEO, Start-Rite, and Gavin Price, operational director, Start-Rite

When you’re encouraging a change in behaviour, remember that people move at different speeds.

Pick projects that involve your people, be clear on your strategy, and communicate lots to make sure everybody’s on board.

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CHAP TER ONE

What does productivity mean?

15 takes on what productivity looks like 3 to 4 minute reads

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Introduction

Productivity, or unproductivity, comes in many guises. In simple terms, greater productivity = doing more with the same or less. Just like your company’s performance, purpose, and personality, measures of productivity are unique to each business. To inspire your productivity journey, these inspiring leaders share their insights by giving us an inside look at what that means to them.

That might mean sourcing customer feedback or focusing more on business values. Their individual approaches are about zeroing in on where impact can be made and then using the results there to drive productivity improvements across the business.

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Let’s start being more productive by reducing waste – Nick Coleman, CEO, Snaffling Pig Name: Snaffling Pig

Sector: Food manufacturing

Location: Thame, South East England Founded: 2013

Tip: “Get your business ready for the Olympics – look at everything and improve.”

The problem

The business chose to go down the indulgent path, when many were trying to go vegan. Having successfully set up a medical business with co-founder Udhi Silva, Nick Coleman set up Snaffling Pig as a passion project. The pair jokingly agreed that, “If worse comes to worst, and we’re sitting on a lot of stock – we’ll just eat it.” As they grew and employed staff, they had to make sure they had a strategy and a sustainable, secure business. “So, every efficiency counts and reducing waste becomes an obsession.

There would be boxes of little tags on the packing area floor. And I just spent the day going around saying, do you know how much that costs? It’s 70p!” Nick said.

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The solution

“Cash flow is always that thing that keeps me up at night,” Nick said. “If your cash flow is poor, then you’re going to go out of business. We went on a lean management course. One thing I did when I got back from that course was look at our space, where our warehouse and office are in different locations. We started to see how people were moving and noticed that our best-selling product was stored as far away from our packing table as possible, for example.”

The results

The warehouse and office teams were given walkietalkies, saving a 100-yard walk each way per conversation. Moving the best sellers to the packing table saved 56 steps per order, which worked out to be a mile or 20 minutes power walking a day that are now spent doing something more valuable. “You don’t want to be paying people to walk,” Nick said. He added that the cries of “Anyone got a knife?”, “Anyone got a pen?”, Anyone got any Sellotape?” also inspired innovation.

“So, what we did was put Sellotape, pen, and a knife on the packing table, you draw a circle around it, and you know that’s where those three elements will always be. You’re also reducing a lot of wasted time.”

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As the company grew, we stopped talking about our business values – Paul Bulpitt, co-founder, The Wow Company Name: The Wow Company

Sector: Professional services, finance & banking Location: Andover, South East England Founded: 2004

Tip: “Set your values out clearly and invite every member of the team to own them.”

The problem

Accountancy firm The Wow Company found that, as the company grew, the visibility of company values suffered. For the first ten to 12 staff members, the values had been clear and no one had felt the need to talk about them explicitly. However, the business suddenly found itself hiring staff members who looked good on paper but didn’t share the same belief set.

The solution

Led by co-founder Paul Bulpitt, The Wow Company ran a company-wide exercise to define what “wow” meant to each member of staff. It prioritised the values that touched every aspect of the business, ensuring the values shaped the company’s internal processes, client experience framework, and HR system. The Andoverbased company was keen to avoid putting mission 16

statements above the door – as Paul noted, these can feel fake – and instead focused on making them a natural part of working at the company. To ensure the values remained front and centre, management also started a monthly all-hands meeting with staff.

Each session was dedicated to work that aligned with a particular value.

The results

Since ingraining values across the company, Paul believes there’s greater clarity in what’s being asked of staff members, and that a set framework has made it easier for them to do their jobs. The company has also seen improvement in recruitment. Rather than concentrating on technical aptitude, interviews now look at how well the candidate will fit in with the company’s values and focus on how good the candidate is at building connections. “I think it’s all about a commitment to keeping values,” said Paul.

“You either do it properly, or you don’t do it at all.

You have to agree that what you do is going to be fully ingrained into the business and something you talk about. If you’re not talking about your values, how can you expect people to share them?”

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We rolled out a profit-share scheme to reward staff commitment – Alex Ingham, CEO, MI Supplies Name: MI Supplies

Sector: Retail & wholesale

Location: Stockton-on-Tees, North East England Founded: 2005

Tip: “Stay absolutely true to what you believe in – there’s no point in being something you’re not.”

The problem

Teesside-based workwear supplier MI Supplies is dedicated to providing a high standard of customer service. However, profitability has occasionally been compromised to maintain the standard, and the company has made a loss. MI Supplies recognised it needed staff commitment to the customer service vision to keep employees motivated through periods where the business wasn’t profitable.

The solution

The first step for MI Supplies was to check that staff felt as involved in the business as possible. It was important that the company’s goals felt like theirs too, so CEO Alex Ingham encouraged staff to contribute opinions and take ownership of decisions without being afraid of making mistakes. Alex authorised 18

everyone to make decisions quickly, regardless of cost, to make sure staff were fully committed to their customer service values. It stopped staff from worrying about making a mistake where monthly profit was concerned. Instead, staff could put more faith in the long-term goals of the company – going out of their way to meet a customer’s needs this month would likely pay off the next time the customer ordered.

Alex acknowledged that motivation would drop if staff weren’t rewarded for their commitment to the company’s vision and decided to introduce a profitshare scheme. The company found high customer satisfaction was inextricably linked to profit and sales growth for the year. With the profit-share scheme, the more staff invested in customer service, the more MI Supplies could give its team at the end of the year.

The results

Alex believes the decision to look after and reward staff members has paid off. MI Supplies has established a strong staff retention rate in its team of 12 and has increased sales by 28 per cent from 2017 to 2018, boosting the company’s revenue to £3m.

“Stay absolutely true to what you believe in,” he said.

“There’s no point in being something you’re not. And share your thoughts and vision with everyone in the team, because you can use their brains and experience to make it even better.”

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We used collaborative tools to make remote working a success – Claude Schneider, founder, SmarterQueue Name: SmarterQueue

Sector: Digital, technology & computer services Location: London, South East England Founded: 2016

Tip: “Focus on validating customer problems, before you seek investment or build more than necessary.”

The problem

Claude Schneider launched social media management tool SmarterQueue in 2013. It started as a one-person project, but soon grew to the point where Claude needed to bring more people in. Having previously worked as a remote consultant for two tech companies, he had become accustomed to remote working. He didn’t like the idea of setting up an office with regular working hours. “The biggest challenge was scaling up from a one-man band. I had to find the right people, hire and build a team, and get the communications and culture right,” said Claude.

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The solution

Claude took on contractors in various locations and soon realised that he could build a remote team across the globe. He felt confident that collaborative tools could help the team communicate and work closely together. Tools such as Loom, Figma, and Google Drive have been especially useful for sharing highbandwidth information to save time and increase the clarity of concepts. Asana and Slack help to keep projects on track and avoid any communication issues with the potential lag in response times. Claude has also found tech useful when it comes to hiring and onboarding new staff. “We’ve hired almost everyone via AngelList,” said Claude. “Its free Track tool handles the whole hiring process, and they have a great pool of remote-minded applicants. Then we use Calendly and Google Hangouts to arrange interviews. We have an onboarding checklist in Asana for new team members, as well as lots of notes in our Nuclino knowledge base.” Building company culture brings its own challenges, but tech has also played its part.

A Slack plugin called Donut randomly pairs two people in the company each week, encouraging people to have a social chat with someone they wouldn’t normally work with. For work discussions, every team member has a one-to-one Google Hangout call with their team lead once a week.

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The results

“We don’t have to worry about office costs, especially as our team grows. We can hire without local limitations, like someone being too far away to commute or salaries in our location being too high – and, of course, it widens our pool of potential applicants,” Claude said. As a software as a service (SaaS) product, the company has customers across the world, who expect prompt responses when they get in contact. Having customer service team members in different time zones allows them to cover a wider range of shifts. And it works for the employees, too.

“It gives staff the best perks around – working from any location that suits them, setting hours that fit their lifestyle, not having to commute, and finding a better job than is available in their city,” said Claude. “Not only does this help to attract applicants, but these perks don’t add to the company’s costs.”

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Our mental health training reduced employee turnover – Katrina Parson, HR manager, LSI Architects Name: LSI Architects Sector: Construction

Location: Norwich, East England & London, South East England Founded: 2002

Tip: “Engage with other companies. There’s a great deal of knowledge and experience already out there.”

The problem

“The Architects’ Journal’s Life in Practice” report found that architects regularly struggle with heavy workloads and long hours. This leads to people burning out and having to take time off to recover. As a result, LSI Architects wanted to better support staff mental health and well-being. “We wanted to avoid staff working longer hours and doing more for less, which can result in high staff turnover and poor health,” said Katrina Parson, HR manager at LSI Architects.

The solution

The company started working with mental health charity Mind. The external perspective enabled LSI to create a structure that could deliver real benefits

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to the team and business. “We provided every member of our team with mental health and wellbeing training from Mind. The sessions included strategies and mechanisms to keep us all well and resilient. Attendance was optional, but 98 per cent of our team took part,” Katrina said. All directors and senior management also attended Mind’s managerial training on emotional intelligence. These sessions helped them to recognise ill mental health signs and provide strategies to improve communication and build stronger relationships. In addition to the training sessions, the firm has increased breakout spaces to encourage people to step away from their desks. Weekly yoga sessions aim to engage employees in physical activity.

The results

LSI recently received gold accreditation in the Mind Workplace Well-being Index. In the company’s latest confidential workplace well-being survey, 95 per cent of employees said they felt that LSI supports their mental health. This figure is up from 53 per cent in 2016. “By building a business that’s values-led, we buck the industry trend. In the last 12 months, LSI’s employee turnover has been at less than ten per cent, which is significantly below the industry average,” said Katrina. “Feedback we get from job applicants is that they want to work for LSI because of our approach to developing our people and our focus on employee well-being.”

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We used coaching and peer reviews to turn around outdated management – Alexandra Thompson, head of people, Harvey Water Softeners Name: Harvey Water Softeners Sector: Manufacturing

Location: Woking, South East England Founded: 1978

Tip: “Make sure you have managers who actually want to do the job. There’s no shame in someone deciding that managing people isn’t their thing.”

The problem

Welcoming a new MD into Harvey Water Softeners presented an opportunity for improvement. The business had been run in a similar way for 40 years, creating a patriarchal culture. But, as the firm grew from a handful of staff to 100, it became clear that the old ways of managing people were outdated.

The leadership team needed better, more professional ways to get the most out of their people.

The solution

The first change was to create consistent processes for the management team. They were skilled in their fields of expertise, but they had varied approaches to managing people. Alexandra Thompson, the firm’s 25

head of people, introduced coaching as a way to change behaviours. It was a difficult process, Alexandra remembers, but it was successful. The first group of staff that took part benefited from broadening their perspectives. The next step was to implement a peer-to-peer review process. Alexandra recognised that businesses need to be mature with how they handle 360-degree feedback – if they aren’t, it can be damaging. The company designed the process with a training partner, who created a set of behaviours based on what mattered to the firm: compassion, accountability, and personal development. Over time, they evaluated how well each employee demonstrated these behaviours.

The results

Coaching and feedback immediately improved employee engagement, with most staff members happy to get more feedback on their performance. In 2018, a US competitor acquired the company. Alexandra believes the improved levels of engagement and focus helped the company through this change.

“The acquisition could have been the end of the world.

But people are excited about what we can do next,” she said. “We didn’t want a leadership team that sulked about things. There’s a responsibility to listen now.

It’s made some of the tougher conversations much easier – there’s such professionalism and respect.

What could have turned into a heated discussion hasn’t. It’s been really powerful.”

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We stopped trying to shoehorn people into a role needing to be filled – Robert Fernandez, founder, Rattan Direct Name: Rattan Direct

Sector: Retail & wholesale

Location: Manchester, North West England Founded: 2006

Tip: “Some of the strongest talent on the market is freelance today.”

The problem

Furniture company Rattan Direct faced a challenge when it came to hiring senior staff for ecommerce roles. For someone to oversee an online sales strategy, the business needed an expert with a lot of experience and advanced skills, but expectations were high and there weren’t many options in the market. The company had employed several people in a similar role in the past, to varying levels of success – but many of the particularly skilled specialists were choosing to go freelance rather than full-time in-house roles.

The solution

The team at Rattan Direct had mixed skill levels in marketing and ecommerce, so the company was keen to put a strong senior resource in place to support junior staff. Rather than lowering hiring expectations, 27

the team adopted a policy of investing in senior specialist consultants. The specialists would come into the business several times a month and work with the internal teams, offer mentorship, and help put strategies in place. As founder Robert Fernandez put it, if some of the best talent on the market was freelance, then the company had to adapt its strategy to work with that talent. Rattan Direct also used the consultants to identify which in-house roles were missing. In the past, the company struggled to assess people in the recruitment process because it didn’t have the specialist expertise being recruited for.

With tailored help, Rattan Direct could identify which skills were needed and how to qualify them.

The results

Rattan Direct’s 38 staff members responded “very positively” to the change, according to Robert.

This is in part because staff can upskill in areas that management traditionally hadn’t been able to teach them. Robert believes a clear overall strategy helped the business to progress, and he’s confident he can now focus on areas he’s strongest in, rather than trying to cover skills gaps. “Some of the strongest talent on the market is freelance today, particularly when it comes to digital skills. We need to embrace the changing nature of the market rather than trying to shoehorn someone into an in-house role they don’t really want, or settling for someone who lacks the right skills.”

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We improved our efficiency to stick to our growth targets – Simon Joyce, MD, Anchor Vans Name: Anchor Vans Sector: Automotive

Location: Reading, South East England Founded: 1989

Tip: “The world is always moving forward. Keeping up is imperative, but being ahead is even better.”

The problem

Over the last 30 years, family business Anchor Vans has grown its operations and now delivers vans nationwide. One of the biggest difficulties has been keeping up with customer expectations around its speed of service. With an increasing number of vehicles entering and leaving the site every month, the firm needed to find a way to process each vehicle and advertise it online quickly. Once sold, vehicles have to be serviced and made ready for delivery – all of which had to happen in a very short window of time.

The solution

Anchor Vans looked for ways to improve efficiency and organisation. As managing director Simon Joyce explained, today’s customers want things here and now, so the company needed to be able to deliver 29

within an expected time frame. Anchor Vans focused on improving its vehicle turnaround process. The first step was to assign team members to designated jobs, so everyone knew exactly what was expected of them.

This saved time and prevented tasks from slipping through the cracks. To speed up the process – from a vehicle coming in to the keys being handed to a customer – the company developed a bespoke T-card system, which displayed tasks on a wall. The system managed everything from sales to preparation and delivery. It divided up tasks into cards and gave a near real-time overview of completed steps.

It allowed the whole team to quickly identify new vehicles that needed processing, and which responsibilities lay with each team member.

The results

Anchor Vans continues to monitor and adapt the process almost daily. However, Simon notes that the changes so far have been crucial in improving efficiency and clarity around employee responsibilities. This has led to faster turnaround times for customers and growth for the company. “Offering the right service to support sales is of key importance. It’s not a onetime thing, either – processes online and offline need to be constantly monitored and improved.”

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We turned down cheaper alternatives to stick to our sustainable values – Tim Brownstone, CEO, KYMIRA Name: KYMIRA

Sector: Manufacturing

Location: Reading, South East England Founded: 2013

Tip: “Today, a lot of business is about your narrative – stay true to your mission and morals.”

The problem

Smart textiles business KYMIRA makes sportswear with high-quality material, using sustainable manufacturing methods. The team aimed to keep operations in the UK and source materials locally, to fit its sustainable values. However, this turned out to be a high-cost approach. It was also a struggle to find the advanced manufacturing techniques the team was looking for.

The solution

To find out if there were any processes that could be improved or cut, CEO Tim Brownstone examined each point in the KYMIRA supply chain. He worked closely with the company’s UK manufacturers to assess the potential impact of any change and arrive at the most cost-efficient setup. The company ended up 31

arranging regular bulk orders to make the costs more economical. “What we lose in having higher costs per order, we make up for with the flexibility of our UK factory,” Tim said. For certain products, KYMIRA relented and looked abroad. It simply wasn’t possible to find the right techniques in the UK. Rather than sacrifice on quality, the company moved the manufacturing of a small number of products to Italy and Spain.

The results

After seven years in business, KYMIRA has stayed true to its sustainable values – 90 per cent of its manufacturing is UK based. The company sources all of its print and point of sale materials locally in Reading, while its research and development (R&D) takes place across several UK sites.

Maintaining its sustainable values has helped the company gain recognition as a leader in its field.

The UK government has recognised KYMIRA’s R&D efforts in particular, which has helped the business build its brand. “Today, a lot of business is about your narrative. Staying true to your mission and morals form a large part of that. Our core mission still remains throughout the business, which is to improve, change, and – one day – develop technology that could save lives.”

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My technology failed because I didn’t think big enough

– Lorraine Dallmeier, founder, Formula Botanica Name: Formula Botanica Sector: Education

Location: Dorset, South West England Founded: 2012

Tip: “Don’t underestimate your potential for scale.”

The problem

Online skincare school Formula Botanica realised early on that its technology wasn’t keeping pace with growth. When the company first started out as a maternity side project in 2012, the website only attracted around 100 visitors. Less than two years later and thousands of visitors were using the site. Despite an effort to scale up systems every couple of months, its website and CMS kept crashing.

The solution

The first step for founder Lorraine Dallmeier was to force herself to think bigger. Rather than assuming Formula Botanica would grow modestly, she set herself the task of finding systems that could support millions of visitors. The company sought out “fantastic quality” technology, as having a smooth user experience is crucial to its global audience. Lorraine’s 33

next step was to move Formula Botanica’s e-learning onto Moodle, a free learning management system which is popular with universities. For Formula Botanica, Moodle’s main draw was that it was capable of handling larger audiences. To escape the restrictions of working with third-party technology, the company invested in its own Moodle platform. This meant it could improve the interface, tweak it as the company grew and build additional improvements in line with changing business requirements.

The results

Three years after making the move to more robust technology, Formula Botanica’s platform comfortably hosts 6,000 students around the world. Lorraine is confident that if the business continues to grow, it could handle a million visitors. Turnover has grown from £20,000 to £2m in less than seven years, and 25 people are now employed. “My biggest mistake was underestimating our potential for scale,” Lorraine admitted. “Start out with a vision of how big your business might get. And don’t limit yourself to systems that won’t be able to grow with you – try and own your systems.”

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We invested in after-sales support to create a sustainable business – Ian Griffiths, co-founder, WhoCanFixMyCar.com Name: WhoCanFixMyCar.com

Sector: Digital, technology & computer services Location: Newcastle, North East England Founded: 2010

Tip: “Supporting customers is what it’s all about – don’t lose customers to the competition.”

The problem

Newcastle-based car repair marketplace WhoCanFixMyCar.com faced the challenge of building a sustainable business in an industry with a high customer churn rate. Clients were usually small garages, which could be booked up for a month and then suddenly drop off the site – meaning the sales team struggled to build lasting relationships.

The solution

After three years in business, the firm realised that just having a sales team wasn’t going to work. The key to customer retention wasn’t the initial sales conversations, but account support – something the company saw as almost like another sale. Led by co-founder Ian Griffiths, WhoCanFixMyCar.com expanded its sales team to include a “bridge team.”

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This group of employees would deal with the gap between customers signing up and being successful.

Unlike the main sales team, which had financial targets, the bridge team was incentivised on relationships and retention. The company gave 30 days free support to every mechanic who signed up for an annual subscription to kick off the new process. The bridge team would help customers to set up profiles and offer advice.

This new part of the company was also responsible for segmenting customers that had dropped off the site.

Customers are segmented based on activity and the team looked at how often the garages were winning quotes.

The team could then step in and provide help or advice before the customer became exasperated and left the site.

The results

WhoCanFixMyCar.com saw an instant increase in customer activity and success after adding the bridge team to the sales department. The firm now attracts 75,000 consumer jobs every month. Headcount has swelled to 30 staff, with the bridge team expanding from one employee to six in less than three years.

In the next year, Griffiths wants to triple the size of the team. “It was one of the best moves we’ve made,” he said. “With sales teams, it’s all about the support, account management, and regular contact. As soon as a garage becomes inactive, we just need to give them a brief call – to be a voice at the end of the phone. We’re in a competitive market, so it’s important to support customers through the entire life cycle.”

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A focus on brand consistency guided us through a risky expansion – Anna Garrod, brand director, The Coconut Tree Name: The Coconut Tree

Sector: Hospitality & tourism

Location: Cheltenham, South West England Founded: 2016

Tip: “Do your research and understand where your brand fits into a city.”

The problem

When Sri Lankan restaurant The Coconut Tree started looking at expansion, it found itself at the mercy of an expensive and competitive property market. After opening restaurants in Oxford and Cheltenham, the team had set its sights on a Bristol branch. It spent a year applying for – and losing – potential locations.

It was demoralising, so the team decided to bid on as many properties as possible. But when two of their bids succeeded, the team was torn between letting a viable property go or suddenly opening two new restaurants at the same time. Though it was a huge risk, they decided to go for it.

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The solution

Doubling the size of the chain overnight meant The Coconut Tree team had to quickly work out how to keep the brand consistent across different locations. With two sites, it was fairly easy for one of the managers to check in on the food, drinks, and service. With four, they needed systems in place.

The first step was making sure that new locations would embrace the values of their original locations.

The team recognised that growth can be detrimental to a brand, so brand consistency would be vital.

As a result, the brand team tries to vet every aspect of its public-facing business, from new cocktail menus to staff training. “We concentrate heavily on the brand,” Anna Garrod, brand director of The Coconut Tree, explained. “The Coconut Tree is really stripped back – Sri Lankan hospitality is very relaxed. So when you’re opening up somewhere new, you need to get the brand across straight away. We don’t want people expecting us to be super posh.” To keep a check on public perception at the restaurants, they included reviews on sites like Google, Tripadvisor, and OpenTable in management KPIs. Someone checks the sites every day, to allow the team to listen and adapt to customer feedback in near real time.

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The results

Nine months after successfully opening two branches in Bristol, The Coconut Tree has followed up by launching a restaurant in Cardiff. It’s the fifth location in less than three years. The Coconut Tree now has 150 employees, recently recruiting more people to help manage HR and operations. While they’re planning to open new locations in the future, the main focus continues to be on maintaining brand consistency and the standards across the restaurants. “When you’re moving into a new city, be sure that’s where your customer is,” Anna said. “Take the time to trawl websites and visit properties. A lot of people overlook good properties because they have some weird quirks.

It all takes time, but it becomes easier as you grow.”

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Moving beyond paid acquisition broadened our marketing reach – Kerry Fawcett, marketing manager, BusinessComparison Name: BusinessComparison

Sector: Digital, technology & computer services Location: Chester, North West England Founded: 2014

Tip: “Don’t be afraid to outsource if you don’t have the right skillset internally.”

The problem

BusinessComparison had two paid acquisition marketers in-house, so most of the marketing budget was spent on paid online advertising. However, the company still struggled to reach its target audience of sole traders and SMEs. Since the comparison service it offered was new, most business owners didn’t even realise the option was available to them.

The solution

BusinessComparison hired marketing manager Kerry Fawcett to look beyond paid acquisition and find ways to make its marketing efforts more effective. The new strategy prioritised areas such as SEO and PR. It stepped away from traditional forms of marketing such as radio and billboards, which weren’t working.

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Budget was also allocated to outsourcing PR, as this enabled the team to access someone with more expertise than delivering it internally.

“SEO is one of my main focuses. Driving large quantities of content is key for that organic growth.

Hundreds of new content pages have gone up to increase organic traffic, but it has to be useful and readable to serve a purpose,” Kerry said. The website had a long-running blog that didn’t perform well, so a new associated content strategy was put in place.

New articles were published weekly, but the team concentrated on writing detailed articles that offered quality rather than quantity.

The results

The content and SEO strategy has already achieved positive results, with organic search growing monthon-month and an overall website visibility uplift of 75 per cent. Customer feedback is high, with a Feefo rating of 4.8 out of 5.0. Team resources are still an issue, but Kerry plans to expand the team to build on this success. “We want to get to a place where we can put out a quality piece every day on the blog.

We’re looking at bringing in a content writer to the team to help grow that side of things.”

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We used customer feedback to prioritise our marketing spend – Danny Scholfield, MD, Expert Security Name: Expert Security Sector: Manufacturing

Location: Bury, North West England Founded: 2013

Tip: “Your customers are the fuel for your business, so make sure you’re communicating with them.”

The problem

As a one-stop security provider, offering design, installation, and maintenance of security systems, Expert Security had a lot of customer touchpoints. The branding had to be smart and consistent across each aspect of marketing, from social media to staff uniforms.

But with so many channels to cover and only a small budget to work with, it could be hard to know what would work best.

The solution

The firm’s first step was to make sure all their marketing activity had a clear purpose and aligned with their USP. MD Danny Scholfield assigned a budget to ensure they were investing at the right time in the right areas. They prioritised in order of customer touchpoints, focusing on early-stage elements like ensuring the website was up to date and SEO. 42

The biggest game-changer came when Expert Security started sending out a customer questionnaire after each installation. As Danny explained, companies often overlook the value of their clients’ perspectives.

“After the system is handed over, our internal project coordinators send out a customer questionnaire. It gives our clients a chance to assess how we did. This focuses not only on the installation itself but also allows them to honestly answer how our sales team did, how easy we were to find online, etc,” Danny said. By asking these additional questions, the firm could make internal improvements based on concrete data, rather than guesswork. “We aren’t perfect, and don’t always get it right, but acting on a comment or recommendation means you can get it right the next time,” Danny added.

The results

Expert Security has since grown to include five different installation teams. Thanks to its strong market reputation, the company has landed contracts with institutions such as Warburtons, Vodafone, and the NHS. Danny believes the customer feedback and reviews procedure has had a huge impact on the company. It’s helped them learn more about their customers and which areas of staff training need improving. “Don’t be put off by negative feedback or the fear of receiving it – you can’t adapt, improve, or grow without it. Include a procedure in your dayto-day routine that sets out how and when to get customer feedback. And, most importantly, act on the feedback you get!”

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We lost sight of how important managing customers proactively is – Marc Trup, founder, Arthur Online Name: Arthur Online Sector: Real estate

Location: London, South East England Founded: 2012

Tip: “It doesn’t matter how good your product is; poor customer support costs customers.”

The problem

Property management business Arthur Online found that while its software was tailored to each user, customer support wasn’t. The firm knew clients preferred a personalised service, but the fast-moving pace of the company meant clients received support from whoever was available. As a result, ongoing issues were slipping under the radar and there was a risk of losing existing customers.

The solution

The first step for Arthur Online was to assign team members to certain clients. These staff help set up clients and answer any queries they have to establish the relationship early on. It allowed team members to get to know each client better and understand what they wanted from the software. The next step was to set 44

up an onboarding system. The system came with free shared-screen tutorials to help clients start to use the product and acted as a guide for every step of their customer journey. The company implemented an online chat service to ensure clients felt supported after the process. The line would stay open six days a week and Arthur Online was keen to keep average response rates to under five minutes. For founder Marc Trup, this chat service would help the company to build positive relationships and make sure clients were never left waiting on an answer.

The results

After being more proactive about customer management, Arthur Online has built its Trustpilot score up to 96 per cent. Marc believes that the changes have helped to drive sign-ups, particularly in the property market where a good reputation is important. It means more sales, too, with 15 per cent of monthly registered users being referred by other property managers – for every 200 clients, 30 are coming to Arthur Online through word of mouth.

“The key to retaining customers is to offer a service that your competitors don’t,” Marc said. “It doesn’t matter how good your product is; if you don’t provide good enough customer support, you won’t retain customers. Technology can streamline communication for efficiency, but at its heart, property management is a people business.”

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CHAP TER TWO

Why productivity underpins everything Exploring themes crucial to success 4 to 8 minute reads

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Introduction

If you’ve ever worked in an unproductive business, you’ll know how important focusing on efficiency is – not just for profitability, but for your team’s morale, company culture, and the workplace environment.

It’s vital to treat productivity as a priority. In this chapter, we’ll show you why five themes key to business success have productivity at their core.

Discover how fellow business leaders have tracked and improved their company’s productivity in these areas. Then take away the small changes you can make to add incremental gains to your business, leading you towards long-term success.

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Create targets and KPIs for employees that work “We’ve always tried to have our forecast grounded in reality, rather than just putting huge numbers in our plans with no justification.”

– Aron Gelbard, CEO, Bloom and Wild

The right employee targets can create real momentum for your business, boost motivation, and provide a sense of direction among staff. This not only benefits sales and revenue, but also your capacity for growth.

An effective goal-setting strategy for staff can also support employee engagement. Gallup found that this translates to a 21 per cent increase in profitability, thanks to its positive impact on customer satisfaction and staff retention.

But setting targets once a year isn’t enough to get maximum results. Businesses that set goals quarterly generate 31 per cent greater returns compared to those who stick to annual reviews. Those who set goals more often had even greater results.

So, let’s look at some of the common mistakes business leaders make when creating targets and KPIs for employees, as well as the quick wins that will make sure your workforce is motivated to reach its full potential.

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What factors affect your target-setting process?

Company objectives

For targets to generate the best responses, employees need to understand how they feed into the business and its wider objectives.

When staff can see how their work feeds directly into the success of the company as a whole, it’s easier to grasp the importance of the role they play and accountability is boosted.

It’s important to consider the wider goals of your business and make sure they’re reflected in individuals’ KPIs. This may also prompt you to look at the ways you communicate company objectives to staff – make sure this is done clearly and openly, so employees understand what their targets are grounded in and why they’re important.

The need for measurable goals

Most traditional staff targets will be pegged on sales and revenue, which are easy to measure so long as a time frame has been clearly set out. But, when you’re looking at a more holistic set of targets to mirror business values and company objectives, things can get murky.

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For instance, KPIs based on customer satisfaction are a little more fluid – it’s not a straightforward numbers game, unless you’re going to make a case for equating it directly and solely to sales figures. So, you’ll need to consider how to best collect that data, as well as how to measure it.

Any target needs an action plan for measurement that’s clearly laid out to the employee, so they know exactly how they will be assessed and what they need to do to meet their goal.

Unconscious bias in the workplace

Bias and favouritism can come into play when setting and measuring KPIs. It’s important to consider how you can eliminate this.

Aligning targets to the level of seniority is one tactic: that way, people working in similar roles at the same level have comparable goals. This helps to eliminate any potential personal bias that could result in making certain employees’ goals more or less achievable than their peers.

When it comes to interpreting and measuring achievement against the outlined KPIs, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) suggests having all results double-checked by an independent employee to increase accountability and minimise bias.

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Target-tracking technology

It’s no secret that having your goals written down and keeping them visible increases the chance of achieving them.

However, with so many targets for employees to monitor – their own personal figures as well as those of their teams and the company as a whole – does a whiteboard on the wall really cut it?

Leaders will need to consider whether it’s time to invest in some technology to track targets across all departments and KPIs. Dashboards and leadership tables can appear on screens in the office, so they’re visible to employees but are also automated, totting up the figures digitally so that no one has to worry about doing the maths.

This allows you the freedom to tailor your targets more specifically, without any concern that they’ll be tricky to keep track of.

For Sarah Penn, CEO of Outstanding Branding, as well as analysing headline sales figures, average orders, and how many quotes are being generated, you should examine targets on an individual basis.

“An established sales employee will be less likely to generate quotes, as they already have a number of key clients in place, compared with a new employee who needs to generate more quotes and interest from customers,” she said.

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Common mistakes with setting employee targets Not ensuring employee buy-in

Handing seemingly arbitrary sales targets out to employees is one way to approach goal setting, but it’s not the most effective.

There should be a dialogue around KPIs, so staff understand how you arrived at the number in front of them, how their performance against that target impacts the wider company (and, in turn, them as an employee) and what support they can expect from you.

For that to work, there needs to be a certain level of transparency within your business. All members of staff need to understand the company’s goals, and the ways in which good news for the company translates into good news for them as individuals.

Staff who are engaged with their targets are more invested in hitting them.

Letting goals stagnate

To be successful, businesses need to be dynamic and constantly evolve to meet the changing demands of customers and shifts in the market.

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is failing to make targets flexible enough to react to these changes.

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Longer-term targets and KPIs have their place to keep momentum and ensure that what people are working towards is relevant. But consider making shorter-term goals or even adapting targets that are already in place.

This isn’t about moving the goalposts – it’s about staying relevant, spotting opportunities, and being fair to staff.

Setting unrealistic targets

It’s easy to think that if you try to get employees to give 110 per cent, you’ll at least achieve 90 per cent.

But that’s not how it works.

If you make targets unattainable, you’ll find that staff become disengaged and dissatisfied with the business.

If staff see goals as unreachable, however hard they work, what’s the point in trying?

Look at what’s been achieved before by other staff at a similar level of seniority to work out what is attainable and what is too ambitious for now.

Quick wins to improve your target-setting process Introduce new incentives

Mixing things up when it comes to incentives and bonuses can reinvigorate your team and provide the motivational boost that’s needed to hit ambitious targets.

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A yearly bonus is great, but won’t necessarily impact day-to-day performance. Try implementing shorterterm incentives – both cash and non-cash – that can keep momentum constant.

Some ideas for non-cash incentives are: – Time off

– Extended lunch break – Food or drink

– Attending a conference or training session of their choice

– Flexible working hours for a set amount of time

– A leadership board that’s visible to the whole team Book in regular one-to-ones

While micromanagement isn’t the way to help staff hit those numbers, it’s also unhelpful to leave them completely to their own devices.

Regular face-to-face meetings give staff the chance to ask questions and seek support, while also allowing managers to track progress and pick up potential issues more easily.

Decide on appropriate intervals for these – that could be once a fortnight, monthly, or bi-monthly – and get them in everyone’s calendar.

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Involve staff in target setting

Employee buy-in is essential when it comes to targets, so leaders should make sure staff are actively involved in the process.

Encourage managers to sit down with their employees and collaborate on targets. It can be useful to come up with a draft in the first meeting, then have a follow-up meeting a few days later to review the targets and get them set in stone.

Find out employees’ personal goals

It helps for staff to know that they can personally benefit from hitting their targets; that their efforts aren’t solely for the benefit of the company and its leaders or shareholders.

Find out what employees’ career goals are in one-toones and think about how you can support those using the targets you set. For instance, if an employee would like to be more involved in a different part of the company, or is interested in promotion, tie those into the KPIs you set.

As Alice Weightman, CEO of Hanson Search and The Work Crowd, notes, involving your team in the targeting-setting process can help invest them in the business.

“To keep people inspired and motivated, they want to feel part of a growing business. Every business needs a sense of purpose and a vision of where they want to go,” she said.

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Identify the skillsets that are missing from your business “As soon as we find the answer, I can see our recruitment and training programmes being adapted to take into account and make the most of the digital thread.”

– Tony Hague, CEO, PP Control & Automation

Ensuring your managers and staff have the right skills to enable the company to prosper is always a challenge.

But ensuring that your company has the talent it needs to face the future is an even bigger task.

According to the OECD, 32 per cent of jobs will change radically because of automation in the next 15 to 20 years. Yet, a third of businesses do not offer any work-based training. And it’s not just technological trends, as growing businesses are fuelled by talent.

It’s important to review what skillsets your business needs to meet the demands of the current stage you’re at and to look to the future, and think about what skillsets can unlock growth opportunities.

In the face of growing levels of automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence – as well as the need for soft skills in an increasingly services-led economy – how can a company ensure that its workforce will have the skills it needs?

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What factors can help you identify missing skillsets?

Changes in consumer behaviour

Changes in consumer behaviour, such as the growth of online shopping, impact the type of skills required.

Identifying these trends early gives you time to upskill your existing team and recruit where necessary.

Team members that are industry enthusiasts, and company data, are great for identifying trends. There might be a number of customer service requests or an increase in interest in a previously niche product that hints at where demand is heading.

Outsourcing and contractor needs

Talking to managers about why they’re outsourcing, and what skillsets that gives them access to, can identify where roles might be able to be brought in-house in the future.

Your company goals

Looking at skills gaps should be a key part of goal setting, particularly when it comes to annual reviews and budget setting.

Part of that process is making sure you have the capacity to deliver your plan, but it’s also a great opportunity to think about what skillsets could supercharge your growth.

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Perhaps it’s time to bring on a project manager who can remove bottlenecks and make sure you’re getting the most out of your resources. Bringing in a specialist in a technology that’s part of a new product launch may be more powerful than upskilling existing team members.

International trends

If you export or import goods, or rely on international talent, international trends can impact the talent you’re likely to need in the future and where it comes from.

Lower levels of migration between countries could lead to skills shortages in some sectors. At the same time, technology has made it easier than ever to operate remote teams that can be based anywhere in the world.

Talking to international suppliers or distributors gives you an opportunity to learn about new processes, tools, and technologies that point to skillsets you’re going to need in the future.

Alan White, business development director of translation business The Translation People, notes that worldwide shifts can have a huge impact on determining which skillsets your business will need.

“Brexit has seen a shift in where UK businesses are focusing their international operations,” he said.

“And the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the use of technology to help international communications.”

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Common mistakes when trying to identify missing skillsets Businesses are too reactive

Many businesses are reactive rather than proactive.

Rather than planning ahead and looking at the skills they will need in the future, businesses only think seriously about taking action when there is a trigger that forces change, such as a key staff member leaving.

Rather than recruiting for potential, businesses recruit people based on previous experience, or people in their own image. This means they miss out on the opportunity to recruit candidates with the capability and inclination to meet the needs of the business as it evolves.

Businesses lack a vision of the future

Many businesses fail to have a vision or a plan for where they want to be in three or five years’ time. Lacking that vision, they are ill-equipped to understand, never mind acquire or develop internally, the skills they will need.

Companies fail to look internally

Businesses don’t spend sufficient time reflecting on their internal capacity and capabilities and how they match their future skillset requirements.

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Technology isn’t up to date

Businesses fail to leverage the most up-to-date technology properly, so training and development programmes aren’t designed to develop a workforce with the skills needed for the future.

Quick wins for identifying the missing skillsets in your business Use your customers to identify emerging trends

Look at what patterns you can see in your own sales and enquiries, and speak to your customers to determine how their priorities are changing.

By doing this, you can identify emerging trends in your markets, which will allow you to identify the skills your workforce will needed, and plan accordingly.

Identify and measure your future skills gap

When trying to identify skills gaps, look at future needs, rather than extrapolating from the past. Use this to identify any shortfall in capabilities. Such skills gap analysis allows you to compare the critical competencies to carry out roles successfully today, with those that will be needed to perform to that level in the future.

Look at ways to get external support assessing what talent you’ll need in the future, such as using a specialist recruitment agency.

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Consider what excellence in your current job roles looks like. Then compare this with what excellence will look like in five years’ time. When recruiting, build this into today’s job specifications, not tomorrow’s.

Keep up to date with developments in your industry and sector To understand where your industry is headed, and the skills that will be needed in the future, spend time keeping up to date with industry trends and developments. Read industry reports and take note of relevant surveys, such as vacancy surveys.

Become familiar with official government statistics, including local labour market figures. Read reports from official bodies, such as The Government Migration Advisory Committee, to understand what’s happening to international talent. Leverage your professional networks, including trade bodies and other business organisations.

Don’t ignore your existing talent

Given that skills shortages are likely to continue to be a feature of business life, it is important that companies don’t ignore their existing talent pool.

A comprehensive career development programme can help match the skills the business needs with staff that have the ambition and aptitude to develop within their role.

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Focus on individual employees

Matching the individual with a company’s future requirement involves dialogue with individual staff members and a proper process. That can be empowering, because employees understand better the impact they can have, thus increasing retention and boosting productivity.

As Keir Wright-Whyte, director of Accounts and Legal, puts it, this will help set out a roadmap for your employees, linked to your company goals. “We will sit an employee down and tell them that, say, in one year we see them being a manager,” he said. “So, we outline all the little steps they will need to take to get there.”

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How to hold on to your best members of staff “The key to retaining employees is to create a workplace in which everyone is treated and rewarded fairly and feels supported and valued. Every colleague must be seen as an individual and not as a resource.

After all, if you regard people as mere commodities and treat them as such, it shouldn’t be a surprise if they up and leave for a competitor that respects them for who they are and what they can personally bring to the business.”

– Donald Moore, chair, Rowlinson Knitwear

Every company has a handful of employees that are irreplaceable. You might value their creative mindset or impeccable sales record, or perhaps they have a way of motivating everyone around them.

Retaining these members of staff is essential for the health and success of your business – yet, it’s harder than ever to hold on to this kind of talent.

Younger workers are changing jobs more than ever – 21 per cent of millennials have changed jobs in the past year – and passive recruiting can snap up staff before they’ve even started job hunting.

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Failing to retain a key member of staff can lead to major issues across your workforce, such as job insecurity, excess work, and a lack of motivation. It will also have a significant impact on your bottom line.

Gallup estimates the replacement cost of a top employee can be up to two times their annual salary.

Recruitment can be expensive, particularly if you need a sought-after skill; there are also agency costs, advertising costs, and HR time to bear in mind.

However, the greatest cost is the loss of productivity.

Even if you recruit a new employee of the same high standard, you’ll lose thousands of pounds in productivity because of the time it takes them to get up to speed.

It’s crucial that you’re doing all you can to retain your best members of staff. So let’s look at some of the common mistakes companies make with employee retention, and the quick wins that will make a difference now.

What factors affect your ability to keep talented staff?

An increase in highly skilled freelancers

Growth in self-employment is largely due to a rise in highly skilled workers opting to go freelance.

There are now around two million highly skilled freelancers working in the UK, an increase of 46 per cent since 2008.

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People choose to go freelance for a variety of reasons, but greater flexibility and work-life balance are frequently cited. It’s a tempting option for talented staff and one with potentially lucrative returns.

Companies that want to retain employees should take note of this growing desire for workplace flexibility.

Refusing a request for flexitime, or remote working options could lead highly skilled staff to consider other options.

A competitive job market

One of the biggest challenges for employers is that there’s not enough supply to meet demand when it comes to top-tier talent.

It’s not just about having a competitive pay package.

Your company’s culture, values, and purpose can be deciding factors when candidates are choosing where to work.

Jobseekers know what other businesses in the market are offering – and, chances are, your staff know it, too.

Keeping an eye on what people are looking for will make sure you continue to offer the right benefits to retain those important staff members.

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Career trajectories

Managers need to keep their best employees engaged in their future with the business. A big part of this is making them feel like they have the potential to progress, so it’s important to develop career paths for your employees.

Common mistakes made when trying to retain talent You don’t think they need training

A common mistake is assuming your best employees don’t need training because they’re already good at what they do. They’re hitting their numbers and seem happy with their job, so your budget is better spent on staff who are struggling – right?

Providing training and development opportunities is essential for retaining talent. Your staff might already be highly skilled, but they can fall behind if they aren’t given the chance to hone their expertise. Worse, they could become bored or despondent in their roles.

Training is also vital if you want to keep your best staff engaged. People need to feel like they’re a valued part of the team – championing their personal development shows that you’re invested in their future.

John Kinloch Anderson, CEO of kiltmakers Kinloch Anderson, notes that educating the company’s sales teams on manufacturing processes led to higher employee satisfaction and staff retention. “When our best people have a true understanding of the work that

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goes into creating one kilt or piece of clothing, they really buy into the brand on a much deeper level than somebody simply selling a product with no knowledge about how it was made,” he said.

There’s too much pressure

High-quality employees tend to be highly sought after across the business. They might be asked to give their input at department meetings, mentor junior staff, or help solve issues.

While top performers can positively influence the business as a whole, it’s vital that managers check they aren’t being stretched too thin.

Be wary of piling too much pressure on them, or giving them too many responsibilities – this can lead to stress, and you risk losing your employee if they start to feel overwhelmed.

You don’t know who your best staff are

Your best members of staff won’t always be the ones who work fastest or bring in the most money. They might be under the radar and, as a result, you don’t realise how much they contribute.

It’s crucial not to judge staff by metrics alone. Pay attention to how each employee contributes to the business, whether it’s motivating the people around them or expertly handling difficult customers.

You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

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Quick wins for keeping your best members of staff Show staff they’re appreciated

It’s easy to take people for granted when they’re consistently high-performing. But showing employees they’re appreciated is essential if you want them to feel like they’re a valued member of the business.

Recognition might be done through a formal system like an award, year-end bonus, or promotion. However, managers should also get into the habit of providing more regular, informal recognition.

This might include:

– Highlighting great work in your weekly meetings – Taking an employee out for lunch

– Sending a quick email to an employee to explain how much you’ve appreciated their work recently Ask your employee what the business can offer

Don’t make assumptions about what your best employees want from you – ask them and find out.

Career development prospects and mentoring are often attractive to talented staff. But people’s interests and priorities change. Your employee might have been interested in a high-pressure role a year ago, but now values work-life balance because of new family commitments.

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It’s up to managers to make sure they’re regularly meeting with employees and finding out how the company can support their needs.

For Charlotte Harding, chief people officer at warehousing and storage company Trident Worldwide, the trick to retaining your best employees is to never make assumptions about what’s driving them. “To retain high performers, it’s key to understand what motivates them,” she said. “This can then be paired with the assignment of an effective mentor and a culture of trust and transparency.”

Look after employee well-being

Top employees may be asked to contribute to projects outside their remit. It can be hard to say no, particularly if they’ve been approached by a senior member of staff.

It’s crucial to monitor employees’ workloads to protect against burnout. Feeling like too much rests on your shoulders is a fast-track way to exhaustion and disenchantment – meaning your employee is likely to start looking for work elsewhere.

Managers should check in with staff about their workload on a weekly basis. Make sure they’re not working in the evenings, and encourage them to use their holiday allowance.

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Get better at delegating and giving your team autonomy “The worst mistake a business owner or leader can make when delegating a task is to take credit for the work themselves once it is complete. Firstly, it alienates and demotivates the individual that took responsibility for the task in the first place, and it portrays an image that the leadership of the organisation doesn’t value or celebrate the hard work of others.”

– Markus Goess-Saurau, CEO, Sondskin

As businesses grow, many leaders find it difficult to give up control. But giving your team autonomy benefits both you and your staff.

Many business owners like to control each and every aspect of their company. It’s their baby; they may well have founded it, and even as it grows they feel like they need to be involved in the details.

There are several factors behind this desire to keep control. These include lack of trust of leaders in their team, and the fear that if they delegate responsibility to others something will go wrong. There’s also a concern that explaining a new task to someone will be too time consuming.

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On the other hand, studies show that delegating, and getting better at it, has many business benefits.

According to a report by PwC, employees who feel they can act with autonomy tend to have stronger job performance, higher job satisfaction, and greater commitment to the organisation.

Business owners and leaders also benefit by freeing themselves up from more routine tasks, so that they can focus on activities that add more value to the business, and avoiding burnout.

You have to be realistic; being involved in every area of the business isn’t sustainable. As Karen McLellan, MD of the Hereford branch of accountants Haines Watts, puts it, there simply isn’t time: “It just wasn’t physically possible to maintain that level of involvement as there weren’t enough hours in the day,” she said. “On top of that, to achieve the goals I wanted to achieve, I needed to bring in some pretty specialist people – and if you want to attract the best people, they don’t work best under that level of control.

So, I had to learn to adapt my business style and learn to trust.”

Let’s see the main factors involved in delegating; common mistakes business owners make; and quick wins you can start implementing today.

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What factors influence your ability to delegate and give your team autonomy?

The size of the company

The smaller the company, the more likely it is that the business owner will be involved in every function of the business – and be more inclined to micromanage. The sooner leaders grow out of this habit, the more growth you can unlock.

Recognition of the benefits

Getting better at delegating and giving your team autonomy becomes easier when you have a firm grasp of the potential benefits: – The business owner avoids burnout

– It frees up the business leader to work where they most add value – Employees develop new confidence and skills

– Higher levels of job satisfaction and staff retention – It encourages innovation and new approaches Common mistakes business owners make when delegating Failing to match the person or team with the task

Even though the person is willing, if they don’t have the right skillset, support, or resources, it’s likely to lead to failure. This can cause issues with business performance and employee morale.

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Paying lip service to autonomy or delegation

Some business leaders say they are delegating a task or giving more autonomy. But they then have a tendency to keep interfering without giving the person or team sufficient time to work things out for themselves.

This undermines the confidence of those staff and creates the sense that you don’t fully trust them.

Taking back tasks is particularly damaging.

Poor communication

Not communicating effectively with your team before you delegate a task can mean that people are unclear on what you want from them, setting them up for failure.

Leaving people to sink or swim

Interfering too much has its downsides, but leaving people to sink or swim without any support can also be risky and may result in the task not being carried out to a satisfactory standard.

Blaming others

When things do go wrong, there may be a tendency to blame the person or the team, when the root cause may be something you’re responsible for, such as goal setting, training, or resources. Where blame isn’t justified, people will be reluctant to come forward again.

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Quick wins for getting better at delegating Start off small

Begin with small tasks and, based on how well the person does, build up to bigger and more complex activities.

Sell the benefits

If you want someone to take on a new task, sell the benefits. Explain how it could help them grow in their career, or give them an opportunity to work on something they’re passionate about.

Changing job descriptions to reflect a person’s new responsibilities will give them a sense that this is something serious. Be prepared to have a discussion about salary, too.

Offer relevant training

When delegating a task or giving a team more autonomy, make sure they have the right skills, knowledge, and support. Perhaps training is required, or they need to give up some of their work to make time for the new activity.

Change your mindset

Giving autonomy to people and teams means allowing them to do things differently. This requires a change of mindset by business leaders, and an acceptance that with this freedom comes a greater risk of failure alongside the potential upside that new approaches bring.

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If things go well, make sure you give those involved full credit and highlight the success within the company.

Communication is key

Make sure both parties have a common understanding of the expected deliverables, time frame, and scope.

Also, specify any expected milestones along the way and a framework for reporting progress.

Giving employees more freedom to do the job their way requires that they have a clear understanding of the organisation’s strategy and how the work they are doing fits in.

Adopt a “checking-in” not a “checking-on” approach

Constantly checking up on people undermines them, so adopt a checking-in approach instead. The way you phrase questions about progress can have a big impact.

Asking broad questions, such as how something is going or whether they have the support they need, is better than jumping right into micromanagement.

Don’t throw an employee in at the deep end

You will improve the chances that delegating a task to someone will be successful if you don’t throw them in at the deep end.

Let the person or the team know you have confidence in their ability to deliver, but at the same time reassure them that you are available to support them should they need it.

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Finally, remember that patience is a key part of successful delegation. Martin Port, founder and CEO of the workforce management platform BigChange, puts it this way: “Like most things in business, you’ve got to find time to sit down and explain to people what you want,” he said. “You need to give people time to listen and also find time to answer questions about what you’ve asked them to do.”

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Use the data you have to improve decision-making “We have some incredible data and knowledge of what people want. Through technology, we’ve been able to gain a really deep understanding of what people like and don’t like, but I’m still learning every day. To really understand what people want, you need to keep probing away.”

– Larkin Cen, director, WokyKo

Data plays an important part in effective decisionmaking, whether it’s around company growth, hiring practices, sales, or marketing campaigns.

A strong data strategy can help businesses stay one step ahead of competitors, helping to tap into niche markets and predict trends.

An estimated 57 per cent of organisations within the tech sector use data to make better decisions about strategies. It’s also used to drive cost efficiencies (60 per cent) and monitor and analyse how products and services are used (51 per cent).

Data can play an important role in financial decisionmaking, too, enabling leaders to build more accurate forecasts based on real-time information.

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The Harvard Business Review points out that the availability of data means that leaders are no longer left to rely on instinct or past behaviour to make decisions.

However, learning to factor data into decisions can take time, and leaders may need to make a conscious effort to develop an analytical mindset.

So we’ve outlined some of the ways you can use data to improve decision-making and common pitfalls to avoid.

What factors should you consider when using data to inform decision-making?

How relevant it is to objectives

Data collection gives you access to pools of information that can be segmented in a myriad of ways. It allows marketing teams to personalise comms to incredibly specific segments, or get into the weeds about customer buying patterns.

That being said, a key consideration needs to be what the point of that is – and what return you’ll get on it.

Make sure you’re clear about what you want to achieve when using data and that it’s not being shoehorned in for the sake of it.

Who will be using the data?

Making data-led decisions doesn’t happen overnight.

Who do you want to be using data, and what kind of decisions will it inform?

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Consider whether you will use data to inform toplevel strategy decisions, or whether you want your employees to use data on a regular basis. If you’re involving employees, you’ll need to examine how to make data accessible and arrange training for tools like Google Analytics.

The extent to which you use data

Data is a great way to improve decision-making, but it shouldn’t be the be-all and end-all. Leaders often fall into the trap of relying too heavily on data until it becomes difficult to make decisions without it.

Use data as a factor in your decisions, but avoid making it your singular influence. Research, colleague advice, and even gut feeling are still crucial factors.

How successful decisions are

While data gives you a more robust understanding of a certain area, it isn’t a guarantee of success. It’s still important to reflect on whether decisions you’ve made are the right ones. If you’re using data as part of a campaign, do your usual due diligence and monitor how well it went.

Common mistakes with using data in decision-making Confirmation bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for and interpret information in a way that confirms your own beliefs.

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Everyone is susceptible to confirmation bias, so it’s important to be cognizant of it when you’re using data to make decisions. Make sure you aren’t actively seeking out data that backs up the path you want to take and ignoring the data that contradicts it.

Neglecting necessary adjustments

One of the most common mistakes with using data to inform decisions is throwing money into things that seem like they should work – without checking that they actually do.

If you’re running a campaign that data predicts should be successful, you need to bear in mind that it may still need some changes along the way.

Just as data informed your initial decisions, data should be helping you adapt and adjust as things unfold. Test different platforms and methods, monitor results, and update your approach based on real-time feedback on your own findings.

Creating bottlenecks with data analysis

If only one person in your workforce can access and analyse data, it’s likely to create bottlenecks that will slow down decision-making. Businesses can be left in a difficult position if that person decides to leave, too.

To drive data-led decision-making across your organisation, make sure everyone has access to it and understands how to read data, use it, and keep it safe.

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Quick wins for using data to make decisions Check your tools use accessible language

Review the tools you have that output data and check they use simple, accessible language that your employees can understand.

If you want your employees to start using data on a daily basis, you need to make sure they aren’t stumped the second they try to access it.

There are a huge number of tools on the market, so don’t feel like you have to stay tied to legacy systems that aren’t accessible. Analytics tools are only valuable if they can be interpreted and used in a meaningful way. So it’s better to invest in something new than stick with something that’s overly complex.

Establish processes early on

A quick win when it comes to creating data-driven strategies is to establish practices early on.

Set the standard and expectation of how this data will shape your decision-making by hosting a meeting that informs all relevant staff of the processes you’re putting in place. Decide how you will use data to make decisions and how you’ll be monitoring the success of your efforts.

It always helps to lead by example when you’re introducing a new process, so give examples of how you’ve used data to inform your own decisions.

What data did you use and what was the impact?

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Richard Strachan, MD at tech agency 3 Sided Cube, for example, has automated processes to export data into different software.

“Using application programming interfaces (APIs) will automatically gather the data you need from a source that you’ve chosen,” he said. “This not only automates the data-collection process, but you can also tell the API to export the data it has gathered to another piece of software or document.”

Set aside a training budget

It doesn’t matter how much you talk about data – if your staff aren’t comfortable using it themselves, it won’t become part of their routines.

Ask managers to find out how staff feel about using data in one-to-one meetings. It’s not always easy for employees to voice how they really feel – particularly if everyone else in the team is skilled in a certain area – so give them a confidential outlet to express any concerns.

Use this feedback to arrange training sessions in the business, whether it’s an online course on Google Analytics or an expert-led training event. Check in with employees while processes are still bedding in and arrange further training or mentoring if there are still barriers to use.

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As Lukasz Czech, head of operations at waste management company First Mile, says, upskilling your staff and making sure you’ve got the right tools in place is often worth the investment. “With digital tools, you can keep things running smoothly, save on costs, and make the business more agile – something that’s crucial to staying competitive,” he said.

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CHAP TER THREE

Why is productivity important?

Productive leadership insights

6 to 8 minute reads

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Introduction

As a leader, you’ll sometimes need to make tough choices and win people round to improve productivity.

After all, change can be scary for some.

To improve your business you’ll need to inspire those around you and demonstrate that there is a better way of doing things.

Remember, improving productivity starts with the people at the top. What can you learn from other leaders who’ve prioritised productivity in their businesses and started that incremental improvement journey?

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Tap into customer needs to develop your products – Rob Law, CEO, Trunki

Whether you’re launching a new product or improving an existing one, market research is an essential component. Kids’ travel company Trunki puts customers at the heart of its product design process.

Since launching its flagship ride-on suitcase, Trunki has gone on to create dozens of other kids’ travel products, from waterproof backpacks to foldable booster seats. Currently, the company tries to develop three or four new products a year.

Trunki’s ability to identify gaps in the market and tap into customer pain points has been a pivotal part of its success. Founder Rob Law explains Trunki’s R&D and design processes, and why customer insights are vital to product development.

Research existing competition Rob recommends starting with market analysis. He looks at what products are available, then maps them out on a matrix by price point and functionality. Then, the team will see where the gaps are, and if there’s anything innovative they can bring to the space.

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“We do quite a lot of research on Amazon and see how competitive certain categories are. It’s useful to read reviews to find out if and how products are failing consumer expectations. Then start talking to end-users,” Rob explained.

While it’s important to talk to potential customers during the product development stage, Rob is wary of using focus groups. It’s easy to fall into the trap of using them to make every decision, which can slow down your processes. Use them to sense-check products and ideas, but try to factor in a host of different research and data, he suggested.

Real tests It’s helpful for Trunki to have its target audience – parents – already in the office. However, relying on the same group of people for feedback risks creating an echo chamber. To avoid this, Trunki has opened up testing to volunteers.

“We’ve created a Trunki lab where parents can sign up to become user testers. It gives us a broader range of feedback,” Rob said. He emphasised that it’s still crucial to get your product tested in real-life situations before you launch. Without real-life testing, you risk spending money on sales, marketing, and manufacturing for a product that isn’t fit for use.

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“When we developed our toddler reins, we commissioned ten pre-production samples to send out to users to test. A lot of people picked them up and were tying them horizontally when using the strap – we hadn’t realised it could be misused,” Rob remembered.

Trunki ended up re-engineering the product and changing the handle – delaying the product’s launch by a year. “The most important part of the design process is that you understand your target consumer and are addressing their needs. To do that, you need to find out how a product is going to be used in reality and make any adjustments.”

Hone your product Bear in mind that product development doesn’t stop once you’ve launched. Keep track of customer feedback and market trends to find elements you can improve on in future. “Initially, Trunki didn’t have carry handles, as my research highlighted kids could damage their backs carrying heavy amounts. But parents’ feedback was ‘add some bloody carry handles, I’ve got to carry it up the stairs’,” Rob explained.

“We’re always monitoring our reviews and keeping tabs of what’s being reported back to customer service.

Then we can go back and solve any problems.”

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How to deal with 60m customer experiences a year – Humphrey Cobbold, CEO, PureGym

From a standing start, PureGym built an estate of over 200 sites across the UK. Led by Humphrey Cobbold, the company is learning from rivals and innovating along the way.

PureGym was set up by serial entrepreneur Peter Roberts around the time that retail failures were freeing up a large tranche of commercial property.

As someone who had produced results in the restaurant, hotel, leisure, and holiday sectors, Peter saw an opportunity to use these spaces and build a low-cost gym offering.

As Humphrey Cobbold explained, most of the incumbents, such as Virgin Active or Fitness First, poured cold water on the idea. “They said British people don’t want great value, flexibility, no contract, and 24/7 access,” Humphrey said in a rather tonguein-cheek way. “They want swimming pools, saunas, a reception desk, and a yearly contract.”

“Back then, the entire industry was geared towards 12-month contracts – but who wakes up wanting to buy something like that?” Humphrey asked.

“PureGym was a fundamental change. It turned what was a £400–500 commitment into a £20 decision.

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And lots more people will take that £20 decision,” he explained.

With popularity surging and new sites opening throughout the UK, with support first from New Look founder Tom Singh and then a private equity backer, Humphrey joined the business in 2015.

He’d left his role as CEO of online cycling and triathlon goods retailer Wiggle 18 months before, and was in search of a new challenge. While PureGym was not a business he previously thought he’d be attracted to, its mission to disrupt a stagnating sector was a big draw.

“When I arrived it was what I would call a typically ‘adolescent’ business – it looked like an adult business as it was six feet tall and had long arms and legs, but actually when you challenged it a bit more it had expanded beyond its ability to handle that growth.”

In three and a half years, Humphrey oversaw a rollout of new sites, with PureGym opening 51 new gyms over a 52-week period. He also added in the technology and business processes needed to take the business from its adolescent state to a grown-up organisation.

The focus throughout was making sure all the gym sites shared a culture, and gave the same level of customer service.

“With a multi-site business, you’ve got to do two or three things right,” he said. “You’ve got to keep

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the models simple, especially when you’ve got small numbers of staff at each location. Second, you’ve got to make sure the information is clear for everybody, and it’s the same information that everybody had.

Because that makes control and spotting issues much easier if everybody’s singing from the same hymn sheet. And finally, you’ve got to work hard on communication.”

The beauty of modern technology is that it’s made communication much easier, Humphrey adds.

“We use an app called Workspace that allows us to communicate and share ideas very rapidly across the network. Because that’s where you keep people engaged and feeling they’re part of a much bigger business than just the one site that they’re responsible for.”

What’s more, he stresses that future-proofing your business is about being highly adaptable and being ready to understand the shifts in the sand that you confront in a marketplace.

“If you’re not adjusting your strategy and operational approach every two or three years, you’re probably falling behind people who are,” he said.

Humphrey describes this as the “boring, basic plumbing of the business. But it’s vital, nonetheless,” he said. “If you want to scale, you need to step back and pause, otherwise you’ll fall over whilst growing.”

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Find everyday improvements to drive your productivity – Anthony Fletcher, CEO, Graze

From humble beginnings to 500 staff, Graze is an amazing British business story. CEO Anthony Fletcher talks about the small decisions you can make each day to drive efficiencies and improvements.

“Complacency is a dangerous thing,” notes Graze’s CEO Anthony Fletcher. “Business moves very quickly, and if you take your eye off the wheel even for a second, you can get into all sorts of difficulties.”

In a way, to keep moving forward, Anthony almost embraced making mistakes – seeing it as part of the process of change and improvement. The more important thing for him is how you respond when things go wrong.

“You don’t want to punish people for making mistakes, because then they’ll stop moving forward and so will the business. It’s also a question of recruiting for resilience,” he said.

“If you make mistakes and the project you’ve worked on for six months goes down in a ball of flames, it can knock you quite hard emotionally. You need to make sure people can bounce back and get going again.

Perhaps even stronger than before.”

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Curiosity helps too, he added. “If you’re interested in entering new countries, new markets or, areas of uncertainty, that gives you the drive to take the first step. Graze is about healthy snacking and trying to fuel people in a positive way through their day. But we’re also curious about how food companies are run, and how technology might be affecting that.”

Anthony notes that, while it’s wonderful to be a dataled organisation, an over-reliance on data can slow you down. “You can get analysis paralysis, where people feel that they can’t make a decision without a piece of analysis being done,” he said. “It comes down to judgement at the end of the day and good decisionmaking. You can get lost in data. Now we believe in: what is the least you can do to learn the most?”

“You have to make it really easy too, so you explain that it’s this data point, it’s this graph, you look at this data and it’ll help you make a decision.”

As the business expanded, Anthony encountered a range of challenges in taking the company overseas.

“I’ve been involved in a number of international launches and most have struggled,” he said. “It’s a difficult thing to do: what do the consumers really want, who are your competitors, how does the local retail landscape work, how do you raise brand awareness?”

Graze has an additional challenge: snacks don’t have a high average order value. “We’re selling things for

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a couple of pounds, which means the shipping cost is critical for us,” Anthony noted. “When we launched in the US, this was especially true. America is a huge country and moving snacks around is expensive.”

One particular challenge was getting the US mail service to work. Again, rather than launching and then trying to sort out this problem, Graze tried to sort it out themselves first. “We put tens of thousands of cardboard bunny rabbits into the mail in the US and tracked them as they moved around the country,” Anthony said. “The entire supply team was driving up and down the east coast in a hire car with sacks of bunny rabbits in the back!”

That helped Graze create a bespoke system to put snack boxes into the US postal service, which worked out better than doing an expensive study on the best way to ship a product around the US. “You’re able to take products from design to launch in 24 hours.

How does this happen and what’s the power of being able to do something like that?” Anthony asked. “In the UK, it probably takes about two years to bring a food product to market, and 50 per cent don’t last a year on the shelf. It’s not a good statistic.”

To be successful with food innovation, he stresses, it’s important to get feedback from the consumer quickly.

“We have a prototype studio upstairs that can make – at speed – any product we can dream up. As soon as you’ve got a prototype, you can get feedback and take it from there.”

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“It’s extraordinary the kind of feedback you get. We forward the most interesting customer emails around the business, even the negative ones. Sometimes, it’s good to read about angry customers – it does give you a knock, but if the company’s going to move with the consumers, we need to be hearing these things.”

For example, Graze’s consumers felt strongly that the company shouldn’t be using palm oil. So the company worked hard to get RSPO (The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) accreditation.

Another piece of feedback came from a mother complaining about how her child couldn’t open a piece of packaging. “When you look at it, it’s not as well designed as you’d hoped,” Anthony said.

“What a wonderful insight! You wouldn’t have commissioned a piece of market research that would have picked that up.”

As your organisation gets bigger, he adds, the danger is you spend a lot of time looking inward and less time talking to consumers. “We’re determined that won’t happen.”

Use permission to get employee buy-in For Anthony, the manner in which you open discussions within your company is really important – you need to ask permission to have the discussion first.

“People may have spent many years working on things that have in fact worked well. So you need

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to start by asking them if they are open to having a conversation about the business, whether they think it should change. When you ask that, most people find it hard to say no,” he said.

“Once you’ve got them to agree to that, you can talk about how the business should change. What doesn’t work is confronting someone with your views. People need to be willing to challenge each other, even the experts, even the leaders. As long as people can justify their views, hopefully the meritocracy of reason prevails – whoever has the best argument will win the day.”

Anthony says Graze’s culture of openness to challenge has helped it stand out as an employer. “It is a little bit Marmite – some people don’t like it,” he said. “Some people have had a successful career and think that accrues to them a certain status. They don’t tend to enjoy working at Graze, whereas people who like to challenge themselves do and they enjoy it. They feel set free here.”

“I sit down with new starters and talk about how we’re an ambitious company and that’s going to put certain demands on you. It’s exciting, but it’s also demanding. I talk a little bit about how you can deal with that. How you’re going to have to be resilient.

But also how we look to foster an environment where we’re very helpful. We’re a team together, we don’t blame one person when someone’s pioneering ideas come to nothing. We try to learn from them and look forward.”

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Humility as a competitive advantage Anthony acknowledges that leadership can be difficult, and the best leaders recognise they don’t have all the answers.

“My advice is be generous, be vulnerable – I think another barrier to understanding is when people put on an overly confident front or overspinning themselves. It’s certainly something I see a lot in America, especially if a company has a large valuation. They feel the need to project a certain image, but all of that is a barrier to understanding.”

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Ecommerce insights

– Kath Brown, ecommerce director, Mountain Warehouse and Emma Bridgewater Having left the world of consultancy to carve out a career in retail, Kath Brown shared the ecommerce insights she picked up working for outdoor apparel business Mountain Warehouse and ceramics brand Emma Bridgewater.

While the ability for people to shop online has been possible since 1994, when an album by Sting became the first product to be sold on the internet, now nearly a fifth of retail transactions take place on the world wide web.

Driven by better online shopping experiences, the growth of smartphones, and better internet connectivity, the bigger retail battles are being waged on the internet rather than the high street.

Trend spotting For Kath Brown, the rise of ecommerce was one she couldn’t let pass her by. After a number of roles in consultancy, primarily for OC&C Strategy Consultancy, she made the decision to join Mountain Warehouse as their head of ecommerce.

Back then, the business was starting to build a bigger presence online, wanting to capitalise on the demand 98

for its outdoor apparel. Its affordable price point made it a hit on the high street, and that was the time to ramp up digital efforts. Getting it right online comes down to adopting an iterative process that takes advantage of analytics and user behaviour to shape the digital shop window.

“At Mountain Warehouse, we had people who exclusively ran experiments,” she remembered. One of the most important projects Kath and her team carried out involved asking online users whether they would share thoughts on the shopping experience.

After being served a pop-up box making this request, a phone call would be made and a Mountain Warehouse representative had the opportunity to find out, first hand, how the process of buying something on the website went.

“It was eye-opening to see what customers were doing around the website. One of the best things we asked was what one thing almost put them off buying – this flagged some really interesting things.”

Sensible experiments Kath likes to break down tests into two categories – those looking at design and those addressing overall strategy and a more value-led proposition.

“Generally, if you run a test and have some findings that are conclusive, have built variations into the test, and have identified something to improve, it’s quite

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rare you wouldn’t put that into action,” she added.

“But what is more important is having a wider strategy piece going on. You can change the size, shape, and colour of everything – there is an infinite number of variations. Instead, it comes down to having a hypothesis you want to test, where it’s more about planning than putting something into action.”

On the topic of user personas, Kath again had a different take on things. Online personas, she explained, are different from traditional marketing personas. “In the physical world, you’d talk about ‘blue collar’ or an ‘affluent family in rural England’ – those funny kind of portraits that influence the buying of advertising space,” she said. “I spent zero time analysing that sort of stuff or thinking about customer interests or hobbies.”

Instead, Kath looked at whether they were a new purchaser or retained customer. Then, at what frequency they purchased. She pointed towards the RFM model, which stands for recency, frequency, and monetary value. While some customers buy from a brand exclusively at Christmas, others do so each month. It is these kinds of insights that should drive marketing communication, Kath added.

“Look at your 10,000 best customers, and examine what each of them did after their first purchase, if there are trends. What did that second purchase look like? Line up that ‘VIP’ group alongside other customers and see if there is anything different,” she 100

suggested. Kath believes businesses are often guilty of thinking their customers are “super unique,” which they are not. It comes down to identifying patterns of buying behaviour and tailoring a marketing message towards that.

Bricks vs clicks Despite not having the benefit of regular footfall, Kath believes online businesses have a number of advantages. One of the biggest is the ability to converse with existing or would-be customers several times a day through mediums such as social media.

This more constant stream of information creates a sense of dynamism that helps consumers overcome the nervousness of a new brand. Building on these ecommerce insights, Kath touched on the deep-dive analysis that can be done on digital consumers – identifying those buying behaviours, and offering up a tailored shop window to particular visitors.

However, there are occasions when it simply doesn’t make sense for a company to take itself online. “I was in Northern Ireland visiting a selection of Emma Bridgewater customers. One of them was a little gift shop in a small town just outside of Belfast. It operated very much as an impulse pick-up shop, and was well run in an area with good footfall – it served a local community. The owner told me she knows how her shop works, who her customers are, and how they 101

think. She knew nothing about running an online business, but also didn’t think anyone wanted to buy her goods online.”

If online is the right path for a business to go down, Kath recommends gaining a firm understanding of both technology and what user needs are. “While a customer needs to, for example, be able to see birthday cards, as a merchant, you need to be able to run a bank holiday campaign,” she explained.

“Start with those kinds of thoughts and then keep coming back to user requirements. Get brutal and challenge yourself. Do you or they really need to do that? If you’re in doubt, cut it out. A little-by-little approach, rather than one great thing, is a far better way to work.”

For a business to be successful online, Kath concluded, it’s important to be clear about how much it costs to acquire a customer. “Yes, the cost of operating is cheap – but you still need to understand the cost of acquiring a customer,” she added. “If you have a cheap-to-run online business, great. But if no one knows your website is there, it won’t operate well.

Attention and marketing isn’t cheap, there are so many things clamouring for your attention. You need to cut through noise – that is the challenge.”

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Bring innovation and growth to a heritage brand – Sadie Lofthouse, culture director, Adnams, and Andy Wood, CEO, Adnams

It’s stood the test of time, but now British beer brand Adnams is blending in some innovative management strategies to support future growth and employee empowerment.

Suffolk-based brewery Adnams has been around since 1872, making beer on the English coast in picturesque Southwold. With around 580 employees, the familyowned business now makes beer and spirits, owns pubs and a hotel, and even runs shops across East Anglia.

But, as long-serving CEO Andy Wood explained, it has not always been plain sailing. “Adnams lived in a steady state world until the late 1990s, and then it has been volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous ever since then,” he said.

Not only has the sector become increasingly globalised and consolidated, but alcohol consumption in the UK continues to fall and pubs keep closing. What’s more, the rise of fashionable microbreweries means the bottom of the market has fragmented.

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To thrive, Adnams has been modernising itself. “It’s about behaving like a 21st century business and not a 19th century one,” added Andy. At the heart of this transformation is a shift in organisational culture, so the company focuses on agility and adaptability.

“We can only be a sustainable business in the widest sense if we are nimble and fleet of foot,” he said. “To do that, we have had to develop a much more fluid, fast-moving culture.”

Another key part of this development has been the heightened importance of line managers, Adnams culture director Sadie commented. An employee survey revealed pockets around the business where managers lacked either the competence or confidence to manage effectively. “There was perhaps a culture of managers tending to referee from the middle of the pitch – rather than coaching from the sideline,” she said.

With help from an external HR trainer, as well as sports performance coaches, Sadie helped Adnams managers redefine their roles and equip each with the tools and techniques needed to manage in a new culture of empowerment and trust.

She also developed an in-house programme that would give them the language, skills, and confidence to manage in a different way. Building on this, Andy believes it is often the middle manager who is frozen in an organisation. “They absorb a lot of the stuff coming down from the top, and often have all the

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concerns and worries their frontline colleagues are telling them without being empowered to do anything about it. We are trying to empower the middle.”

In making changes, Sadie observed an interesting trend. The capability and competence of frontline and middle managers grew, while senior management felt confident enough to remove centrally coordinated diktats around bonuses and rewarding performance – something which has very recently devolved down to team manager level.

Review staff performance twice a year – or more Another radical shift in the way the company manages its staff, and demands a closer partnership between a manager and their team, has been more frequent review processes.

With a devolution of power to line managers, Sadie wanted to help managers be as objective as possible when assessing performance. While the company had always given employees an annual appraisal with a mid-term review, part of upskilling line managers meant encouraging more regular, good-quality conversations with people about their performance throughout the year.

“What we are trying to move people towards is an ongoing performance log that will be visited at appropriate times throughout the year by either person,” said Sadie. “We are trying to share the

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ownership of that, rather than somebody having an appraisal done to them. It is actually a much more equal relationship.”

Measure staff performance using a defined process Within the new Adnams performance culture, managers are now expected to have much more responsibility monitoring, measuring, and communicating performance to their direct reports.

“What we are trying to do here is focus on the adult-to-adult conversation and not the parent-tochild conversation,” Andy said. The latter is a very “last century” attitude, he believes. Each employee’s conversation with their manager about performance is recorded and built up into a body of content, then reviewed by each party over a long period to see how an employee has developed – rather than taking a measure twice a year.

Sadie says their managers have been given a tool that will guide them through the process. “For the less experienced managers, or for managers who are quite set in their ways, I think a blank sheet of paper would be a little intimidating,” she added.

This tool allows managers to code any conversation around performance, objectives, personal and career development or concern using a simple template that guides them through the process.

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Define good performance using clear performance metrics Keen to define how Adnams will continue to improve company culture, Sadie said she has also been helping to recalibrate performance metrics. “There was a bit of a view that if you have worked hard and done a great job, you should have a bonus.” Employees had to be made more aware that this was actually what they were paid to do – and that bonuses were for rewarding high performance only.

Andy makes clear that defining good performance is tailored to each individual. “What determines a really great performance in one of our pubs at 9.30 pm on a Friday night, compared to a great performance in our finance team on a Wednesday afternoon, are very different things.”

The CEO’s approach centres on making sure each manager places good performance into its specific context and then agrees objectives with direct reports.

But, while each employee’s objectives differ, the way they are delivered needs to be uniform across the business. While the organisational values of Adnams have been held for a very long time, it was only recently that they were codified and translated into a performance context.

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For example, some of the values listed and detailed on the Adnams employee performance log include: “Delivering – ‘Ah, that’s better’ moments for our customers” and “High Performance – deliver on our goals and smash it every time.”

In every performance meeting recorded, an employee is given a performance grade that considers whether they have achieved their goals, and whether they have displayed the expected behaviours. The biggest lesson Andy said he has learnt, so far, is about communication. “You can never communicate enough, and when you think the communication is done, you need to communicate again.” For Sadie, her advice to others in a similar position is that you can’t do something and then sit back, because it needs constant work.

“You can never think you have cracked it! Adnams is living proof that even a 146 year-old business cannot rest on its laurels.”

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How an obsession with waste drove a fivefold increase in manufacturing capacity

– Will Butler-Adams, CEO, Brompton Bicycle Brompton offers a masterclass in reducing waste, and bolstering productivity. CEO Will Butler-Adams built the capacity of its London facility from 7,500 to 55,000 bikes a year using every tactic available, from installing Raspberry Pi computers on each station, to personally taking parts out of the bin.

Be obsessed with reducing waste Will’s philosophy on reducing waste can be applied to any business – it’s not just about what you throw away, it’s also about tasks your team does that don’t add value.

“I remember in the early days, I used to go through the bins and collect all the bits and bobs, take them back to the staff and say, ‘Would you like ten quid?’

They’d say ‘yes’ and then I’d empty all my pockets out and show them the ten quid that I’d just scooped out of the bin,” Will said.

Will wants business owners to put on X-ray specs and look for anything people are doing that isn’t contributing value. The key is to explain to staff what

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waste is and empower them to tackle it. “Once you know what waste looks like, you discover, to your horror, you’re riddled in it. The stuff is everywhere.

And, how exciting is that? Because if you’re still in business today and you’re making a profit, think how much better you could be if you reduce that waste,” he added.

Empowering staff: The story of a paint inspector who could code The workstations in Brompton’s warehouse are powered by Raspberry Pi computers with their own unique software. It allows them to track almost everything that happens, from who installed a part to how tight critical bolts are.

There are 16 million potential variations of how the bikes can be put together, so moving from a paper to electronic system allowed the company to access a huge amount of data and run quality control. “This is technology that’s just out there. You can just buy it on Amazon. You just need to believe and have ideas and make it so,” Will said. “And you know, the funny thing is, people too often jump for the sort of consultants. But you’ve got universities, you’ve got young talent bubbling up, you’ve got talent inside your own staff, and you’ve got to innovate.”

It’s a system that’s been developed over time. That means creating an environment where everyone on the team feels comfortable making suggestions. In one 110

case, a young paint inspector suggested there was a better approach. Four weeks later, he demonstrated a 3D modelling system he’d coded, which was far more efficient – and got a “blooming Nora” reaction from Will.

“There is a real blind spot in business that when you look at somebody’s CV – you sort of compartmentalise them. You are seeing a tenth of somebody in their CV because they’re telling you what they think you want to know. But we are all rich, complex, interesting individuals with families and challenges and interests outside of work. And, far more value than you might realise. You need to find a mechanism to allow people to fulfil their potential in the richest possible way,” he said.

Get advice from other businesses and do what’s tried and tested Will believes the best way for staff to learn is to see what other businesses are doing. Rather than try to teach the theory, he takes employees into other companies’ factories. Companies like Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts, Stannah Stairlifts and Hayter Lawn Mowers.

“The great thing about us lot, the normal businesses, the ones that actually are not very productive and have all this opportunity for change, is that it’s so obvious, it’s all there. You can talk to 100 businesses that are doing it better than you, who open their doors and give it to you because they’re not competing,” he said.

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These visits create a network of advisers and useful connections for his employees. It doesn’t just have to be in your industry, either. If you want to improve a particular element of your business, look at sectors that are renowned for their approach. For example, Will looked at hotels when learning about training young people to offer high levels of customer service.

The “ant steps” add up – and the power of ambition Brompton’s mission is to change the way people live in cities. It’s the team’s “shining light.” They’re looking for the consumer to make a slight change in their behaviour. Perhaps they jump on a bike rather than use the Tube. Will calls these changes “ant steps” – because these small shifts add up.

“If we can mobilise the consumer, if we can educate the consumer, business will change far faster than politics.

Business is international, it’s global. We will solve our problems and take the lead because it’s following the demands of our customers. But those demands are not massive, it’s a small shift. The things that make the big difference is getting consensus and small movements – and that has a big impact.”

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Don’t be afraid to shake things up to become more productive – Chloe Watmore, MD, Thermotex

When taking the reins at a family business, the tendency may be to abide by the status quo. Instead, Chloe Watmore tore up the rule book and breathed new life into a stagnated enterprise.

When Chloe Watmore became general manager at Thermotex in Chesterfield in 2015, the operation was a typical small engineering company. A handful of employees worked out of a dirty, grey-walled tin shed, from which the family business had ticked along for 20 years, making thermal insulation products for overseas markets.

At the time, Chloe was a 22 year-old graduate with no experience of running an engineering company.

She’d simply joined the family business to gain experience of working life, and gained a promotion after helping her father secure a massive contract – the fulfilment of which would require a major shift in productivity.

“The company was effective, but not future-proofed,” explained Chloe. “Manufacturing companies tend to think things are OK because they’re doing things the way they always have. But we now had to think about where the company would be in 20 to 30 years.

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That meant changing the mindset from doing what’s easy, to doing what’s effective in the long run.”

Chloe has a passion for technology, so her first major change was to replace the old computers in the office with Macs – to “look, think, and act smart.” But, she knew that revamping tech alone wouldn’t be enough – she’d need a labour force that was agile and responsive.

“I believe in future manufacturing and, for that, your people need to be feeling smart and purposeful, and able to leverage the technology. Companies used to use computers to find errors in what people were doing.

But now, people are upskilling themselves to manage computers and make sure they’re behaving. For me, what really drives productivity is this self-enforcing circle of people and technology working together.”

The young business leader brought her team right into the conversation, and everything that was previously set in stone – from working hours to the factory layout – suddenly became open for debate. Armed with the team’s input, she moved the workspaces to a leaner, open-plan arrangement with better flow.

Targets – set them and display them Next up came the task of setting targets – something the family business had never previously done. The senior management and teams below them would all have daily goals. With all stock and raw materials now documented using newly acquired software, it could be

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linked to labour results and task times. Staff were given simple KPIs related to their areas of accountability, providing specific targets to aim for, and the company could suddenly measure outcomes and success.

Meanwhile, everyone was encouraged to cross-train, which further sharpened their awareness of the bigger picture. “It’s about data and knowledge and being able to see things before they go wrong,” commented Chloe.

“People could now close the gap towards the targets, and understand how all this work was contributing towards the big goal of the company.”

One crucial shift was to clearly define each individual’s accountability and their wider responsibilities. The two concepts would be distinct, but connected. “Every individual monitors and measures the specific area they’re accountable for, and shouts if it goes wrong,” she added.

“But everyone also must feel responsibility for everything: if you’re in sales and accountable for quotes, you’re still responsible for every product going out the door, and for health and safety. The same goes for a machinist.”

Review your targets and adjust Chloe was quick to affirm that none of this means anything if the business can’t react to changes. The Thermotex management team began altering its company objectives systematically at the start of each month. Management then distributed the information on printouts to the teams, who the boss gathered every morning for a group meeting.

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The next step for the business was to install a large digital board on the shop floor, putting live data up in front of everyone and increasing its visibility even more.

Yet, amid all the systematic documenting and data collection, there was one area that Chloe decided to stop monitoring – absence. Instead of keeping a close record of how much leave time people had used, she realised it would be better for morale – and, therefore, productivity – if management simply trusted people to be team players. Management’s job now wasn’t to police absence, but to ask if there was anything they could do to support. That extended to people’s broader life choices, such as deciding to start a family.

“I’m a young female in business, in a nearly 80 per cent female engineering company, and I really encourage women to go off and start a family if they want to.

And there’s no right and wrong afterwards – come back, take time out, be a stay-at-home mum. Whatever.

For me, it doesn’t matter; it’s about giving people support and options.”

Change how you apply skills and labour Some changes are bound to test trust and morale more than others. In 2016, Chloe announced the company was moving all its cutting to a computer numerical control (CNC) machine. There was some resistance: not only was the machine replacing hard-earned skills, it actually made the work slower, initially, because no one knew how to use it.

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She stuck to her guns and moved to 100 per cent automated cutting within three months. The impact was offset by training displaced people in other areas.

“The person who was doing that cutting had been here 15 years,” she said. “He is now using his skills here in a different way. It’s important for people to know they have a future and a purpose.”

The results have proven worth any frustration. Chloe described the productivity increase as “massive.” And the changes have successfully turned a day-by-day operation into one with a future: the company can now produce a greater volume of work, to a higher standard, target new clients, and deliver designs far quicker.

“We’re turning designs around in 3D,” she boasted.

“We used to hand sketch them on pieces of paper.”

Thermotex scooped seven awards in a year, which Chloe believes is testament to the team. As well as demanding a trophy cabinet, that group grew to 25 people, and turnover doubled to £3m a year.

“We’re a developing company, moving more into consultancy and design as well as manufacturing,” Chloe said. “We’re upskilling people and moving them through. Success will be down to how we take everyone on that journey. We’re not the finished article, by any means.”

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Focus on doing one thing well – Dan Black, co-founder, Black+Blum

Combining leadership self-analysis, product optimisation, and team empowerment helped Black+Blum take big strides forward and double its revenue in two years.

When Black+Blum launched, founders Dan Black and Martin Blum designed and manufactured any product they thought was a good idea. The result was a wildly eclectic product range that included lights, fans, barbecues, and candelabras.

This approach was fun for two young designers. But the business lacked direction and struggled to achieve brand recognition. With no target market, scaling was also a challenge.

When Dan took over the reins, he steered Black+Blum towards the food and drink on-the-go market. The business focused on high-quality and eco-friendly lunch boxes, water bottles, and thermoses.

After recognising that his skills weren’t necessarily in company management, Dan decided to bring in Nick Cornwell as MD. This enabled Dan to focus on his strengths in design, while Nick stepped into the shoes of leadership.

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Since refining its strategy and streamlining its offering, Black+Blum became a key player in the market. It also increased revenues from £2.2m to £4m in two years.

Dan notes that leaders must recognise where they add the most value – even if it means stepping back.

Choose one area to focus on In the early days, Black+Blum sold a myriad of products to a range of customers. The best decision the business ever made was to focus on doing one thing well.

“You’d go into a John Lewis and find one of our products in one place and a completely different product from us somewhere else. There was no brand awareness. People would know our products but wouldn’t know our brand, which was frustrating,” Dan said.

This approach sometimes led to difficult relationships with suppliers who would expect seasonal updates, only to be informed that the product had changed. However, after concentrating on one market – food and drink on-the-go products – and drastically reducing its product range, Black+Blum doubled revenues.

“This growth is purely from focusing our brand and making our offering much cleaner. Making the transition to phasing out all the non-food and drink on-the-go products was a challenge, but it’s been the best decision we’ve ever made.”

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Not all founders are MDs Part of the company’s success was down to Dan recognising that he’s not a natural MD. Rather than continuing in a role that didn’t play to his strengths, he recruited Nick and returned to what he does best: innovate and design.

It was daunting to bring somebody in at such a senior level. But Dan believes that many founders struggle in the MD or CEO role for too long, instead of bringing somebody in with experience in managing a company.

“To start a company and take a product from concept to market, it takes a certain personality. A certain type of energy. But often when you look at a company which is successful, there are two people in the marriage. There’s one person at the start with the ideas and the drive. Then there’s got to be someone who’s backing them up,” he said.

Under Nick’s leadership, Black+Blum developed clear brand guidelines and a company vision. Nick also set goals and benchmarks to measure progress so that all employees were aligned.

“It’s so much better having someone who is disciplined and doing that side of the business. It allows me to focus on what I’m better at, which is the ideas.”

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Build discipline around product development Black+Blum’s disciplined approach to product development has helped it get products right the first time and develop good relationships with factories.

Previously, the company went straight from prototype to manufacturing. While this approach generally worked, potential improvements were sometimes missed.

This led to halted production runs, costly updates, and in the worst-case scenario, the manufacture of thousands of products that weren’t right.

The first step now is to write down 100 ideas. Next, the design team interviews employees about the ideas, always referring to the company vision, and whittles them down to ten or 20. The next stage is to use a 3D printer to produce a prototype.

“The 3D printer was a big investment, but it’s just brilliant. You get instantaneous feedback, which makes the whole product development process so much quicker and better,” Dan said.

Once the prototype is signed off, the business does a small trial production run. Products are then given to potential customers – without any instructions – and feedback is collated.

“It’s amazing how you think a product is finished.

But when you put it into production, you’ve got 10,000 on your hands, and find there’s one thing that’s not quite as good as it could be,” he said.

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“A trial production run probably adds four months to the whole development process. But it’s worth its weight in gold, because the end product that reaches the market is what it should be.”

Ask staff to share ambitions and challenges Even with a relatively small team of 16, it takes work to keep everybody up to speed with the overall business strategy.

The team has structured weekly meetings where every employee briefly shares their successes, ambitions, and challenges. The meetings are recorded in minutes and shared.

To encourage staff participation, Dan tries to create a laid-back atmosphere in the meetings. Measures such as selecting a different genre of music to play at each meeting help people to feel relaxed.

“Some people, when they first join, aren’t comfortable about speaking in front of everyone. But the more they do it, the better they get. These meetings aren’t long, but they’re so useful for the whole company,” he said.

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Do your research before investing in new tech

– Tom Mathew and Hannah Barlow, company directors, Dunsters Farm Adopting technology can drive productivity, improve customer service, and increase profitability. But before you invest, do careful research.

Ahead of any expensive and long-term investment, it’s vital for business leaders to research potential products and suppliers. Investing in new technology is no exception. Get it right and the benefits can be huge. But the wrong choice can waste money and hinder growth.

Ask lots of questions Dunsters Farm already had an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software system in place when brother and sister Tom Mathew and Hannah Barlow became company directors, taking over from their parents. But it soon became apparent that it wasn’t fit for purpose.

Tom and Hannah wanted better performance data to help them run the family business, which launched in 1963. They also wanted to increase efficiency and deliver better customer service. Updating the old ERP was problematic and typically required clunky bolt-ons.

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The process of finding a new ERP took 12 months and began with lots of online research. Tom and Hannah didn’t fully understand what an ERP was, and weren’t sure what they needed. But they knew they needed to get it right the first time.

After narrowing it down to five or six potential suppliers by asking lots of questions, the pair realised they would have to choose between two different types of supplier.

They could go with a household name product, which would need to be customised to fit their business, or they could go with a smaller provider, which had a specific solution for their industry.

“Our old system was supplied by a big household name through a third-party provider. Every time we had a problem, they didn’t really know our business that well and would make a bolt-on. It all becomes a little bit cumbersome,” Tom explained.

Do your field research Once they had gotten down to the last two potential suppliers, the pair went all around the country looking at the systems in action. Crucially, they needed to see how it would perform in businesses like theirs, which specifically dealt with food and issues like weighted products, refrigeration, and temperature control.

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“We’d class ourselves as advocates for implementing tech, but we’re very strict on what we’ll implement.

People see it as the answer to all their prayers, but it’s not necessarily, unless it works for your business,” Hannah said.

Get the right cultural fit Dunsters Farm opted for a smaller player, as it meant the business had direct contact with the people designing the software. Tom and Hannah were careful to make sure that the provider was stable and well equipped to be a long-term partner.

“The cultural fit with the supplier was a big part of the decision. The ERP is often described as the heart and lungs of your business, and you need to get on with the suppliers. You might have the system for 10 to 20 years, so it’s a big investment and the partner needs to be right. You also need to be sure there’s stability within the supplier, and that they’re going to be around for the foreseeable future,” Tom said.

Dunsters went with the partner it felt it could work with the best. As the business doesn’t have an in-house IT team, it needed a supplier that could work with the business closely to implement the solution, and wouldn’t charge for every minute of what was likely to be a challenging implementation process.

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“The key thing was the team at the provider that we went with. They said they’d give us as much support as we needed and it wouldn’t be chargeable by the hour,” Tom said.

Reap the benefits While there were teething problems, the system resulted in huge benefits. In its first year, the ERP system has helped the business double its profitability.

The system helps to ensure orders are right the first time, resulting in better customer service and large cost savings from spending less time resolving issues.

Picking speeds in the warehouse have doubled.

However, it was a big change for the workforce and they had to make it work overnight. There were issues on day one, for example, when the signal for the voice-picking system failed and the warehouse team was unable to work until it was fixed. This put a lot of pressure on Tom and Hannah as new leaders in the business who had led this change.

After implementing the ERP, Dunsters began looking for opportunities to extract more benefits from it.

They integrated it with a new customer relationship management (CRM) system, so they could make further improvements in gathering data and efficiency, and opening up new sales opportunities.

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Empower your people in new techniques to boost your efficiency – Ian Watson, CEO, Start-Rite, and Gavin Price, operational director, Start-Rite

It’s a family-owned shoe brand that has been around since the end of the 18th century, but it took an outsider’s perspective to truly prepare Start-Rite for the rise of ecommerce.

Norfolk-based Start-Rite has been making shoes for children – including royal feet – since 1792. So when Ian Watson took the helm as the first non-family CEO, he was tasked with dragging the firm and its 86 employees into the 21st century.

For a company that still processed orders on paper, the transformative changes Ian and operational director Gavin Price brought about were radical. While the business had outsourced its manufacturing to India 15 years previously, at the heart of the turnaround strategy there was a move to drastically improve operational efficiency in its people, processes, and systems – and instil a culture of continuous improvement.

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“Fundamentally, we are trying to put the consumer at the heart of everything we do,” explained Ian. Ecommerce was a big area of expansion for the firm, so he knew the company would need a high-efficiency distribution centre to handle Start-Rite’s new ambitions. It was Gavin’s job to execute this strategy, so his focus was redesigning, systemising, and automating Start-Rite’s processes, whilst re-training the workforce in the new skills the company needed – and in a modern mindset.

“We saw our operational side of the business as something that was grossly inefficient because it was a manually managed operation,” said Ian. It was impossible for the firm to continue to operate this way if it were to deliver on its ecommerce strategy.

At the top of its list was automating the ordering process.

After installing a £100,000 machine, they transformed a five-stage process that took two minutes per order to a 20-second, two-stage process. The company also set up a new warehouse management system. This connected with the machine and streamlined the rest of the distribution process. Plus they worked with a new courier to deliver orders; another vital step. “We are now 83 per cent more efficient,” Gavin said.

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Instil continuous improvement in company culture Gavin is well versed in the managerial principles of “kaizen” and “lean”, which espouse continuous improvement to cut waste and improve productivity.

So he wanted to bring a mentality of continuous improvement to Start-Rite. “It has been hard because a lot of the workforce here used to be shoemakers – they are not logisticians. I come from a background of eliminating waste, making everything efficient,” he said. “A lot of the core staff in the distribution centre have never worked with key performance indicators.”

Despite this, he cautioned that the balance between new and old ways must be managed carefully. Not every old way of working is bad, he explained. “You have to balance that with people. A few wins the other way around actually works. If you go back and say: ‘you were right, it was better the way it was’, it equals people out. Otherwise they just see you as a change agent and are not interested in what you have to say.

Everyone’s opinion is valid so you’ve got to manage that push and pull,” he said.

Train employees in eliminating waste Start-Rite invested in training for 18 out of its 86 employees, mainly in its Norwich distribution centre, to teach them the fundamentals of “lean” – which is about taking waste out of processes.

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“It was about giving the team a set of skills so that they could map a couple of the key processes in the business, and come up with how they would take out some of the waste,” said Ian. “They came up with the problem-solving.”

Staff were sent to off-site workshops, where they detailed the processes they were involved in. “We gave them the time away from the day job to come up with the best possible solution,” Ian explained.

One such project focused on improving the returns process, which involved nearly every department at the firm. “It was a good one to choose because you bring everyone together,” Gavin said. “When we actually mapped out the process, people were shocked by other people’s involvement and how long the process was.

We looked at making it smarter, eliminating time, and making the consumer experience better.”

His key learning was to make sure that, if staff are given autonomy, you give them a clear deliverable. “You’ve got to be quite specific, saying: ‘I want you to look at this process because I think it is broken’. Otherwise you leave it too wide and everyone wants to heal every little problem in the business,” Gavin explained.

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Structure your approach to making improvements The new warehouse management system allowed Start-Rite to measure and track performance, and make improvements. For the first time, the company could evaluate all staff. “If you’re meant to be picking 100, and you are only picking 80, we need to address that,” Gavin said. The company can also track KPIs alongside service levels, which gives Start-Rite immediate insight for future planning.

With a clear strategy for the business now in place, Ian thinks Start-Rite employees can now see how they fit into the grand scheme of things. “We have rolled out our appraisal and objective-setting process for the company, so everybody is crystal clear on what their role is within delivering that change,” he said. “As the business has been going backwards for many years, there’s a universal understanding and acceptance that we need to change.”

Clear communication, and a lot of it, is critical for success. “Some of our older workforce had never used a WiFi picking gun before, and completed everything on paper,” Gavin said. They were once manufacturing shoes, and now I’m saying we are going to act like DHL – that’s a totally different thing. Communicate, communicate, communicate. And if you think you have communicated enough, you never have.”

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Taking stock Ian believes his biggest lesson in leading a turnaround is appreciating the need to balance the different rates of change across all the functions. “We’ve improved in certain functions quicker than others,” he said.

“Actually getting that balance of bringing the whole organisation to a more professional level will probably be my biggest learning.”

Gavin, meanwhile, is an advocate of not being afraid to try new things. “Some of the new people we needed are from within. We have a distribution centre manager who is a shoemaker, and since we’ve moved him into a quality role we are reaping far more benefits than trying to put him into a role that he was not fit for.

It’s about the right people in the right job. Don’t be afraid of trying things and moving things around.”

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WHAT IS PRODUCTIVITY? The Office for National Statistics defines productivity as a measure of how much output is generated per unit of input. But what does productivity mean for your business? Greater productivity means doing more with the same or less. This is all about getting the best results using the least amount of time, labour, resources, energy, or waste.

GREATER PRODUCTIVITY = DOING MORE WITH THE SAME OR LESS Just like a company’s performance, purpose, and personality, measures of productivity are unique to each business. At Be the Business, we are here to help you and your business figure out what greater productivity means to you. We aim to connect leadership teams to the relevant expertise needed to explore and overcome inefficiencies, and create and deliver solutions that lead to greater productivity.

To discover how Be the Business might support your company’s pursuit of greater productivity, visit bethebusiness.com/book