Interview for Business Solutions Magazine. http://www.businesssolutionsmag.co.uk

Strategy –

What's the secret to good business strategy?

One that is shared / developed by the mangement team, that they
believe in, and most importantly that can be implemented. It must be
credible and have clear measures so that you can tell whether it is
working. The strategy is described in an end-to-end process diagram
and the related performance KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

How can you involve employees in the business strategy?

You involve employees in the execution of business strategy by making
it relevant to their daily job, so that they understand how their
actions contribute to the company's overall goals and success.

There is only one way to do this. It is by using live workshops to
heirarchically breakdown the top business strategy (which is defined
in terms of the end-to-end processes and their related performance
KPIs). At every level you can breakdown each processes and KPIs until
you reach the lowest level where the process diagram describes the
work that is delivered. i.e. how you raise a Purchase Order, or how
you induct a new recruit.

Using this approach every activitiy must contribute to the overall
processes, an the KPIs msut contribute to teh overall goals of the
business.

"You achieve more with a poor strategy well executed, than a perfect
strategy which stays in teh heads of the management team"

Competiveness –

What's going to be the biggest challenge for you in the future?

Maintaining agility as we grow, so we can respond to changing market conditions

And how can companies stay competitive?

If companies have a clearly understood strategy at every level of the
organisation, with clearly documents processes and relevant metrics -
they are already in a competitive position - as very few companies are
in this position. To maintain their lead they then need to develop a
culture of continuous improvement which is process-led. i.e. the
processes are used to identify and quantify the changes, and are
maintained so that they stay current (and therefore the cost of
complaince is massively reduced).

Finance –

How can organizations improve their financial competence?

Firstly by defining clear financial processes and metrics, and then
ensuring that all finance and finance related (sales / management)
staff understand them. Once metrics become personal you start to take
an interest. But exercises like Balanced Scorecard never get beyond
the first 2-3 levels of the organisation. Why? Because at the lower
levels the detailed activities are not defined, so it makes it
difficult to identify the correct metrics. And as the old saying goes
"People act as they are measured".

How can you make Financial short term goals fit into a long term vision?

The plan to reach the long term vision must be validated by the
limitations of the achievable short term goals.

People –

What are the biggest challenges when it comes to developing/retaining people?

See short article (weblog) entry...
http://ideas-warehouse.blogspot.com/2005/05/why-people-dont-perform.html

What do organizations do to attract/retain the best people?

People want to work for a company which has a strong vision, is lead
by peopel who are committed to delivering on that vision, and have the
experiance and ability to deliver.

Management at all levels then need to ensure that the culture is
conducive to allowing people to grow, feel they can contribute, and
there is trust and honesty.