The credit crunch has decimated the stock market, the property bubble and many companies as their credit has either got more expensive or retracted entirely.

The news is talking freely of the corner being turned but it is matched with editorials about the prudent approach we need to take in order to rebuild the economy. After all, if the market crashes 50% and then rises 50% we are still 25% down.

The financial experts have had their hands full, sorting out issues faced by firms needing to tighten up their accounts. Creditors have been pressured to relax their terms and debtors to tighten. Attempts have been made to renegotiate covenants and cost reductions have been made. People are fighting to keep their positions as swathes of staff are laid off.

Companies are now looking to improve their systems. The numbers will reflect the efforts made by the sales and delivery staff. They will need to improve significantly as the economy has changed from being able to take orders, to having to hungrily seek new work.

How can we change the systems to improve without damaging delivery?

Transparency
How many times have you become increasingly frustrated with dealing with certain companies because you cannot get hold of the right person to discuss your issues?
Can you really drill down into all live orders under your aegis and know where they are in terms of budget and timeframes?
Who is on each team and what have they delivered against their contract in the past reporting period?
Where is this information captured and who has eyes on it?

Many styles of management fiercely protect this sort of information to protect themselves, but if staff knew who was assigned to each task, where that project or task was in its plan, this would foster a team approach that would improve results as opposed to encouraging partisan approaches.

Accountability
Why was Sir Fred Goodwin able to retire with such a pension pot when he made such a poor effort at running RBS? How many times have you seen management in companies not take the blame for mistakes?

By assigning clearly defined and open issues of accountability, companies are able to promote the capable individuals and identify those who are failing to deliver. This might seem a little harsh, but no-one wants to carry weak staff if livelihoods are at stake.

Responsibility
Who is your personal bank manager? Who is your account manager for your company’s telephone supplier? Who is in charge of each programme at your firm?

As private companies have had benefits slashed before the jobs started to go, a change in culture to one of overtly taking responsibility can be encouraged. This will highlight areas that need to be addressed by those who are capable of taking on the challenges.

This might sound like common sense but it is staggering how many companies seem to have systems in place that avoid such simple ways of reaching results. Communicating such methods effectively can be achieved easily and cheaply.

As the economy starts to recover, the slow climb to a stable growth cycle will require the addressing of systems within companies, systems which currently expose weak flanks. These can be improved by implementing transparency, accountability and responsibility.

Contributed by Alex Boyd – Dalton Byrne