3 ways to get better value from your overheads

In difficult times such as these, the first reaction can be to cut overheads to the bone.

I would recommend getting more value from what you’ve got before instigating across the board cuts.

For this purpose I would define overheads as all departments who are providing central services and not dealing direct with the customer – this might be finance, HR, IT etc

Now how to get them to deliver more?

1- Often these central departments don’t see themselves as serving a customer because they are not dealing with the company’s external customers. Of course they have internal customers instead and you need to get them to recognise this.

Get the central services to present to the frontline services what services they can provide for them. Get them to sell themselves, most people in Finance, HR, IT etc have never had to sell anything in their lives so it makes them think about what it is they actually have to offer.

2 – Base your rewards and appraisals on the provision of good service and the creation of value for the business. Is it more important that your finance department provide good management information to the rest of the business or is it more important that they check every expense claim to the nearest penny? If you think it is the former then judge them on that.

3 – Give people in central services opportunities to get out with the frontline people. It will give them a better understanding of what it takes to run an operation on the ground rather than just seeing it from the back office. The more involved in the business they feel, the more they will be able to contribute.

Have you tried to change the thinking of central departments in your business? Do you think that these steps would help?

8 steps to developing a great organisational culture

STEP ONE – THE TWO V’S

Align vision and values with the business and human resource objectives. Add context to ensure understanding.

STEP TWO – OBSESSED ABOUT PEOPLE

Be as obsessed about your internal customers as you are your external customers. Use the five reward levels – just for fun, no cost, low cost, achievement and community.

STEP THREE – LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE

No method is more effective than a good example.

STEP FOUR – COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION

If there isn’t a good reason why you shouldn’t communicate something, then share it!

STEP FIVE – RECRUIT TO FIT

Recruit for attitude, skills can be learnt!

STEP SIX – CONSCIOUS ENVIRONMENT

Use your environment to drive innovation by providing stimulus rather than blank space.

STEP SEVEN – DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE DIFFERENT

Employ different competencies to drive innovation.

STEP EIGHT – RELENTLESS APPROACH

Consistency is key

Planning next year’s strategy

Over the last few weeks I have been meeting with each of our managers to discuss their plans for their service over the next few years. Today I spent a bit of time pulling it all together to give some structure to next year.

Photo: shoothead

Things naturally fell into three categories which I will be expecting each of them to focus on:

Is how you do something more important than the result?

Do you remember at school when you had to show your workings to get full marks? Just giving the right answer wasn’t enough you had to show how you got there.

Most people are constantly looking for quick, easy solutions to problems which require the minimum of effort. But does this miss the point? Is the journey more important than the outcome (or at least as important?)

I am all for being result-focussed and not wasting time getting to those results but it is often in the time taken to get there that you will learn more. Take dieting as an example.

If there was a miracle cure pill to eliminate obesity most people would take it straight away. These pills are constantly being developed and improved so it won’t be long until they are effective and generally available. But is this just as good as eating healthily and doing some exercise?

Use the right tools to be effective

Today I saw a guy trying to cut back a huge hedge with a small pair of shears.

I guess he’s still going at it now and not making much progress.

The moral of the story?

If you want to be effective in your activities then you need to find the right tool.

This could be the right piece of software, the right piece of equipment or the right contact, but whatever it is make sure you’ve got the right tools before you waste a load of time.