Having a good people strategy is key

Having a good people strategy is key,

how hard can it be?

In all companies, people are the assets of the business. Without employees the company doesn’t run – things actually stop. You can definitely give me examples where I am wrong, however as a general rule it’s true. So we agree people are important – right.

It’s easy right …

• You want good people that are proactive

• That like working for your company

• That stay around

• You want clarity on roles & responsibilities so people know how to be successful

• You want to encourage people to stay with perks they care about

So why do so many companies get it wrong?

When having an amazing way of managing people is critical, it needs to be one of the most important things businesses focuses on. If you do a recipe to represent this:

Funnel – good people hired

• Good employee experience so people stay

• Training and development

• Understanding of roles & responsibilities (how to be successful)

• Org design changes explained, and people engaged

• Continue to give good employee experience

• Equals strong engaged workforce with low turnover

3 Key Considerations When Building Your People Strategy

1. Everyone is different

You can’t build a one sizes fits all strategy; you must allow discretion at the individual level. Everyone is different, what they want from work and how they live to be rewarded and recognised is different. Ask them. Make your policies and people strategies unique and let people pick what they want.

Some employees want more flexibility and time off and others want to earn as much money as they possibly can. What employees want will change over time as well so understanding this and providing flexibility in your policies and program is important.

2. Ensure your people are set up for success

It’s imperative to ensure that your people are set up for success this includes but not limited to:

• Good induction

• Good training program

• Clear role description

• Clear role goals

• Clear understanding of process

• Clear view on how to create a difference (continuous improvement)

• Changes in org design are supported by changes in process and roles clarity

By and large, people want to be successful in their job. Sometime companies don’t set employees up for success and therefore people get despondent.

3. Spend money on your current employees

It costs a lot when people leave, you need to recruit, you need to train and then give them time to get up to speed and if they work out you are back to where you were in 3 months+. So invest in your current staff, get them to stay, reduce your employee turnover but investing in your current staff.

I’m a person, you are a person, everything about makes sense, right? So why do we make it so hard?

It’s not that hard, it’s a differentiator and it will make a difference to your business result. It’s a no brainer.

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At Whiteark we have great HR capability & partner with world class leaders in this field, to assist you with engaging with your staff, building the right culture and making your organisation a great place to work.

Reach out for a no obligation chat to Jo Hands on 0459826221, or jo.hands@whiteark.com.au

Article by Jo Hands, Whiteark Founder

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Why companies fail at executing change?

Why companies fail at executing change?

And what you can do about it….

Yes, it’s harsh but the data doesn’t lie. More than 80% of projects don’t deliver.  That’s a terrible statistic. 

 Think about how many money businesses spend on projects & the projects don’t deliver….hmmm if only something could be done.

There are 5 main reasons companies fail at making change, through major projects: 

1.      No executive sponsorship

2.      Insufficient budget

3.      Change resistant culture

4.      Only using internal resources, who have a day job

5.      The business case doesn’t explain the why in a way that people buy in to the change

So, for a bit more detail on the 5 reasons that companies fail to make change, through major projects:

No executive sponsorship

If you don’t have Executive Sponsorship, you are doomed. When money gets cut, and projects get reprioritised your project will be removed or cut first up.  If change is required from the change, you will need Executive approval to drive the change through, if you don’t have it you are doomed. 

 So what….

 You should have an Executive Sponsor, but also 2-3 other influential Executive Sponsors that can help you navigate the politics of getting things done and ensure they have your back when shit hits the fan.

Insufficient Budget

You know the budget processes where everyone bids and they give everyone their projects but just cut the top off the 20% of all projects, so no projects are funded correctly.  Without the right level of funding you need to cut corners and what you started as the plan is now in the toilet and you are making things up to hit all the metrics to ensure that the project is not cut further.

 So what…..

Fight for your budget. Have a detailed budget prepared and if they cut it show them what they are not going to get and the financial implications so you have an ROI story.  If they still don’t give it to you, adjust your business case for the new funding to ensure that you adjust people’s expectations on what will be delivered.

Change Resistant Culture

Have you ever worked in a company, where the company just couldn’t do change, it wasn’t that they didn’t want to, but they didn’t. They were paralysed. They had tried so many times and failed that they were all cynical about making change that when a new person came in they convinced them that they wouldn’t be able to change either, and not to bother.  And so the cycle of a change resistant culture is bred.  It’s really sad.  It’s possible to make change, but you will need to make people uncomfortable and if you have change resistant HR you will likely get yourself into all sorts of trouble. 

 So what…..

But for people like me I see this as a challenge and opportunity to show people change can be done.  However, for the normal person, this is incredibly sad and depressing and really does making change and successfully implemented projects hard, if not impossible.  You’ll find the PMO in these organisations is full of people that are stopping people from actually delivering on anything as well.  My only solution is they need Collin Ellis – he can actually help organisations with the culture change.

Internal Resources – who have a day job

Internal resources are great!  Actually, a combination of internal and external resources is a great mix for any successful project but need to take internal people off their day job to implement the project and backfill them.  Find strong leaders, change leaders and SME’s and put them on the project, and backfill them and give them a budget to hire some other people to support. But empower them. I kinda of answered the so what about on this one.

The Business Case doesn’t explain the Why

Do you know why you are making the change? Have you articulated to the people that need to buy in? Does it make sense?  Have you communicated it, and then communicated it and then again?  You need to be clear on the why and everyone else needs too, so when people get fed up, they remember why they are doing this project.

At Whiteark we love to work with businesses to help them deliver exceptional projects, that deliver results and financial outcomes.  We get our hands dirty to implement with your teams.  We will force the hard conversations, will challenge the team to think bigger, will make people a tad uncomfortable – but will make the project be successful.

Our approach and team are tailored to what you need, so reach out and have a conversation if you have a project you want to be successful or you need help on a project that needs to be restored or project portfolio reprioritised and reviewed

Reach out for a no obligation chat to Jo Hands on 0459826221, or jo.hands@whiteark.com.au

Article by Jo Hands, Whiteark Founder

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My love-hate relationship with marketing

I’m an accountant, so I am not supposed to love marketing, am I?

When I started in industry, marketing budget were cut, how can you justify the ROI on that spend. So much time was spent understanding the return on money spent, some easier than others to explain.

However, when cash needed to be saved it was the easiest spot. It didn’t impact the bottom line, that you can really measure easy compared with other costs.

Then I started my own business, and everything change. Marketing costs started getting put into different buckets;

• Brand – brand awareness. Wanting people to know the Whiteark brand, without awareness people will not think Whiteark when they have a problem. So, with a new business this required a bit of planning, spending and time to get right.

• Events – client events, potential client events & dinner to entertain people was important to build deeper relationships with the right network.

• Content – With the brand in play, having relevant content across social media so potential clients would spot us, understand our value proposition and when a problem came up they would think call Whiteark. Regular content and varied content that was unique was important.

• Podcast – like everyone in the 2020 year with COVID we started a Podcast, it was based on interviewing a leader to understand what made them tick and their leadership journey. It was a great podcast, we did 52 in 52 weeks and then we stopped but we loved the interviews and we got some regular listeners.

• Listings – consulting listings, female network listings and other listings to ensure that we would come up if people were looking

• Website – constant updates to website to ensure new and interesting information

• Brochures – regular brochures that are hard copy and soft copy about our service

• Email campaigns – through Linkedin and/or through Mailchimp through regular newsletters.

• And other things that I now consider marketing…..

It’s hard to measure the success of the marketing stuff listed about but then you speak with a potential client, bump into someone that wants to partner on something or someone reaches out on Linkedin off the back of your postings or seeing some new content.

But whatever the case brand and marketing is important. It’s sometimes hard to measure, but there is ROI. You just need to find the right balance between spend and ROI.

Companies these days, larger companies can measure ROI on marketing campaigns more successfully than they have been able to in the past, which helps them invest in retention, but the cost of acquisition is always a challenge, for most businesses.

When you own a consulting business, the marketing play is a long play, not a short play and therefore you need to be comfortable with what you invest and the return you will make in the short term, and the long term.

So, I am a frustrated marketer and like to see the difference that certain campaigns have on statistics at month end and understand how to make them improve month-on-month. Measuring the key engagement stats every month also helps to understand what people that are engaging with the business enjoy.

If you are looking for a marketing expert, you’ve come to the wrong place LOL, however if you are looking for a frustrated marketer that has learnt to love marketing and all things associated with it, as I founder my business, you’ve come to the right place.

We have some cool content and always something new prepared to read, new templates, new industry reports or we always have something to say, so tune in and you’ll see our content strategy in real time.

I hope you like this article, I had fun writing it. 🌞

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If we can help you, reach out for a no obligation chat to Jo Hands on 0459826221, or jo.hands@whiteark.com.au

Article by Jo Hands, Whiteark Founder

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The people that shaped me & what they taught me

The people that shaped me & what they taught me

When you look back, there are people that have made a big difference in your life. Maybe you see it more when you look back, rather than when you are in the thick of it.  People come in and out of our lives and sometimes we don’t go back to say thank you to the people that have shaped us.

On a day of reflection, I wanted to think through the people that shaped me and what main key learnings were. Rather than name people, I thought I would paint a picture of the kind of people in my life that shaped me & what I learnt along this journey of life.

I am 43 and have a lot of living to do but don’t want to forget the people that shaped me and what I have learnt. As you read this, think about the people that shaped you and what you have learnt.

Take the time to reflect…..

Highschool Teachers

You are in year 10 and you need to pick your subjects for Year 11 and 12 and what uni degree you want to do. Who the hell knows? My Accounting teacher was passionate, entertaining and very encouraging and I really enjoyed accounting and picked up the basics quickly.

It was something I had never considered as a career, but my Accounting high school teacher shaped me. She gave me extra attention and help and gave me the confidence for being able to do really well in the subject. On our year 11 and 12 exam she met us with special pencils for the exam - it was a really nice touch.

First Corporate gig

I did an internship out of high school at a CA firm to do audit. A big transition of travelling to city, clients and earning 14k per year to do audit for small business and councils. I learnt so much. I enjoyed the experience, and it really encouraged me to go to university to do the degree so I could come back to one of the big 4 firms. It gave me a goal to focus on.

This gig gave me an open door when I went for graduate jobs which meant I got to pick Arthur Andersen (the year they were taken over by EY). My graduate experience at EY was exceptional & has set up my career. Paths lead to other paths.

Partner sponsor

An experienced partner at EY took me under his wing. He coached, encouraged, challenged me and gave me opportunities to work on stuff outside of audit that I loved. It gave me opportunity to travel, present, lead high profile projects globally and work on some great accounts / projects. He always challenged me and supported me. It’s been 12 years since I left EY and we still keep in contact.

He is a great bouncing board. His best piece of advice is life is a marathon not a sprint, so slow down….I have listened and maybe now as a bit older see the importance of this advice. Having someone to help you navigate a large Corporate as a sponsor is important, so you don’t get lost.

Great leaders & leadership development

EY leadership is a big area of focus; which means you get annual 360 feedback, leadership development training and an opportunity for feedback on how you lead your teams. You get to work with a range of manager / leaders on different assignments and learn how you work best, who you like to work with and their style. You learn from the good managers and bad ones as well and you shape the kind of leader you want to be.

In a Big 4 environment the people that survive are A class. It’s a competitive environment so to make it you need to be pretty amazing, so you get to learn from a lot of leaders at different levels.

 Training opportunities meant that you got to consider what kind of leader you want to be and really map out an action plan each year on how you are going to improve.

Female role models

 As a female, this is important, having female role models. Partners at EY, CFO, or senior Finance people in client sites. These role models help you work out what is possible & these evolve over your journey.

 As I moved into Corporate, I focused on finding female role models that I could bounce off to continue to build my confidence. I also wanted to be a role model for other women who are on their career journey.

Team members

 I have built some super amazing teams through-out my career, what we have delivered, the fun we had and the relationships we have built will always stay with me as I continue on my journey. Keeping in contact with people that you built relationship with, beyond work.

 I have met some amazing people and I genuinely care about people and helping and supporting them in their career or their life. I am not good as keeping in contact but when people reach out I’m always very happy to help. 

Mentors

Having a couple of mentors (informal) that you can call when you are stuck, need advice or just need a kick up the arse. Life’s journey isn’t always what we expect, but it’s imperative that we take the time to build mentor relationships that work across the journey.

Terrible leaders

After working for a terrible leader (that’s a very long story), you learn what a bad manager/leader is. How to ensure you never work for someone like them again and how you never want to be like them. You learn not what to do. It also has helped me realise that working for someone I respect and I can learn from is so important.

Over time, you build your own confidence and path. It isn’t always what you expect or where you thought you were going to go, but along the journey there are many people that shape who we are. We need to consider / acknowledge these people and their contribution & consider how you give back to others.

Writing this has encouraged me to reflect on how lucky I am to have so many people that shaped me, have contributed to my success and happiness. I want to ensure I say thank-you to them and consider how I can continue to give back. 

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If this has encouraged you to share the people that have shaped you, please share to inspire others to do the same.

If you want to know more about me or Whiteark please reach out on jo.hands@whiteark.com.au or 0459826221.

Article by Jo Hands, Whiteark Founder

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The A Team

The A team, how it operated & why it worked?

You know, the team that works well together, delivers outcomes and is a high functioning team – known by Jo as the “A team”.  If you have ever been led or been part of the A team, you know what I am talking about.

When there is change, do you ever refer back to the memory on how a team should work and operate? Understanding how you build and operate an A team is critical.  What makes the A team work & how do you replicate this again to go with A team version 2.

 I have been blessed in my career to date to work in an A team, under a great leader and be the boss of an amazing A team. 

No team is perfect, and you can never replicate what you have, but the secret sauce of what makes this A team is helpful for any manager and leaders as they build the most effective team possible.

What our people want:

•  People want to make a difference.

• People what to be appreciated. 

• People want transparency. 

• People love connection and being something that is bigger than them or their team. 

•  People want to work in a team / company where they can have fun and laugh and be themselves. 

This all seems to make sense.  So, we need to create and environment for our employees / team that ticks all these boxes.

What our company wants:

• To provide a commercial service / product in the market that is leading

• To generate a healthy return for the service/product

• To stay ahead of the competition

• To always improve the way things are done, through continuous improvement

• For employees to take accountability and responsibility

So, the question then comes, how do you marry the two?

5 key elements to building & operating an A team:

• Hire the right people – be clear on the capability you need.  Don’t hire too many people like you.  Hire people that are passionate and driven and get other people in the team involved in the recruitment process.

• Fire quickly – when you hire the wrong person (and you will) move them out quickly as one bad egg can cause issues.

• Build a high-performance culture – give feedback often, reward good outcomes & recognise people with things that matter to them – money, time off, visibility, training opportunity, another project or a promotion.  Make sure you give you employees the glory when things go well.

• Clear roles & accountabilities – be clear on what they do, their role, how they fit into the overall goals of the team / division / organisation.  Be clear on how they can contribute to the team. 

• Communication – build a culture of constant communication – transparency and get the team to build a better way to do things – as 2 heads or 5 is better than one.

As a leader you have a very important role, to build a high performing team. There will be reasons why it’s hard or impossible but there are always things you can do to improve the performance of how a team operate.  They are not rocket science but they will make a big difference.

One thing not to forget, is have fun.  You spend a lot of time at work, so don’t forget to have a laugh and enjoy what you are doing.  Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously, so don’t forget to smile and laugh.

Proactive approach to culture and employee engagement including flexibility is becoming really critical.

Leadership is an important element for all organisations, to execute successful outcomes having engaged staff is instrumental. 

Don’t underestimate the simple things, to retain, engage your staff to get the best out of them.  In the current environment with the job market, this is more important than ever.

Article by Jo Hands, Whiteark Founder

Do you have any other items that you would add to the A team list?

Tag a member from your A team or your manager of your A team and discuss what good looks like for setting up an A team.

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Want to talk about building your leadership team? Reach out.

Whiteark is not your average consulting firm, we have first-hand experience in delivering transformation programs for private equity and other organisations with a focus on people just as much as financial outcomes.

We understand that execution is the hardest part, and so we roll our sleeves up and work with you to ensure we can deliver the required outcomes for the business. Our founder has a combined experience of over 20 years’ working as Executive in organisations delivering outcomes for shareholders.

If we can help you, reach out for a no obligation chat to Jo Hands on 0459826221, or jo.hands@whiteark.com.au

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The secret sauce of change

“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end”

— Robin Sharma

Love this quote on change.  It’s a good reminder that change is hard.  That is why people are good at change. 

Data doesn’t lie

• 80% transformation (change) programs don’t deliver the required outcome.

• 78% of people in organisations (generalisation) don’t want to make change

• Organisations that effectively make change, have an improved customer and employee experience & a better financial outcome.

Every organisation is working to make change – new product, new sales strategy, new investment, new plan, new operating model, new ways of doing things.  Change is what continues to add value to organisations. 

Organisations that effectively make changes are more customer centric, employees like working at these organisations and have a better financial outcome. So, it’s a no brainer.  We need to create an environment in an organisation for change to occur and for it to be celebrated. 

 While nothing I have said above is really revolutionary or something you didn’t know, why is making change so hard? What is the secret sauce to make meaningful change?

SECRET INGREDIENTS TO SUCCESS

•  Culture – if you don’t have the right culture in the organisation, you will not be able to make the change. Culture takes time to develop and when done well, is co-developed with the organisation to get their buy in and create the culture they want in an organisation.  The person I have seen do this the best is Collin Ellis.

•  Leadership – strong Executive leadership, where people are not scared to fight for what is important, to have challenging conversations and to take the job of navigating teams and organisations through change, as their number 1 priority.  If you don’t have this, you are not going to success.

• Why – being clear on the why. Why are we making change. What is it going to improve – for our customers, employees and the way the brand / product is perceived in the market?

  Linking the activity with the why is critical to get buy-in.

• Champions – build a strong champion network across the organisation that have Executive team support to implement a change agenda.  Strong personalities to push through the hard bit and resistance piece and drive the change agenda.

• Agility – as you are making change, your plans might change and you need to pivot quickly, not a 6 month review but on a day by day basis to ensure that the change doesn’t lose momentum and people don’t give up that the change will occur.

• Celebrate change – making change however small should be celebrated by the CEO and leadership team. People should be encouraged to make changes in their teams, roles and outcomes.  Saying change is important, is one thing but then celebrating or recognising people for change is another.

• Time & money – without time and money, nothing happens. Time (resources) need to be allocated to make change.  Giving people time out of their day-to-day work to do the change journey.  The structure might be dedicated resource on change program or space in role(s) to have time to work on the change, not getting too lost in the business as usual.

• Money makes the world go round.  Funding needs to be allocated to change programs.  Doesn’t need to millions of dollars, but flexible funding to make incremental changes or a larger change program is critical.

When I think about change, sometimes we overcomplicate things.

That is where the concept of continuous improvement works well.  What is the key changes an organisation, department or team need to make to improve the customer experience, product, operational efficiency or to stay ahead of the market.

Having a funding model that is aligned with your planning, ensures that small, incremental changes (continuous improvement) can get done in an organisation. 

Not all projects need to be large big bang, sometimes small incremental changes will have the biggest impact.  See articles and documents written by Whiteark around Continuous improvement and Simplification that you might find interesting / helpful / inspiring.

If you have some other ingredients for secret sauce, please post a comment, DM me or reach out, I would be interested to chat further.

Article by Jo Hands, Whiteark Founder

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Have you got head in sand?

Have you got head in sand?

No seriously, have you? 

Whether you like it or not, the world has changed. Priorities have changed, life has changed, the way we work has changed and we are never going back to ‘normal’.  There is no going back, we need to create the new.

 In 2020 when COVID landed, I was as shocked as anyone that I would see something in this in my lifetime (makes me sound old, I know).  But it came into our lives (and hasn’t left) and has changed the way we used to know the world.

 COVID has impacted everyone differently and there is always a bittersweet story to tell.  I can’t complain; I haven’t had anyone I know die of COVID, and I might be a minority.

COVID has created perspective:

I wrote an article last year around perspective. Check article here. I note that perspective normally comes from a bad situation.  So how has COVID created perspective, let’s see:

• The concept of working in office 5 days a week, has changed

• The concept or reality of flexible working, has changed..

• The normalisation of having children in zoom/teams. calls or home while you are working has changed.

• People are rethinking their careers/jobs and what is important (i.e. the great resignation, war on talent)

• Employees are demanding more, and with the war on talent they are getting what they are asking for and more.

• Employers that have a clear EVP are well ahead of the companies that haven’t invested in the people experience side of things.  It’s not a piece of paper or words – it’s reality.

• Amount of people moving out of the city; to the country or more regional.  This includes people moving out of Melbourne and Sydney to Queensland etc.

• People got a taste of different life, slower life, easy lifestyle and more time spent with their families.

• People are looking for a change in lifestyle

 Perspective and change creates opportunity.  So many new jobs, roles, life changes ….how have you created your new.  If you don’t take this opportunity to create your ‘new’ you, you will have missed an opportunity. 

What is your reflection from COVID? How has it changed your life, work or other? 

Employers who are pretending the world hasn’t changed, are in for a significant amount of pain!  Employers need to ensure they pivot to ensure they can attract and retain great talent in this very tight market. 

Proactive approach to culture and employee engagement including flexibility is becoming really critical. 

Article by Jo Hands, Whiteark Founder

Have you got your head in the sand? If yes, this might be the time to sit up and work out what you want/need to do different for personal and work!

At Whiteark, we have been helping our clients with new ways of working, employee engagement activities including role clarities etc.  We have watched our clients embrace the new normal and helped them through the transition. 

If we can help you, reach out for a no obligation chat to Jo Hands on 0459826221, or jo.hands@whiteark.com.au

Read more articles written by Jo Hands

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A Look Into My Leadership Journey with Femeconomy

Whiteark is a proud member of Femeconomy, an organisation that supports and empowers female leaders and entrepreneurs.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to share my leadership experience with Femeconomy's audience and to our followers too.

MY EXPERIENCE

Being a CFO at Whiteark, I have had the opportunity to lead our company through a period of immense change.

 I have been able to work with small and medium enterprises in order to help them achieve their goals.

WHAT IS OUR APPROACH?

Our approach is hands-on. We work with the Board, CEO, and Leadership team to understand the problem/opportunity and what is required to delivered on this.

 Our commercial experienced team is handpicked to ensure we help the organisation deliver on the outcomes.

MY BELIEFS

As a proud entrepreneur, I strongly support Femeconomy's mission to inspire and empower women in the workplace.

I believe that providing Femeconomy's readers with insights on my career trajectory will allow them to identify components of their own professional journey that can be applied to any female-dominated industry.

Check this interview HERE as I share my leadership journey as a CFO and Founder.

Disclaimer:  This interview was first published by Femeconomy

Source:        https://femeconomy.com/jo-hands-founder-director-whiteark/

Article by Jo Hands, Whiteark Founder

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Need help devising a strategy? Reach out.

Working closely with boards and senior leadership, we provide a blend of strategy, market insights, and operational expertise to drive results for clients. We understand that no two businesses are the same and will tailor our advice to meet your specific needs.

If you need advice on where to start reach out to Jo Hands or an expert from our team on whiteark@whiteark.com.au

What does 2022 hold?

When the clocks strike midnight on the 31st December 2021, I’m going to be ready to yell Happy New Year bring on 2022. While 2021 has been a good year, there is a lot of look forward to for 2022.  

My key 3 focus areas for 2022 are:

Reflections for 2021

WOW 2021 started with some much excitement that we have got through 2020 and it was a new beginning, but it wasn’t quite what we all expected.  I’m not complaining, and I have nothing to complain about, but it has definitely given me more perspective.

There have been times in 2021 with the pandemic, lock downs, earthquake, floods, wind, no power that I thought the world was going to end, but here we all are still.

I have 4 main reflections from 2021:

The key questions to ask - why? what? how?

Are you one of those people that asks a lot of questions – why are we doing this? What is this all about? And How are we going to deliver this? Simple words and questions but critical in all aspects of business. I have to admit it does annoy me when people ask too many questions, but it really is good engagement. It means they are engaged, they are listening and they want to understand the background.

Sometimes our communication gets so bogged down that it’s hard to follow – and it’s hard for people to come on the journey because they don’t understand the basics. As a leader being able to article the Why, What and How of a companies:

• Strategy

• Overall Plan

• Particular Change 

Is critical.

Right now as we run into the new financial year (for most companies) this comes more important. It’s a great opportunity to use these questions to speak to your team about the new financial year. To think about how to frame things up and get people onboard.

Why?

Definition of Why:
The cause, reason, or purpose for which know why you did it that is why you did it.

The power of the Why.

Employees are more focused than ever on the Why. Fundamentally why does this company exist? They are looking for value, purpose in why the company exists. Some companies have this and other companies this becomes a challenge. Do you understand your why? Does it resonate with the employees? Is it truthful and focused? Have you communicated it. It’s important that as a leader you understand the why and can articulate this to the team.

Simon Sinek famously talks about Starting with the Why in his famous books and ted talks. 

Start With Why shows that the leaders who’ve had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way — and it’s the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.

Why?

Definition of Why:
Asking for information specifying something.

The cause, reason, or purpose for which know why you did it that is why you did it.What are we going to deliver this year? What are the initiatives, what are the funding and plan of what we will deliver over the next 12 months. Being clear on the plan and how it links to the Why. Making sure what we are doing is linked with the Why is critical. If the What is not aligned to the Why it becomes meaningless.

Research has shown that companies that have more than 5 priorities deliver less than 18% of their plans. Being clear on your priorities and the alignment to the Why is critical. There is no point having a Why and What if you can’t deliver the how.

How?

Definition of How:
In what way or manner; by what means.

Maybe this is the most important question and people miss this step. If you have a clear why and what – how are you going to deliver? How are you going to operate (values, operating rhythm), what is the plan to get you there? How are linking strategy to execution to ensure the why and what build a plan on the how. The how is normally missed and means that you are not delivering the outcomes you want to achieve.

Most companies are focused on providing a ‘why’ for their teams. Finding that ‘purpose’, that reason to associate with the brand that is not about filling pockets of shareholders. This is a hard one. More and more there is a challenge for employers to represent meaning in working for their company. Employees are demanding this and Employers and trying to align the Why story…but it’s a struggle. 

The ability to be able to communicate the

• Why

• What

• How

consistently, effectively and in an aligned manner is critical.

Key things to think about when communicating with your employees:

1. Being able to articulate the Why of your company?

2. Being able to articulate the What – are you trying to achieve?

3. Being able to articulate the How – are you going to do this?

Keeping communication simple and consistent is critical. Take the time to ensure you understand and you articulate this to your employees.

Life's a journey - what does this mean?

One piece of advice my dad gave me, was to remember that life is a journey. It’s hard when you are 20 years old to really know what this means?

As I get older, a ripe old age of 42 I really consider this concept of journey. It’s an interesting one, very personal and something that evolves.

The dictionary says that journey is – an act of travelling from one place to another. Where are we travelling too? What is this journey of life. Wow, very deep thing to think through.

I am not sure I have the degree to make an assessment on where we are heading, I can definitely focus on what this journey needs to look like, what is a successful journey. 

In business, when we start a program we normally start by designing the end-state view – what does success look like, where are we heading and what are the key design principles that need to be determined in relation to this. This sets the course, direction and gives people something to anchor too. It makes decisions easier and allows people to work towards a common goal. I suppose life is not that simple – what is the end state you are building and what are the design principles to make decisions around your journey? Maybe that is why people talk about what you want people to say at your funeral, that is quite depressing but maybe they are trying to design this end state view to build the guardrails for the journey. On the journey of life it’s probably not that easy.

To define success for your journey, you should consider the following:

• What makes you happy – do more 

• What are you good at – do more

• What is aligned to your strengths – do more 

• What develops you / stretches you, in the right direction – do more

• What allows you to associate with people that inspire and challenge you – do more

• What makes you miserable – do less

• What makes you uninspired – do less

• What makes you focus on counting down the week – do less 

• You know in your gut it’s not good for you – do less

So many more rules you could apply, but you get the drift. You need to determine what you are going to do in your journey, it’s like a choose your own adventure book… you remember you can pick which direction you took the characters on. The reality is life, is like a choose your own adventure, but there are also things that you can’t control that will land in your lap and how you respond.

When thinking about the journey, people reference sprint versus marathon and ensuring you don’t go to quick you burn yourself out and you enjoy the journey. Everyone has a different pace, but sometimes you do need to slow down – for your health, for your family, to slow down to speed up, so people can keep up.

What is your pace?

Enjoying the journey, as you get older you realise that you need to enjoy the journey – life’s short. Time speeds up and making the best of every time you have in life is so critical. This means spending time with people that inspire, challenge and encourage you. Caring about their opinions but not listening to others. Embracing yourself, imperfections and all and do what makes you happy. 

On the journey there will be great days, there will be speed humps and there will be an accident on the freeway that will stop you in your tracks. The hardest days are the ones that will demonstrate to yourself your tenacity, your passion and your ability to keep going. While you are in the moment, it will appear too much and once your through you will proud of your achievement.

Remember take time on the journey for a breather – to reflect what you have achieved, where you are and how you are going to continue on your journey. You continue to learn lessons, some the hard way that may change your journey, how you approach your journey or your destination. 

Regardless of what you see on social media, no one has a perfect life. So be kind to yourself, to others and don’t compare, just enjoy your journey and make sure you have some great people on the way you can share the journey with!

I know that on my journey I want to make a difference to people’s life for the better. I am passionate about helping businesses optimise and I hope that I can leave a legacy in working with businesses to drive success.

How to Master Delivery

The plan is built, you have the budget, why can’t you deliver? 

It’s the issue that is widely known, the easy part is building the plan and getting the money (well sometimes) but being able to deliver the plan is the hard thing. When the plan is unclear or money hard to get it’s a good excuse, when that’s done there are no excuses you need to be able to Execute. 

At Whiteark this is where we see our clients need help and this is our sweet spot, being able to help deliver a program of work. There are 4 key steps that need to be taken to ensure the plan is successfully executed.

Key four steps:

Step 1: A detailed plan is required.

The plan must be very detailed and provide information on the following:

• Tasks

• Timeframe

• Responsible Party

• How success will be measured

Building out the program is critical with the required detail to measure if things are offtrack and the flow on impacts. Understanding key dependencies is critical and managing them as well (in this case Technology Services).

Step 2: The right capability must be identified to execute the plan

This might be a mix of internal capability, partners and other consultants but being clear on roles & responsibilities and having the right capability to:

• Deliver the required outcome

• Do it at a speed that is sustainable 

• Deliver the right outcome

Allow coaching and training so the team left behind after the project are upskilled and can do it without external help

Step 3: Flexibility to pivot, change direction & work some of the program out along the way is critical.

The original plan won’t work perfectly, the program needs to allow an element of flexibility when things don’t go to plan, you identify something else along the way.

Step 4: Sponsorship.

Strong sponsorship on the program. Executive sponsorship that is willing to go into battle will be critical. Absolutely critical. There will be roadblocks, issues that prevent the program moving and you need someone to move these out of the way and be focused on seeing the program deliver.

What we know from experience is?

All four steps are required to ensure effective execution. Things don’t always go to plan, but having a clear plan to be able to pivot or make changes in the program is critical. 

But just start, the team will see change, will embrace the change and lean it but just start the program, piece of work and get delivering. It will give you credibility, and the naysayers will go quiet or change their tune.

Making change, transforming and the building the new is hard. It’s harder than you think but it’s rewarding, fun and definitely worth the effort from an organisation to put the right leadership to deliver.

Get the delivery right is critical. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start, but once you start you’ll get the momentum to keep going.

At Whiteark, we love helping companies execute their plans. Taking the strategy and what success looks like (goals) and building a roadmap and plan that can be delivered. We coach and help businesses set up their program with test and trial and an approach that works for them. Our goal is to ensure they can execute and that the capability in the organisation is developed to own the go-forward.

Are you measuring what matters?

If it’s not part of your KPIs it’s probably not worth measuring.

Most of us have heard the phrase ‘what measures gets done’. Sounds simple right? But when it comes to measuring what matters, it gets a bit tricker. 

There are many organisations that aren’t clear on what they should be measuring. An easy way to address this is by using my KPI scorecard – see the breakdown below.

1/ Alignment to Strategy

Ensure the metrics being measured align with your organisation’s strategy. For example, if you’re measuring organic traffic to your website but your strategy is all about driving leads via performance advertising, then this should be your first focus. 

Every KPI should have a measurable lead indicator. Sure, you can measure outside of this, but put your KPI measurements first and ensure they are adequately resourced before looking at anything else. 

2/ Set Targets

For each of the key metrics, set targets that are a stretch by achievable. These targets should align to a financial year; end of year target and monthly profile to deliver the end of year metric. 

Look at your baseline for last fin year and then consider the environment you’re operating in now and what kind of % increase you think can realistically be achieved. Talk to the relevant experts in the business and ask them to help form a plausible growth scenario. 

3/ Regular Measurement

When selecting what data outputs you’ll be measuring, get picky. There should be no more than 20 key metrics that a business reviews and measures each week. For metrics that aren’t performing; a detailed plan should be prepared for the next month to get the metric back on track.

4/ Refresh Your Metrics

Sticking to the same strategy all year isn’t always realistic. The beauty of measuring strategic outcomes each month allows for real time business decisions. This informed angle, means you can confidently pivot when necessary. If this is the case, update your metrics to align with these changes. And don’t forget to clearly document these changes and communicate them to the wider team. Especially those who are managing measurement.

TOP TIP
It’s important to note; while financial metrics are critical, non-financial metrics are also key drivers, working to align the overall vision and values of the organisation.

Stop Your Reporting

Once you’ve sorted your KPI scorecard, it’s time to take a step back. Most organisations have so much reporting that it doesn’t get reviewed or given the attention needed to make it valuable. This is a common problem and can also make the task of analysing data end up in the ‘too hard basket’.

So stop. Now that you have a clear idea of what you should be focussing on, everything else is just clutter. Put in place one weekly dashboard of the top 20 metrics that align to the business objectives. Provide performance and commentary for how each of the metrics are tracking. If you have a clear view on these, you’re much better off than measuring more but not reporting accurately. 

Need a Starting Point?

Whiteark can help. We have a network of experts with practical experience implementing metrics measurements that matter to organisations. Whether it’s advice or hands-on assistance, the Whiteark team are your go-to for valuable data analysis. Contact whiteark@whiteark.com.au or 1300 240 047 to discuss.

Happy End of Financial Year.

Happy end of Financial Year

– the clock strikes midnight on the 30th June…..Yipppppeeeeee.

I’m an accountant at heart, so 30th June is more exciting than New Years Eve. Why?

It’s a great opportunity to reflect. What have I achieved this year. What am I most proud of. What is my biggest learning. Who has supported me this year – make sure you say thank-you. I always encourage my teams to update their CV every year – what have they learnt, where have they developed it’s a good way to remember all your achievements as well.

It’s also a new beginning in some respects:

• New budget

• New goals / objectives

• New priorities

• New Funding 

• New Tax Year

There is an element in companies, where people need to wait until 1 July, until they can spend the money on the next project, phase or project or new recruitment. It’s kinda silly but you see how it happens as the funding aligns with the new financial year.

The new financial year, gives you a chance as a leader to reset with your team – to set them up on clear priorities, with clear goals and provide a chance for a reset, if things haven’t gone to plan in the old FY. Starting the year with clear priorities and goals is critical and defining what success is for the year for the company, department, team and individual. 

Getting some momentum at the beginning of the Financial Year is critical, for people to see the pace has changed, that energises the team and resets the expectation on how the team is going to operate. Finding some quick wins at the beginning of the financial year for the team is a good focus as a leader.

Measuring what matters, makes sense. Many companies don’t do this well. Starting a new financial year allows you to reset the priorities of the company and ensuring that you are measuring lead and lag indicators – not to many metrics but the right ones. Having regular reporting with these metrics is critical and ensures changes can be made as required / and quickly to change the course of the outcomes

So why I love the end of financial year:

• It’s a chance to reflect on the old year

• It’s a chance to reset the ways you are doing things for the new year to make it bigger and better

• It’s a change to set your team and organisation up for success

Are you ready for the new FY, the budget is approved:

• Have you defined your success metrics

• Have defined your reporting 

• Have you defined how you are going to operate

• Have you engaged your team on this journey

Happy Financial Year – from the Whiteark team.

Life's not always fair, but it's sure made me tough...

When I was a child I was big about justice. I wanted to feel like life was fair. My mother told me that life wasn't fair and I thought that was crap. As I grew up I realised that she was right - life is not fair. Everyone has their challenges, battles and hard times, you are not alone. People want to be perceived as having their life together but no one really does, let's be honest.

The hard times is where I've learnt so much, I've grown, I've backed myself, I've realised how strong I really am. I want to make a difference to people. I love people - I love my team, people I meet, I want people to be successful and I genuinely want the best for people.

I'm good at business, it gets me out of bed in the morning with a spring. I love helping people get the most out of their business. There is so much opportunities to drive better outcomes in business - I see it and I want to help people.

Making a difference isn't easy - there are a lot of people telling you why it's not possible, it's not good enough. Experience tells me to trust my gut. Embrace and push through the change as the outcome will be better they just can't see it. I'm confident in my ability and I'll admit when I'm wrong but I will not stop striving for great.

For people that know me well, I'm an open book, someone who cares so deeply, someone who loves to make a difference and I have a genuine love of people and business optimisation.

Life isn't fair. Life isn't kind. But everyone has their journey that has shaped them and so embrace the imperfections and make the best of your life.

🙃 Smile - lean in - no regrets.

💜 Embrace life and make the best of everyday. Be kind to you - you're only human and you're enough.

🌈 Be kind - you don't know peoples journey and kindness is overrated.

Curious? Want to know more about my experience? Click here.

Read more articles by Jo Hands:

We’re Whiteark. Leaders in Transformation & Private Equity.

Fuelled by passion, we revel in working with Private Equity; the pace, targeted focus on business optimisation and limited timeframes spark unforeseen transformation opportunities, which we’re excited to deliver on. Our approach is rooted in data, ensuring the right decisions are made – based on accurate information. Hands-on, we get into the trenches with you, working directly with the management team to realise outcomes expected by shareholders. We offer a range of transformation services which can be tailored to suit standard private equity options; always accompanied by a laser focus on profit optimisation of the business.

Reach out for a no obligation conversation on how we can help you. Contact us on whiteark@whiteark.com.au

Article by Jo Hands, Co-Founder Whiteark

How should we think about Complexity? Is it complicated?

Article written by Mark Easdown

Business Planning, Mental Models, Ways of Thinking & Working

“A complicated system is the sum of its parts. You can solve problems by breaking things down and solving them separately. In a complex system, the properties of the whole are the result of interaction between the parts and the linkages and the constraints. In fact, in a complex system how things connect is more important than what they are. So, the properties of that emergent pattern can never be decomposed to the original parts.” David Snowden

“The problem is complexity (in financial markets) …we cannot prepare for every thread of causality through every interaction; in the speed of the event we find there is no time to make adjustments.” Richard Bookstaber

“Nature likes to over-insure itself. Layers of redundancy are the central risk management property of natural systems.” Nassim Taleb

In the mid 1980s, a school of thought emerged around “Complexity” and “Complex Adaptive Systems” with the formation of the Sante Fe Institute, formed in part by former members of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The institute drew from multi-disciplinary domains and insights of : economics, neural networks, physics, artificial intelligence, chaos theory, cybernetics, biology, ecology and archaeology. Theories on Complexity and Complex Adaptive systems sought to develop common frameworks and understandings of physical and social systems that was an alternate to more linear and reductionist modes of thinking. Members sought to better understand spontaneous, self-organising dynamics and found examples in the;

• Natural World - Brains, Immune Systems, Ecologies, Cells, Developing Embryos and Ant colonies

• Human World – Political parties, Scientific communities and in the economy

Why bother?

Just say you and your team are facing a complicated problem, then you may break down the problem into component parts, build an expert team internally or partner with external consultants, you may take a data driven or fact-based approach, you may identify best practices create a strategic plan and solve the problem incrementally. However, is that all? Is there a one size fits all solution to problem solving?

What if your problem could be categorised with traits such as;

• Levels of uncertainty, ambiguity, unpredictability, dynamic interfaces - many diverse and independent parts that were interrelated, interdependent and linked through many interconnections into a network

• The properties of the whole cannot be predicted from the behaviours of the component parts, in fact the network of many components may be gathering information learning and acting in parallel in an environment produced by these interactions – the system co-evolves within its environment

• There may be significant political, social or external influences

“Wise executives tailor their approach to fit the complexity of the circumstances they face.” David Snowden & Mary Boone

Where in the real world might it be useful to have sound thinking about complexity and solving problems? 

In Project Management

Programs of work and problems to solve come in a variety of forms, at the simpler end of spectrum process re-engineering and best practices serve us well to achieve desired outcomes. Yet increasingly, our problems to solve are complicated, we need to analyse things to figure out what to do and cause and effect are distanced. Complex projects are harder still, they display behaviours such as self-organising, emergent properties, non-linear and phase transition behaviours. We need a different mindset, structure and strategy to wrestle with these problems.

In Financial Markets

These are complex adaptive systems, tightly coupled with unexpected feedback loops, with investors of different investment styles & horizons, the sum of the parts will not explain the whole in a linear manner, there are infrequent extreme price moves, not normally distributed.

In Nature

Complex collective behaviours are displayed when individual ants forage for food and lay down a pheromone trail on the way out from the colony and if successful finding food lay down even more on way back to the colony. Other ants follow this stronger pheromone trail to the food adding their pheromone. So, the pheromone trail becomes the whole colonies best path to food, it is an ant colony optimisation algorithm. Interestingly, this insight has helped form the basis of swarm intelligence and a wide array of solutions across routing and scheduling problems and bayesian networks.

 The twenty-first century will be the "century of complexity"  Stephen Hawking

COMPLEX PROGRAMS

“Strategy in complex systems must resemble strategy in board games. You develop a small and useful tree of options that is continuously revised based on the arrangement of the pieces and the actions of the opponent. It is critical to keep the number of options open. It is important to develop a theory of what kinds of options you want to have open” - John H Holland

In complex situations "cause and effect are only coherent in retrospect and do not repeat" - Sarah Sheard

Complex problems to solve are unique and they challenge some of the traditional approaches to program and risk management thinking, which may emphasise a need to identify risks in order to control them or completely plan and control programs of work. Examples of complex programs may include: computer systems and networks, buildings, bridges, planes, ships and automobiles.

Let’s take a look at what makes complex programs unique; 

• Sophisticated structures with many component parts interacting with each other, giving a degree of uncertainty whereby you may not know what you don’t know until it occurs

• Unknowable interdependencies across domains, a need for agility and structures that favour the decentralised and local to the centralised approach.

• There may be interfaces with complementary projects which present challenges in scheduling of these interconnected systems, teams and resources

• The environment may have a political realm where new government decisions or public policy arises

So, what is a desirable mindset for complex programs?

• A Forward focus, a willingness to proactively manage project development and critical issues through agility, collaboration and adaptability. You may need nuanced responses and local innovation.

• Analysis of likely origins of complexity and thinking through dependencies, seek critical junctions, vulnerabilities & countermeasures. Contingency planning around time, buffering on sequencing, budget and people skills 

• Dynamic reporting and monitoring, a willingness to pick up early warning signs and take corrective actions

• Communications will be dynamic, real time & high visibility (as small changes can have oversized consequences amplified by scale of some projects)

• Program planning may have both a single view and multiple integrated project schedules

Cynefin is a framework to deal with predictable and unpredictable worlds (David Snowden)

In 1999, David Snowden described a framework and problem-solving tool which helps to adjust management style to fit circumstances, and has relevance across product development, marketing, organisational design and BCP/DR and crisis management. The framework had 5 domains;

• OBVIOUS. Options are clear, steps to success are known, variables well known, cause-effect relationships are apparent, you are able to assess the situation, follow a procedure, categorise its type and base your response on best practice (processes & procedures) and feasible to achieve best possible result. Examples: Product mass production, cooking with a recipe, known scientific issues, known legal issues. 

• COMPLICATED. Solutions not obvious to everyone but most variables involved are well known, cause-effect relationships are apparent, you may assess a situation, build a diverse team or utilise experts to deliver the best response. The best that can be achieved is a good result, maybe not the best result. Examples: Existing product enhancements, coaching a team, adopting new approaches, hiring process.

• COMPLEX. The context is often unpredictable, many factors uncertain, many variables may intervene, data may be incomplete, it may not be possible to determine right options, make predictions or find cause-effect relationships, there may be multiple methods to address issues. Exploring what has a proven record in past situations, small tests or business experiments, simple guidelines, brainstorming, innovation and creativity may drive solutions. Examples: weather predictions, stock markets, poker, epidemic controls.

• CHAOTIC. The situation is where nobody knows what to expect, anything can happen, it is impossible to make predictions. You may have to act towards the urgent and important, then check and evaluate result before responding to that result and acting again. Examples: Innovate new products, anything which predicts people’s preferences or behaviours, crisis event and crisis management, warfare

• DISORDER. The situation is not known, you need to firstly move to a known domain & gather more information.

COMPLEXITY IN FINANCIAL MARKETS

“In the last few years the concept of self-organising systems – of complex systems in which randomness and chaos seem spontaneously to evolve into unexpected order – has become an increasingly influential idea that links together researchers in many fields, from artificial intelligence to chemistry, from evolution to geology. For whatever reason, however, this movement has so far largely passed economic theory by. It is time to see how the new ideas can usefully be applied to that immensely complex, but indisputably self-organising system we call the economy” - Paul Krugman 1996

“By one estimate, 90% of international transactions were accounted for by trade before 1970, and only 10% by capital flows. Today, despite a vast increase in global trade, that ratio has been reversed, with 90% of transactions accounted for by financial flows not directly related to trade in goods and services.” - Didier Sornette 2003

“Fundamental analysis seeks to establish how underlying values are reflected in stock prices, whereas the theory of reflexivity shows how stock prices can influence underlying values. One provides a static picture, the other a dynamic one.” - George Soros

Financial markets have all the basic components of complex adaptive systems, namely:

• Investors have differing investment strategies and horizons from trading at the speed of light to long term cyclical horizons. They take external information and combine it with their own strategic intent and these compete in financial markets => this is adaptive decision making

• Financial markets is the aggregation of large-scale collective decision making and actions => these are developing, complex and emergent

• Financial markets exist in a non-equilibrium state , are non linear, they experience non-frequent extreme price moves with the aggregate behaviour more complex than would be predicted by the sum of the individual parts.

• Financial Markets are subject to feedback loops, where the result of one iteration becomes an input of next iteration

So, how has the emerging knowledge of complexity and financial markets framed regulators thinking?

The global financial crisis highlighted the complexity, leverage, inter-connected and tightly coupled of financial markets. In response we have seen;

• Efforts to reduce interconnectedness (intra-day local trading halts, regional collateral exchanges)

• Enhanced capital rules (increased contingency buffers and incentives for some activities to be managed by non-bank sector & efforts to reduce concentration of risks)

• Enhanced liquidity rules (increase quantum and quality of contingency buffers)

• Speed, agility and quantum of central bank and treasury initiatives to address market panics and crisis

• A re-think of the rule-making complexity and mental models applied to finance;

“Modern finance is complex, perhaps too complex. Regulation of modern finance is complex, almost certainly too complex. That configuration spells trouble. As you do not fight fire with fire, you do not fight complexity with complexity. Because complexity generates uncertainty, not risk, it requires a regulatory response grounded in simplicity, not complexity. Delivering that would require an about-turn from the regulatory community from the path followed for the better part of the past 50 years. If a once-in-a-lifetime crisis is not able to deliver that change, it is not clear what will.” - Andrew Haldane Bank of England Speech 2012 “ The Dog and the Frisbee” [https://www.bis.org/review/r120905a.pdf ]

COMPLEXITY IN NATURE 

In her TED Talk, Deborah Gordon: The emergent genius of ant colonies: highlights an example of a complex adapative system with no central control or management in an ant colony: [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukS4UjCauUs]

So, what is the strategy of the ant colony to constantly adapt to its complex environment? As per Deborah Gordon studies;

• The ant colony allocates simple roles

  • At any given time 25% are patrolling, foraging and doing maintenance, 25% are inside with queen ant doing maintenance and looking after larvae, and finally 50% appear to be contingency and in reserve, able to surge as required to collect more food, patrol or more maintenance.

  • Communications are not centralised, they are dynamic, simple and local rules to adapt to emergent environment

  • The process is noisy, messy, imperfect and requires individual dynamic communications

Ant colonies can learn at the individual level by trial and error over many generations but this can nurture collective memory and problem-solving skills. The local instructing the central.

“So, the key to unlocking the efficiency of a leaderless system will rely on, among other things: clear role definition, flexible task allocation, a sense of responsibility toward the group, and shared understanding and response to communication patterns. Organizations would need to make an incredible investment in their employees, and vice versa.” Amanda Silver – Organising complexity – How Ant colonies self-manage. [https://medium.com/swlh/organizing-complexity-how-ant-colonies-self-manage-50455358f3cd]

How we should think about complex domains is still evolving, a multi-disciplinary lens across research and practice has been adding to this knowledge pool for decades. It is a vital enquiry for humankind, especially as our challenges become more complex to solve and our climate is as a complex adaptive system.

‘“he climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. At the global level, it is a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life.”- Pope Francis 2015

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LOOKING TO CURATE YOUR BUSINESS STRATEGY? REACH OUT.

Whiteark is not your average consulting firm, we have first-hand experience in delivering transformation programs for private equity and other organisations with a focus on people just as much as financial outcomes.

We understand that execution is the hardest part, and so we roll our sleeves up and work with you to ensure we can deliver the required outcomes for the business. Our co-founders have a combined experience of over 50 years’ working as Executives in organisations delivering outcomes for shareholders. Reach out for a no obligation conversation on how we can help you. Contact us on whiteark@whiteark.com.au

Article written by Mark Easdown

Simplicity

It's a theme for 2021. Companies want to drive simplicity, and many CEOs we are talking to consider this to be a key area of focus. Let’s explore why…

As companies grow, shrink and change, they find themselves more complex. But where does it come from? Ultimately complexity is driven by core business functions: process, policy, systems, operating models, and is fuelled further by unclear decision-making. 

Complexity costs companies’ both money and time – and probably more than you would think. On average, complexity costs companies 23% of their cost base. 

So, given its impact, it makes sense that a key area of focus is to reduce complexity. But how do companies do this successfully?

“Simplicity (noun) is defined as “the quality or condition of being easy to understand or do.” And “the quality or condition of being plain or uncomplicated in form or design.””

The five key steps to reduce complexity in your business:

1. Ask senior leaders to write a list of roadblocks in the organisation

2. Ask staff to ask it they could change one process in the company what would it be 

3. Identity themes (4-5) that would reduce complexity 

4. Identify measures of complexity for 4-5 items and targets to drive simplicity 

5. Start a program of work endorsed by the CEO around driving changes in 4/5 items and celebrate success 

It helps to put things in context, so here are some key areas where we have seen improved simplicity that has directly created a financial benefit:

• Remove unprofitable customers - reprice or remove 

• Remove Unprofitable products - stop selling 

• Remove number products in offering (do we neatly need 214 staplers?)

• Clear delegations driving improved and timely decision making 

• Bill / billing process 

Simplicity is an overused term and not many companies do this well. Ask yourself, is it time to spring clean the cupboards in your business? To remove the clutter, simplify the way you work and operate in order to drive a better customer experience and improved financial outcomes…

Remember the secret is to take a non-emotive view of things - no sacred cows!!

At Whiteark we love helping companies simplify through the 5 Step approach. The impact is beneficial for customers, employees and shareholders alike. 

Download our free guide below to help you analyse your business processes and get started…

James Ciuffetelli and Jo Hands have practical experience in helping companies implement change around simplification, and we have seen the benefits this provided first hand. Get in touch for a no obligation conversation about how you can strategically simplify your business.

Browse more articles about change and transformation.

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Need support in your organisation? Reach out.

Whiteark is not your average consulting firm, we have first-hand experience in delivering transformation programs for private equity and other organisations with a focus on people just as much as financial outcomes.

We understand that execution is the hardest part, and so we roll our sleeves up and work with you to ensure we can deliver the required outcomes for the business. Our co-founders have a combined experience of over 50 years’ working as Executives in organisations delivering outcomes for shareholders. Reach out for a no obligation conversation on how we can help you. Contact us on whiteark@whiteark.com.au

Article by Jo Hands, Co-Founder Whiteark

What kind of leader are you?

Leadership is a gift. It's not easy. It's not a popularity contest. It's about setting up your team for success. 

Sometimes as leaders we get lost. Meetings, emails, approvals and pressure and we lose sight of what is important - taking people on the journey. 

We've all worked for good leaders and not great leaders and therefore know what good leadership is ...I think I've learnt the most from the bad leaders that I've worked with. 

Three key considerations for leadership;

1. Lead from the heart 

2. Consistency is key 

3. Understand your why  

Leadership evolves over time. Everyone has their own style and styles are adapted for different people but leaders that lead from the heart is critical to success. 

Leading from the heart is not weak but connecting with people and driving and pulling people with a clear vision.  A leader that takes this approach will get a better outcome than a stick approach. 

Consistency is critical. Having a consistent style and consider how this impacts your team etc.  Have you ever worked for a leader who was chaotic and you didn't know what you would get on each and every day? It creates an unproductive and toxic work environment. 

Everyone has become a leader for their own reason. Know your why. Be deliberate in understanding the why and deliberate driving the outcome you want.  Being passionate and deliberate will drive the best outcome for your team. 

At Whiteark we are passionate about leadership and working with leadership teams to get the best out of their people. Reach out to us for a no obligation conversation and advice around managing talent.  

The Chiefs Podcast | Tune in to more leadership lessons

Article by Jo Hands, Co-Founder Whiteark

Looking to hone your leadership skills? Let us help.

Whiteark is not your average consulting firm, we have first-hand experience in delivering transformation programs for private equity and other organisations with a focus on people just as much as financial outcomes. We understand that execution is the hardest part, and so we roll our sleeves up and work with you to ensure we can deliver the required outcomes for the business. 

Our co-founders have a combined experience of over 50 years’ working as Executives in organisations delivering outcomes for shareholders. Reach out for a no obligation conversation on how we can help you. Contact us on whiteark@whiteark.com.au

The war is real...

This time last year (May 2020) companies were downsizing, reducing pays, making employees take annual leave – in short, they were in survival mode. The result? Employees across the world were worried about the security of their jobs. 

But now, the whole dynamic has shifted. It's an employee market.
So why and what does this mean? 

The Why.

• Companies are recruiting 

• Lack of international talent working in Australia 

• Employers are focused on getting people back to the office 

• The economy is going strong 

• People are looking for flexibility and more money 

The What.

What does this shift mean for employers…

Companies 

• The recruitment market is hot and therefore companies need to position themselves to attract the right / best talent

• Companies need to build a talent plan to retain good people - it needs to be different, new and tailored

• Finding the right talent is critical for success of delivering the strategy for the organisations 

• Companies need to be clear on their point of difference for working for them 

• Staff / candidates want to understand what flexibility means - what are your policies and how it practically works 

• Companies might need to consider partnering to get the right capability if market tight 

• Building a positive culture has never been so important and critical to ensure you retain and attract amazing talent 

 
Employees / Candidates 

• People are looking for a sea change, reassessing their priorities and rethinking how much they are working and where they work

• People aren't looking for the normal perks as priorities have changed 

• It's an employee / candidate market - be clear on what you want from your job, position yourself right and look for the perfect company 

• Smile and enjoy the process and do your pros / cons to make a good decision about what company to you with 

People play an important role in the success of your business. In fact, without them you wouldn't have a business a business at all. So be proactive to really think about the changes you are making to responding to the shift. 

As a leader you need to lean in to ensure you understand where your team is up to and ensure you take a proactive approach.  

The war is real, are you ready to fight? 

Article by Jo Hands, Co-Founder Whiteark

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Looking to capitalise on these trends and plan your own people strategy? Let us help.

Whiteark is not your average consulting firm, we have first-hand experience in delivering transformation programs for private equity and other organisations with a focus on people just as much as financial outcomes. We understand that execution is the hardest part, and so we roll our sleeves up and work with you to ensure we can deliver the required outcomes for the business. Our co-founders have a combined experience of over 50 years’ working as Executives in organisations delivering outcomes for shareholders. Reach out for a no obligation conversation on how we can help you. Contact us on whiteark@whiteark.com.au