Ken Keller: Victory Insurance and Assurance

Victory Insurance and Assurance

KEN KELLER

SCVBJ Contributing Writer

In conversations with my CEO clients, I have noticed a common thread by those who want results. One told me “No plan means no victory!”

This is a four-phase program to get focused, aligned and performing.

The Plan

Let me start by sharing my observations about business plans. A vacuum is where plans are often created, defined as the CEOs mind and office. The plan, written or verbal, is perceived to be topsecret information, and it should not be.

CEOs too often overestimate what they believe the company can do. Plans do not consider conflicting goals, strategies, outcomes, and resource constraints.

Going further, most plans do not include any discussion about getting aligned behind achieving company goals. The top levels may be well aligned because those individuals have bonus money riding on a successful outcome.

Beneath that, most employees are not told or taught how what they do every day, and how well or quickly they can do it, is critical to the execution of the plan.

Finally, plans cannot be outside of the capabilities of the employees working to implement it. This is often overlooked by the CEO who has lofty goals and is often frustrated when the team does not perform.

The People

Your people are everything. Last month I introduced The 9 Box, a simple yet effective way to grade every employee based on current performance and future potential.

Using this tool with CEOs, together we successfully placed every key employee into one of the boxes and created action plans to focus and direct these individuals better for stronger contribution.

Yes, it is an “employee’s market” now. You may have to make accommodations, financial and otherwise to get through this period. But the tide is turning as we move into a recession as hiring drops and layoffs rise. dashboards to make sure that critical tasks are being conducted every day. And should act at once if they are not.

If you have a reasonable plan, and if you have the right people aligned and supported to execute it, the next step is to make sure that people are effectively working to diligently execute the plan daily. No Plan Means No Victory!

Employees are often not told, or taught, how much performing their daily jobs is critical to the execution of the business plan, says Keller. Plans can also not be outside of the capabilities of the employees working to implement it.

Productivity

If you have a reasonable plan, and if you have the right people aligned and supported to execute it, the next step is to make sure that people are effectively working to diligently execute the plan daily.

Management is the reason people are not productive. If managers are not given the tools needed to help their direct reports, morale and results suffer. If managers cannot exit out under or nonperforming employees, this delays the company achieving results. And if the manager is the problem, not holding people accountable, then the CEO has a big issue, and failure to act on one manager will affect the performance of all managers.

The CEO should be looking at daily

Profitability

I have concluded that no company today should be selling “loss leaders.” Either what you sell makes a profit or it does not. If it does, work to improve margins over time to make even more profit. If something is losing money, either raise prices so it will be profitable, or stop selling it.

Share with employees what your strategy is on profitability. If they know what you want, they can help deliver it.

As the CEO, if you can focus on these four elements (Plan, People, Productivity and Profitability) you can set the stage for Victory. 