By Tony Monisse
It is not the strongest of the species that survives but the most adaptable
The above quote from Charles Darwin could not be more pertinent in the current environment, where we are unsure of when our borders will be opening. The important question is how prepared is your business to navigate this time drawing on the experiences of what is happening across the country?
Businesses will need to navigate a number of critical issues over the next number of months, including;
- Getting access to enough workers
- Dealing with the outbreak of covid on testing and isolation rules which in turn could impact available staff
- Materials and parts shortages and disruptions to the supply chain, including transport and logistics delays, may result in delays in production and delivery
- Rising materials and transport costs
- Increase wage pressures to retain staff
- Dealing with customer expectations and any reputational damage
- Lost sales and lost opportunities to bid for work
- Protecting your team’s health, including mental health
These issues could impact the profitability and cashflow of many businesses.
From working with clients, we have found it is important that the leadership team find the time to address the following key actions;
- Study the experience of similar business in the eastern states
- Engage in contingency planning to examine the outcome for the business under different scenarios
- Review staffing options, rosters and the best ways to protect the health of staff and keep the business operating
- Review your employee value proposition and what you can do to better attract, develop and retain staff
- Look at what critical resources and capabilities (versus non-critical) are required to operate and back up plans
- Review available resources and how they can be re-deployed if required – flexibility and agility will be the key
- Start the process of managing the expectations of clients (including delivery on contracts), suppliers and staff
- Be prepared to defer activities that are not urgent and focus on the 80:20 i.e. the 20% of activities that contribute to 80% of the outcome
- Forecast cashflow under different scenarios to ensure the business can navigate this next period
If you would like to learn more about our upcoming workshops and training please contact us HERE or at admin@brentnallswa.com.au or call us on (08) 6212 7200
