X-Factor - a 10 times to 100 times underlying advantage over the competition - that completely wipes out any and all rivals.
I want to make sure that no one rules out how this could possibly be the success of staff and management partnering together. There are many success factors that should be looked up and considered. There are different forms this idea takes on - for example - in the financial arena there needs to be a strong buy-in and commitment from those in leadership to the concepts. All of this needs to be happening at the very beginning. Communication becomes the key as the strategy is rolled out.
So while we think more about external factors, I know our SWOT analysis gives us internal ones that relate more to the operation and are within its direct control. An effective manager can pool, coordinate and use the different inputs at their disposal to achieve the desired output in a timely manner and at a minimum cost.
Two surveys were done among 12 countries and territories in the Caribbean. The first aimed at identifying the factors that were hindering higher productivity and the second analysed some of the results achieved when mobilising management and staff together for productivity improvement. I think the list that impeded having a X-factor was very interesting.
- Political culture
- Social and Culture Attitudes
- poor work ethics
- poor work attitudes
- lateness and absenteeism
- culture of non-performance
- Organisational Culture
- lack of team spirit
- lack of trust
- lack of transparency and poor communication
- low self esteem
- rewarding non-performance among management
- absence of clearly formed and communicated vision or mission
- low or non-existent standards
- inflexible systems
- absence of proper employment contracts
- outdated work policies
- resistance to change
- no provision for gain sharing and inadequate reward system
- Managerial Limitations
- poor or non existent job descriptions
- low professionalism among management
- poor management skills
- poor human resources management
- poor information flow
- Poor labour management cooperation
- low levels of trust
- low workplace partnership
- non worker friendly environment
- resistance to unions and collective bargaining
- poor industrial relations
- Resource Limitations
- limited financial resources
- small population size putting a constrain on economies of scale
- brain drain
- improper job placement
- technological limitations
- Inappropriate Training
- mismatch between education and the world of work
- lack of certain technical skills
- lack of job training
- Customer Service
- poor customer relations and failure to listen to customers
- poor customer service
- Occupational Safety and Health
- Drugs and substance abuse
It is so much easier to focus on traditional factors of production and investment driven solutions. Few focus their base of competitive development on innovation or wealth-driven factors. There needs to be a shift to more investment, innovation and wealth driven factors. That shift starts when more emphasis is placed on the development of the managerial and intellectual assets of its human resources.
As the nature of "work" changes, the individuals in those arenas must have the ability and flexibility to change too. Now job analysis, person job fit, person environment fit and recruitment and selection are factors to be taken into consideration. A plan can now be developed for recruitment, selection and interview protocol that will give both quantity and quality needed to be the X factor in a successful business.
Now there can be a defined set of attitudes and values that are best likely to achieve the desired success and they are now guides when recruiting staff. Now there can be a shift from the more traditional approach (that can still be used for a baseline or for basic requirements). The idea is that those basic requirements could be learned or experienced on the job, however, attitudes and values are difficult to acquire - it is something you own or you don't.
In all of this, there are some roadblocks in the internal process too - some or most of it coming from leadership unwilling to accept the new direction or management style. It will take some time for those to be discovered and rotated out. Keep talking, keep communication channels open and everyone will take their new found knowledge and be eager to use new ideas, methods and techniques to serve well.
