Turnaround Plans - Mission and Vision Statements

Many companies undertake turnaround execution without an in-depth, thought-out plan. They start with the realization that they have to cut costs to survive and they do so either aggressively or worse, tentatively. Tentative cost cutting just prolongs the process and speeds the downhill slide to out of business. But both are detrimental to the company’s health.

We write often about having a plan. We also recommend that in the development of that plan, companies start with a review of their Mission and Vision Statements. This is forgotten by 91% of companies in their turnaround activities according to recent studies. Yet this is the guiding star for direction setting and use in creating the strategic business plan that will successfully direct the turnaround efforts, as well as the rise again, once the economy improves.

The Mission Statement is a brief statement of the purpose of an organization or company. It outlines the organization's broad reason for existing; what it does and for whom. It tells you what the company is today. A mission statement should say who you are, what you do, what you stand for and why you do it. It is not a slogan, goal, business plan or public relations piece.

Mission Statement examples:
• "Provide society with superior products and services by developing innovations and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs and to provide employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities and investors with a superior rate of return." - Merck
• "To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential." - Microsoft
• "Organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." - Google

The Vision Statement outlines what a company wants to be, where the organization hopes to go and it provides clear decision-making criteria. It concentrates on the future. It is a source of inspiration; its dream. The best ones are direct and powerful. Try to relay somewhere in your statement that you understand the future of your business depends on delivering increasing value and quality to your customers, accounts and clients. This delivers a clear message of your priorities.

Vision Statement examples:
• “To experience the emotion of competition, winning and crushing competitors.” - Nike
• “To make people happy.” – Walt Disney
• “To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people.” – Wal-Mart
• “To solve unsolved problems innovatively.” – 3M

In today’s world, many ask about time frames for both of these statements particularly in turnaround situations. The answer is that the statements can hold true for many years and continue to provide guidance. Clearly, the plans that will flow from these statements have to be adjusted on a much shorter time frame to reflect current opportunities and challenges.

Why are these important?

First, they set the direction. If you don’t know where you are going, any path will take you there. Turnarounds are about focus, - focus on direction and focus on plan elements and resource utilization. These statements provide the guidance.

Second, despite the well publized loss of employee and company loyalty in the market today, people are not motivated by dollars alone. They want to work in organizations that inspire them and cause them to feel good about what they do at the end of the day. These statements should provide inspiration and motivation.

Third, it keeps the company grounded in values and not every day exigencies. It will make your life simpler and will help keep away the firefighting.

If you do not have Mission and Vision Statements for your company or are not using them in your turnaround efforts, let us know. We can help you.

Thanks

John


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Turnaround Management – 11 Tips for Creating the Plan

In all of the articles we have written here, we have insisted that companies start with a plan so that they know where they are going and have a focused means of getting there. Just cutting costs isn’t going to turn a company around. There has to be a comprehensive plan. The plan doesn’t have to be complex. In fact, we recommend that it be relatively simple so that it can be easily understood and followed.

Here are 11 recommendations to make the planning successful:
1. Start with a clear, well-understood direction from the CEO. The process needs a champion and if not the CEO, there has to be another “C” level executive that will be responsible.
2. Do some research before the meetings. Sound information is required to make sound decisions in your meetings. Failures generally come from relying on bad or no information. Your SWOT analysis should provide information about your external environment as well as your internal operations. Do some benchmarking to determine the relevance of your strengths and weaknesses.
3. Don’t assume everyone thinks like you. Some like big picture visioning. Some like more concrete. Make sure that all types are handled and value the diversity. The key is to insure that all are working from the same set of data that you collected in point #2.
4. Get key players involved from the start. Spread the word to others in the organization. The plan affects everyone so let them know what is happening and what they can expect.
5. Use an experienced facilitator. Yes you can lead meetings too but this enables you to be fully engaged in the process and have an expert who can direct and guide you to do all the right things to get to the right plan.
6. DO NOT ignore the elephant in the room. If there is a large issue facing the company or within the group, forging ahead will cause disaster. Make sure that you surface the issue and allow all points of view to be heard before you solve it. Then proceed with the strategic plan.
7. Focus. Identify the top 5 strategic issues. There are generally only 4 or 5 things that are going to make a significant difference to the success of the company. In turnaround time there may be even fewer. Find them and concentrate on them. The rest will take care of themselves or will drop away as unimportant. Delete the fluff – less is more. Too many pages doom the plan to be put up on the shelf and never used.
8. Get out of the office. It doesn’t have to be at a resort. Get off site and shut off phones and e-mails. There is a need for focus in the mind as well as focus in the plan.
9. Use a scorecard or dashboard to monitor progress. Keep it simple and make changes to the plan specifics based on the measures you are tracking. This will keep you on course.
10. Executing the plan. Start implementing immediately because no plan is ever complete. Break it down into realistic chunks. Get some early wins and celebrate them. This will give the plan credence and traction.
11. Assign responsibility for each element of the plan and make that individual accountable. Provide them with the support and resources they need to do the job right.

If you follow these suggestions, you too can have a successful turnaround plan that can get your company profitable and keep it profitable. Let me know how I can help.

Thanks

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Turnaround Management – Where did all the heroes go?

Many companies, in fact most companies, are struggling in the economic turmoil to find a way to turn the business around. They have cut the costs. Now what is next? They are left with chaos, confusion and cost ineffectiveness in most cases. How to get out of it? Where will they find that hero to save them?

Historically they would look for examples of leadership in other companies, industries or even non business. We had baseball heroes that would pitch brilliantly, shaking off the troubled start. Or hitters that would follow several strike outs with a home run to win the game. Or quarterbacks who would get up from being sacked to throw several touchdown passes. Or music stars who would rise from troubled childhoods to sing platinum album songs. Or movie stars who finally land the breakthrough part. Or even commercial icons like The Pillsbury Doughboy or Mr. Clean who stood for goodness.

In business, there were the business leaders who stood tall among all the rest and took their companies to market leadership and great profitability that was shared with all shareholders. Or politicians who had good values and we followed them despite party lines.

These were the heroes to whom we looked and got inspiration and guidance.

Where are these people now? The news is full of athletes who are breaking the law, musicians and actors who are on drugs or can not sustain a marriage for more than a few months. Some business leaders are taking outrageous bonuses when they are laying off people at the same time. And the politicians are generally despicable. What week goes by without some problem from one of our elected representatives?

Who will lead our companies out of this mess?

The answer is YOU!

You have to step up and lead your company out of the financial problems. Who else is there to do it? If you are the CEO, COO or any C level executive, it is up to you.

You may very well ask “How am I going to do that – lead the company out of this mess. We have already cut all we can cut.”

The answer is look around and find some guidance. The many articles on this site can be a start to help you develop the right plan. Invest in some consulting help. It isn’t an expense because the right consulting will pay for itself. Find those heroes who can provide the motivation and direction. They are still there. You just have to look for them. Let them into your business life and let them help you win.

If you don’t have a “hero” consultant already in mind, contact me. I can help you to turn your business around. I have solutions that stick to get you profitable and keep you profitable.

There are heroes around and you can be one of them.

Thanks

John


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management