By Chris Hare >>

AS ADVANCEMENTS in technology plough ahead and the business world becomes increasingly interconnected, leadership is now more complex than ever. With this rapid and constant change, it can be challenging to get executives on the same page when it comes to navigating business strategy.  

In fact, almost all businesses have strategy struggles. Of course there are some who are unable to think about next quarter, much less next year, but even companies with an enunciated strategy often lack alignment.

The problem is that the executives either do not agree with the strategy or have contrary views of what it means.  That is because most strategies focus on broad financial outcomes and product or project milestones, leaving the interpretation of what each function needs to do to each executive.

Leadership must move beyond vision statements and financial forecasting into modelling scenarios that bring together the two key elements of business: the activities that underpin success and the people required to make it happen. 

SCENARIO PLANNING

The key vehicle responsible for executive strategy is the workforce, so leaders must become better at intelligent uses of technology for scenario planning.  This means using Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) to achieve clarity and align the leadership team to execute strategy effectively.

According to a recent study by Accenture, only 55 percent of executives say their organisation does scenario planning at best annually. The same study also shows that 61 percent of executives say they are not well prepared to change the workforce skill and job mix to transition into a digital business.

Also, according to a CFO study by Deloitte, for many companies, the top three risk areas in strategy execution are:

Failure to adequately translate the strategy from high-level ambition to specific actions the organisation must take to make that ambition a reality;

Failure to appropriately adapt the strategy when conditions change; and

Failure to put in place the organisational capabilities required to sustain the strategy after it is enacted.

These findings are no surprise, as many large listed companies are faced with major misalignment in business strategy execution between the CEO, COO and CFO.

UNCOVERING MISALIGNMENT

A common theme uncovered by SWP is the misalignment across the leadership team on what capability and capacity change is required to effectively execute the business strategy. 

This is a huge risk for investors and boards when trying to assess management’s ability to deliver its own plan.

Dynamic scenario modelling of SWP is a powerful tool in bringing executives around the table and driving invaluable conversation.  This is because it takes executives through a joint conversation on critical activities that are required for plan delivery. 

They are comfortable debating BAU (business as usual) volumes and potential business disruption if a model is in front of them.  Even better when it then denominates the outcome in something they all understand, people. 

Knowing the degree of change in people required helps the business determine how realistic the strategy is and what is going to be required to make it happen.

As in Synchronicity by Joseph Jaworski, “a managers’ inner model never mirrors reality . . .  it is always a construct. The scenario process displayed through modelling is aimed at these perceptions inside the mind of a decision maker. By presenting other ways of seeing the world, decision scenarios give managers something very precious: the ability to re-perceive reality, leading to strategic insights beyond the mind’s reach”.

This dynamic really aligns the workforce with the business and with finance. It provides a quantitative basis for intricately understanding the workforce, facilitates great discussions and most importantly creates a call to cohesive action to ensure successful strategy execution.

QUANTITATIVE STRATEGY

Unlike other methods, SWP is particularly useful as a foundation for driving clear conversations.  It articulates workforce demand and enables the businesses to see the necessary workforce to align with strategy.

With the workforce being not only the largest cost for most organisations, and arguably the biggest asset, the need for the C-suite to intricately understand and proactively plan for the future is critical.

Executives who fail to employ SWP will lag behind, as SWP provides a clear mandate for businesses building a future view of the workforce. This is even more critical in the face of the future of work, technology and automation, where understanding the capability and retraining opportunities will be needed to ensure organisations remain competitive.

However, the roadmap laid out by the external lens provided by future of work is useless if companies do not consider their own context.  They must integrate the external view with their own business planning and labour composition to understand how to achieve. 

Only SWP brings these elements together.

IMPROVED DECISION MAKING

The value of being able to quantitatively understand workforce needs cannot be underestimated.

If you were to ask executives if they knew what workforce their organisation needs today, it is likely the answer would be no. The majority of companies are flying blind, rolling out business initiatives that they often don’t even know they can execute.

Being able to identify the value of different initiatives in the context of critical business drivers gives executives the insight to prioritise and plan. By integrating financial principles, SWP ensures every decision is commercially grounded.  This enables executives to make decisions that align workforce initiatives and optimise their success.

SWP enables executives to nuance the dynamics of workforce supply and demand to proactively determine the best initiatives across not only the traditional build, buy, borrow suite, but also which segments they need to focus on for retention, what they should eliminate in a coherent context and which productivity and efficiency initiatives will have the most impact and where.

ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE

Executives who employ SWP have an informed view of business strategy versus the workforce, integrating all elements in a dynamic and predictive construct to centre the conversation on strategy, planning and action.

It is with these insights, executives are able to align their focus in delivering imperatives in the constantly changing contexts their company operate within.

The power of decision scenarios as a critical strategic business tool is the greatest advantage of SWP.

Take the case of Royal Dutch Shell Group of companies. Their system of scenario planning is acknowledged to be one of the best strategic planning systems used today and has been credited for turning around its business performance.

At Shell, planning for the future is done through scenarios, which not only enables superior decision making, but also facilitates alignment between management teams who are all perceiving things through their own lens.

SWP crystallises the strategy and actions needed to achieve the desired outcome. Through dynamic scenario workshops, SWP forces a shared view of the more detailed activity projections and creates an understanding of the resourcing and capability change required to achieve.

With technology already changing the way we work, which will only keep changing exponentially, it is essential for executives to plan for the future of their workforce now.

By building this understanding with SWP, executives are better equipped to align business strategy and execution.

www.qhr.com.au

About the author and QHR

Chris Hare is the co-founder and director of Quantitative HR (QHR), a business leading the market in applying the latest strategic workforce planning and HR analytics approaches to enable clients to unlock the value of their human capital. QHR translates client business strategies into workforce implications to form commercially-grounded, targeted action plans. QHR has worked with clients such as Telstra, Optus, Transport for NSW, ING and Ausgrid. www.qhr.com.au

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By Balder Tol >>

AS LEADERSHIP guru Simon Sinek once said, “When people are financially invested, they want a return – when people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute”.

This statement has never rung truer for modern-day employees who want to do the type of work that contributes to their companies in a meaningful way. A salary and stability are not enough to make workers feel engaged in the 2019 workplace.

In a study by Deloitte last year, a sample of millennial employees were asked what would make them happier in the workplace. About 81 percent cited having meaning in their work, 72 percent said feeling valued, and 64 percent wanted a good company culture.

Provision of these needs is crucial now, more than ever, for the Australian modern workforce.

Community is one of the best ways to meet these desires. If strong social bonds are formed, workers are often happier and get more value from their day to day. Aspects such as building design, social events and community spaces can have a profound effect on this. 

At WeWork, our primary focus is to provide a community to all of our members. While we’re known for creating dynamic places for people to work, our true success comes from combining multiple factors that encourage interaction, incorporating community areas, social events and networking.

We believe that companies of all sizes can transform their culture and gain the best results by taking a similar, multi-faceted approach.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Effective workplace design is central to community creation. Given we spend as much time at the office as we do at home, physical environments need to inspire to bring out the best in people.

The modern worker has come to define themselves by their work, and the aesthetic feel of their workspace needs to match their aspirations.

WeWork addresses this with modern furniture and artwork that give members a space where they actively choose to collaborate and socialise.

That said, community does not come from design alone. At a time when people are easily engrossed in devices, additional social encouragement is needed.

Weekly gatherings such as thought-provoking talks and networking events can allow employees to look beyond their daily networks to form new connections.

According to the Australian Psychological Society, 62 percent of young adults lack companionship, meaning workplaces have an opportunity to expand social circles to encourage overall happiness.

Staff that feel part of a community are more likely to be happier and more engaged in their work overall.

Socialising aside, more interaction can also lead to new business opportunities.

More than free food, WeWork’s weekly ‘Thank God It’s Monday’ breakfasts have enabled 70 percent of members to collaborate in some way, with more than 50 percent doing business together directly.

While emphasis on collaboration is key, spaces for privacy are also needed for productivity. 

Open plan offices encourage interaction but are not the best option for work that requires focus. Soundproofed alcoves provide comfortable sanctuaries for conducting private calls and video chats, while wellness rooms allow workers to pray, meditate, or just gain some privacy.

ONE COMMUNITY FITS ALL

Despite the size and type of a business, younger workers have the same desire for community.

While freelance individuals or new start-ups are actively trying to expand their immediate network, large organisations are realising the importance of making their workforce more socially driven. Some 84 percent of those surveyed believe access to WeWork makes them more productive, too.  

All kinds of companies are creating technology hubs to inspire their developers to offer innovative new solutions.

Headquartered in North Ryde, NSW, Microsoft has a large private office at WeWork in Sydney, offering their teams a central location for meetings and improving collaboration across the business and with the wider community.

As WeWork has grown, enterprise customers now make up almost 30 percent of its customer base. Large companies are discovering the value offered by modern, city-based workplaces.

Practically speaking, creating a new community and aesthetic is tough, which is why so many businesses are yet to change.

Collaborative workplaces are taking care of time-consuming basics like high quality wi-fi, cycling facilities, social staff and drinks, making a better employee experience accessible to all. 

WORK AS AN EXPERIENCE

Today’s workforce needs positive reasons to stay loyal, ranging from financial benefits to having exciting work and individual growth opportunities.

While companies will always have to lay the concrete aspects of the work itself, WeWork’s swift expansion comes from its ability to enhance the daily work experience.

By leaning on WeWork, organisations of all sizes have seen employee engagement improve through new friendships, business partnerships and an increased sense of belonging.     

www.wework.com

Balder Tol is the general manager of WeWork Australia. WeWork was founded in SoHo New York city in 2010 and today provides shared workspaces for technology startup subculture communities, and services for entrepreneurs, freelancers, startups, small businesses and large enterprises. WeWork has workspace office locations in 554 cities in 97 countries.

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By Leon Gettler >>

Everyone has a courier horror story. Misplaced parcels, drivers running late, deliveries on the wrong day and bad drivers.

Zoom2U aims to change that. It’s a user friendly delivery platform that connects businesses and individuals to a fast and reliable community of couriers.

With Zoom2U, people can track where the parcel is in real time via GPS technology. It also provides the client with the driver’s contact details. 

A fast growing start-up, Zoom2U operates in all the Australian major cities with plans to expand to the big regional cities.

Founder and CEO Steve Orenstein said it was created to give the customers a much better delivery experience.

“So being able to see the live location of the driver, being able to communicate with the driver as well, so being able to call them,” Mr Orenstein told this week’s edition of Talking Business.

“It’s moving away from the traditional problems people have with courier companies arriving and you never knowing when they turn up.”

He said all people have to do is go to the website and register their delivery request. The request would then go to the network of drivers. The GPS technology would allow the customer to see when the driver would be arriving.

Zoom has had massive growth, registering 600,000 deliveries, all ordered online and delivered within a three hour period.

He said over 50,000 customers have registered with Zoom2U.

Mr Orenstein said Zoom2U is particularly popular with e-commerce businesses. It works particularly well with fashion and electronics.

“There are simple traditional businesses, like the printing company and the legal firm that always have a need to move something around quickly and then there’s the general need for individuals who have forgotten something or need to get a passport delivered,” Orenstein said.

He said Zoom2U has 1300 drivers using the platform and there are 12,000 on the wait list, all of them drawn to it by the flexibility of being able to choose what jobs to take and when they can work.

www.leongettler.com

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.

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By Leon Gettler >>

IMAGINE PEOPLE in a community engaging in peer-to-peer trading of energy. Or high schools that have 50 kilowatt systems on their roofs that sell their energy to parents during the school holidays.

All of this is the work of Enosi, a not-for-profit foundation set up to disrupt big power companies with community energy programs. 

The system is designed for people to trade energy between them before the retailer comes in. This is done through an online service with everyone in the community agreeing to trade energy at a price they choose.

Steve Hoy, the CEO of Enosi, told this week’s Talking Business podcast that Enosi is all about decentralising the energy market, and giving it back to the community.

Mr Hoy said the price is determined by the community.

“You might be trying to arbitrage the fee you normally get from your retailer and the normal price people pay, or you might try for something different like making a donation to the community,” Mr Hoy said.

“Or you might pay for someone else’s energy as some sort of commercial proposition.”

He said a number of retailers, like Melbourne-based Energy Local and Enova Energy out at Byron Bay, which focuses on community energy, had signed up to the platform.

He said while the sector had been deregulated, with generation separated from retailing and distribution of electricity, it had in effect been re-regulated and there had been a re-aggregation producing oligopolies.

“We need to lower the barriers for the small guys,” he said.

Enosi also promotes renewable energy.

“Frankly the big retailers are not really welcoming solar. It’s not in their interests as large oligopolies. They lose something like 40 percent of their revenues for every household,” Mr Hoy said.

”But for small retailers, this is a way to encourage innovation and to get some mind-share.”

He said the platform works anywhere worldwide where there is a deregulated model. Enosi has now been talking to retailers in Japan and the US.

The company uses blockchain technology to make trades transparent and ensure the accounting stacks up.

www.leongettler.com

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.

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