Category: Strategy

Creating Your Employee Value Proposition for Retention

November 1, 2023 Corporate Management

Jeff Bartel

Chairman and Managing Director

With the complexity of employee acquisition and retention, creating a strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that represents a stable workplace and reflects an organization’s commitment to employee purpose, belonging, and growth is essential. EVP is a culture of learning that promotes work-life balance, leverages technology, and supports a diverse and empathetic environment. 

Employee Value Proposition: Beyond Monetary Rewards

A healthy EVP shows an organization’s commitment to a sense of purpose and belonging with employees. This commitment includes opportunities for individuals to see their future within the organization through personal and professional growth, a supportive and inclusive company culture, and a well-defined career plan. Important elements include: 

  • A positive work-life balance
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • A fulfilling work environment 
  • The promise of meaningful work
  • The chance to make a difference 
  • Alignment with corporate values and mission 

When employees see their values match the organization’s, it creates a sense of purpose beyond monetary considerations. A well-crafted Employee Value Proposition Model that reflects shared values and mission helps attract talent and retain them by ensuring they’re engaged, motivated, and dedicated to their roles.

Employee Value Proposition: Tailored Learning Opportunities

Personalized development programs show a company that recognizes and invests in its talent’s unique strengths and requirements. High-potential employees feel valued and understood by shaping learning experiences to meet individual needs and career goals. This approach sharpens their skills, shows commitment to long-term growth, allows them to contribute to their full potential, and promotes company loyalty and dedication.

Mentorship and Coaching

High-potential employees with dedicated mentors and coaches benefit from customized guidance and insights beyond formal training. These mentoring relationships create a supportive EVP performance framework for skill development, knowledge sharing, and career progression and help transfer institutional knowledge and wisdom. This exchange speeds up their growth and strengthens their connection to the company as they see its commitment to their success.

Redefining Work-Life Integration for EVP

Flexible Work Arrangements

One view of balancing professional and personal commitments is the addition of flexible work arrangements, which can impact employee satisfaction and productivity. Offering options like remote work, flexible hours, or compressed workweeks recognizes various individual needs and circumstances and allows employees to regulate their work and personal lives better.

Allowing individuals to tailor their work schedules to their preferences can result in: 

  • Reduced stress
  • Improved well-being
  • Increased job satisfaction
  • Heightened productivity
  • Dedication to the organization

The Role of Technology

With the arrival of advanced digital tools and communication platforms like instant messaging and web conferencing, employees can now remove traditional physical office limitations and collaborate and complete tasks from virtually anywhere. Besides better suiting specific needs and schedules, it allows for real-time connectivity with colleagues and supervisors and ensures accountability remains intact. Similarly, data-driven analytics and project management software enable more straightforward progress monitoring, resource management, and performance assessment, regardless of workforce location. 

Technological advancements maintain high work standards and facilitate a balanced work-life mix when used correctly, enhancing employee satisfaction and productivity.

Building a Cohesive and Empathetic Work Environment

Building a consistent and empathetic work environment depends on developing a diverse and inclusive workplace. Diversity in terms of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives adds fresh ideas and creativity to an organization and inspires innovation and a deeper understanding of the evolving needs of customer bases. An inclusive environment ensures that every employee feels valued, respected, and heard to promote empathy among team members. This commitment to diversity supports better communication and encourages a shared sense of understanding and purpose.

To create a culture where employees feel valued and respected, organizations can implement several EVP communication strategies:

  • Leadership Commitment: Company leaders can publicly commit and advocate for diversity and inclusion.
  • Diverse Recruitment: Ensure diverse hiring panels and adopt inclusive language in job descriptions.
  • Mentorship and Sponsorship Programs: Create programs that pair employees with mentors and sponsors who can offer career development, guidance, and support.
  • Employee Resource Groups: Establish groups that cater to various backgrounds and identities and help employees connect, share experiences, and offer insights.
  • Inclusive Leadership Development: Ensure leadership development programs encompass diversity and inclusion training at all levels.
  • Transparent Communication: Foster open, transparent, and empathetic communication channels for feedback without fear of retribution.
  • Mandatory Reporting: Implement reporting mechanisms for discrimination or harassment and ensure they’re accessible and confidential.
  • Recognition and Rewards: Recognize and reward employees who actively contribute to creating an inclusive workplace.
  • Promotion Practices: Ensure that promotion and career advancement practices are fair and transparent.

Employee Value Proposition: Cultivating a Sense of Purpose

Cultivating a sense of purpose relies on the organization’s ability to articulate a clear purpose that resonates with an employee’s values and goals. When individuals align their personal beliefs with the broader mission and values of the company, it creates a strong sense of shared purpose. Employees become more than task performers; they develop stronger connections to the organization, deeper loyalties, increased job satisfaction, and improved personal productivity. 

Increased employee commitment drives job satisfaction and engagement, promoting a culture of accountability and responsibility. In this environment, employees can go above and beyond in their work, and a shared sense of purpose encourages them to overcome challenges in favor of the company’s vision and objectives.

Developing Your EVP with Strategic Consultants

Effective EVP Development can be the key that bridges the gap between organizational objectives and employee goals. Individuals aligned with their company’s mission grow from simple employees to invested partners on a shared journey of success.

How a Successful C-Suite Manages Strategic Risk

May 1, 2023 Corporate Management

Jeff Bartel

Chairman and Managing Director

Strategic risk management is a critical component of any successful business strategy. In today’s ever-changing business environment, strategic risks can arise from anywhere, including regulatory changes, geopolitical events, technological disruption, and shifts in consumer behavior. Therefore, a successful C-suite must have a proactive approach that includes identifying and mitigating risks, fostering a culture of risk awareness, and working collaboratively with strategic advisors.

Reducing Operational Strategic Risk by Improving Efficiencies

Operational risks can impact a company’s bottom line and hinder its ability to achieve strategic objectives. The C-suite can reduce operating and strategic risk by improving efficiencies, streamlining processes, and adopting new technologies to enhance productivity and reduce errors. For example, they can implement lean methodologies, invest in automation, and use data analytics to optimize operations and reduce costs.

Companies can also improve their agility and responsiveness to changing market conditions by reducing operational risks. Adapting to disruptions and maximizing opportunities becomes more accessible as a result.

Identifying Market-Based Strategic Risks to Revenue

Market-based strategic risks are external factors that could impact a company’s revenue. The C-suite must identify and assess these risks to develop effective strategies that mitigate the risks and maintain revenue growth. For example, they can conduct market research, monitor industry trends, and develop contingency plans to respond to changes in market demand. Additionally, they can invest in innovation and research and development to stay ahead of competitors and anticipate shifts in customer preferences.

Companies can diversify their revenue streams and explore new markets to manage market-based risks. Having a diversified portfolio of markets and products can minimize the dependence on one market or product.

Strategic Risk to Your Brand in Today’s World

One of the most significant strategic risks companies faces today is damaging their brand reputation. Adverse publicity or a crisis that harms a company’s image and reputation can have long-lasting effects on its bottom line. The C-suite must understand the strategic risks associated with its brand and take proactive steps to protect it. For example, they can develop crisis management plans, implement corporate social responsibility initiatives, and invest in cybersecurity measures to protect customer data.

In addition to these measures, companies can leverage their brand’s power to build resilience against reputational risks. The company must develop a positive company culture aligned with its values, engage with its customers through social media, and invest in brand-building activities.

The Role of the C-Suite in Strategic Risk Management

The C-suite plays a critical role in strategic risk management by setting the tone and culture for risk awareness and mitigation. They must foster a culture of risk awareness and ensure that risk management is integrated into the organization’s decision-making processes. To achieve this, they can develop risk management frameworks, assign clear roles and responsibilities, and establish ongoing risk monitoring and reporting processes.

Furthermore, the C-suite must lead by example and demonstrate a commitment to risk management. They can do this by participating in risk management activities, supporting risk management initiatives, and prioritizing risk management in their strategic planning.

How Strategic Advisors Help You Manage Strategic Risk

Strategic advisors can bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to help the C-suite navigate complex risks and identify emerging trends that could impact their business. In addition, they work collaboratively with the C-suite to develop and implement effective risk management strategies that align with the company’s strategic objectives. By working with strategic advisors, companies can benefit from an outside perspective and specialized access to expertise that may not be available in-house.

At Hamptons Group, our team works with clients, partners, and the companies we invest in to identify potential risks, develop mitigation strategies, optimize upside, and provide ongoing support and guidance. 

How to Implement an Effective Shifted Market Pricing Strategy

April 14, 2023 Strategy

Jeff Bartel

Chairman and Managing Director

A pricing strategy is essential for any business to succeed in today’s competitive market. However, with changing market dynamics and customer preferences, companies must develop a pricing strategy that is not only competitive but sustainable in the long run. This article will explore the benefits and challenges of shifted market pricing strategy and how to implement it successfully in your business.

The Benefits of Shifted Market Pricing Strategy

One of the critical benefits of shifted market pricing is that it allows businesses to optimize their pricing based on real-time market data. By constantly monitoring the market and adjusting prices accordingly, companies can ensure that they are pricing their products or services at a competitive and profitable level. By doing so, businesses avoid leaving money on the table or pricing themselves out of the market.

Shifted Market Pricing Allows a Quick Response to Changes in Demand

Another benefit of shifted market pricing is that it allows businesses to respond quickly to changes in customer demand. By adjusting prices in real-time, companies can ensure that they are meeting the needs of their customers while also maximizing profits. It is imperative in industries like travel or hospitality, where demand is highly variable.

Overall, shifted market pricing can be a powerful tool for businesses looking to maximize profits and gain a competitive edge. By constantly monitoring the market and adjusting prices in real-time, companies can ensure that they are pricing their products or services at a competitive and profitable level.

Challenges in Implementing Shifted Market Pricing Strategy

One of the main challenges with implementing shifted market pricing strategy is collecting and analyzing the data needed to inform pricing decisions. Companies must access real-time market trends, customer behavior, and competitor pricing data to make informed decisions. Analyzing and interpreting the data requires advanced analytics tools and expertise.

Communicating Pricing Changes to the Market

Another challenge is ensuring that pricing changes are communicated effectively to customers. Pricing changes can lead to confusion and frustration if not communicated clearly and transparently. Therefore,  companies must establish a clear communication strategy to convey to customers why a price change exists and how it will affect them.

Finally, implementing a shifted market pricing strategy requires a shift in mindset and culture within the organization. Companies must be willing to embrace change and be flexible in their approach to pricing. Taking risks and experimenting with new pricing strategies may require internal processes and structure changes.

Factors to Consider for Effective Shifted Market Pricing

There are several factors that businesses need to consider when implementing an effective shifted market pricing strategy.

Market Conditions

Businesses must understand the underlying market conditions driving the need for price adjustments. You must understand the industry’s competitive landscape, trends, and consumer behavior to achieve this goal.

Quick Adaptation

Businesses must be able to quickly adapt their pricing strategies in response to changing market conditions. Quickly developing and implementing new pricing strategies requires a flexible pricing infrastructure.

Transparent Pricing

Businesses must effectively communicate their pricing strategies to customers. Clear and transparent pricing policies are essential for building brand confidence and trust.

Understanding the Cost Structure

Businesses must effectively manage their costs to maintain profitability while implementing shifted market pricing strategies. To achieve this goal, a detailed understanding of the company’s cost structure is necessary, focusing on identifying areas of inefficiency and implementing cost-saving measures. Robust Data and Analytics

Businesses must have a robust data and analytics infrastructure to monitor the effectiveness of their shifted market pricing strategies. Collecting and analyzing large amounts of data and identifying key trends and patterns that inform future pricing decisions are necessary.

How to Adjust Your Shifted Market Pricing Strategy

To adjust a shifted market pricing strategy, companies must first understand the factors that caused the shift. Changes in customer preferences, new competitors entering the market, or alterations in the supply chain may be included. Once the root cause is identified, companies can formulate a new pricing strategy aligned with the market.

Comprehensive Analysis of Pricing Strategy

One approach that companies can take is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of their pricing strategy. For example, this process may be part of assessing promotional campaigns’ effectiveness, competitor pricing, and customer behavior. By understanding these factors, companies can identify opportunities to adjust their pricing strategy to meet market demand better.

Using Data-Driven Insights

Another approach is to use data-driven insights to inform pricing decisions. To accomplish it, collecting and analyzing data on customer behavior, market trends, and competitive pricing is required. By using this information, companies can make informed decisions about pricing, which can help them maintain competitiveness and maximize profitability.

Adjusting a shifted market pricing strategy requires a deep understanding of the market and a willingness to adapt to changing conditions. Companies can maintain competitiveness and achieve long-term success by taking a data-driven approach and proactively adjusting pricing strategies.

The Future of Shifted Market Pricing Strategy

The future of shifted market pricing strategy is poised for significant transformation and disruption, driven by emerging technologies, changing consumer behaviors, and evolving regulatory environments. As businesses face intense competition and rapid technological advancements, pricing strategies will enable organizations to remain competitive and drive growth in the global marketplace.

Artificial Intelligence and Shifted Market Pricing Strategy

In the coming years, businesses will need to adopt a more dynamic approach to pricing that considers changing market conditions, consumer preferences, and competitive pressures. Advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence will be pivotal in enabling businesses to develop more sophisticated pricing strategies that respond to real-time market trends and consumer demands.

The Rise of E-Commerce and Digital Platforms

In addition, the rise of e-commerce and digital platforms will continue to reshape the pricing landscape, enabling businesses to leverage real-time data and insights to optimize pricing strategies and improve customer engagement. At the same time, regulatory changes and increased scrutiny will require firms to be more transparent in their pricing practices and ensure compliance with evolving regulations.

To succeed in this dynamic marketplace, businesses must embrace a customer-centric pricing strategy that aligns with consumer preferences and values, optimizes profitability, and drives sustainable growth. In addition, by leveraging the latest technologies and insights, businesses can develop pricing strategies to remain competitive, drive growth, and capture new opportunities in the global marketplace.

Strategic Advisors Can Help You Implement Shifted Market Pricing

Shifted market pricing strategy is a proactive approach where businesses adjust their pricing strategy based on market changes and competition. It can help companies to improve their sales, profitability, and customer loyalty. However, implementing a shifted market pricing strategy can be challenging, and companies must consider several factors to implement it effectively.

Hamptons Group’s experienced strategic advisors can help your business create, implement, and adjust an effective shifted market pricing strategy.

Organizational Design and Human Capital in Remote Work Environments

April 3, 2023 Corporate Management

Jeff Bartel

Chairman and Managing Director

The global pandemic has brought about a seismic shift in how we work, with remote work becoming the new normal for many businesses. The places, manner, and even times of our work have seemingly forever changed. As companies adapt to this new reality, it is critical to consider how remote work environments impact organizational design and human capital.

In this article, we will explore new strategies for remote team building and collaboration and the impact of remote work on organizational design and human capital management. We will also discuss the importance of organizational culture and leadership in promoting a positive work environment and the role of strategic advisors in organizational design.

Remote Work Organizational Design

Remote work can also pose organizational challenges like communication and collaboration issues. For example, a survey by Buffer found that 20% of remote workers struggle with communication and collaboration.

One of the critical challenges of remote work is maintaining team cohesion and culture in a virtual environment. Assigning the roles and responsibilities for remote workers is an essential step for ensuring that everyone understands their role in the team. Leveraging technology can also help maintain team cohesion and culture, such as video conferencing tools for virtual team meetings.

When designing an organizational structure for remote work, it is essential to consider the unique challenges that remote work presents. Organizational design principles that were once geared towards in-person work environments may need to be re-evaluated in the context of remote work. For example, a more flexible organizational structure that allows for more autonomy and self-direction may be more effective in a remote work environment.

Companies with effective remote work organizational design include clear communication channels, virtual team-building activities, and remote work policies and procedures. Remote work organizational design should also focus on employee well-being, with measures such as regular check-ins and providing resources for mental health support.

Benefits of Effective Organizational Design for Remote Work

Remote work has been found to increase employee productivity, with a study by Stanford University showing that remote workers are 13% more productive than their office-based counterparts.

Remote work can also lead to cost savings for organizations, with a report by Global Workplace Analytics estimating that employers can save up to $11,000 per year per employee by allowing them to work remotely.

Human Capital Management

Remote and flexible work environments also impact human capital management, including recruitment, retention, training, and development. Therefore, businesses must provide a flexible and supportive work environment that empowers employees to succeed remotely to attract and retain top talent.

Investment in human capital is critical to the success of remote work. In a Harvard Business Review article, “Why Every Organization Needs a Chief Remote Work Officer,” the authors suggest that businesses need to invest in a “chief remote work officer” to oversee the human capital needs of remote workers.

Organizational Design and Work Culture

A man working on his organizational structure and design of remote work.

Organizational culture is critical in promoting a positive work environment and fostering employee engagement. The importance of this is especially evident in remote work environments, where employees may feel isolated and disconnected.

A study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that companies with high levels of employee engagement had a 19% increase in operating income compared to companies with low levels of employee engagement.

Building a strong organizational culture in a remote work environment requires intentional effort. Creating virtual team-building activities, fostering social interaction, and promoting open communication are ways an organization can accomplish remote work culture.

Leadership and Organizational Design

Effective leadership is critical to the success of remote work environments. Remote leaders must build an effective organization, manage virtual teams, and ensure communication and collaboration in a virtual environment.

Therefore, leadership development is a crucial aspect of organizational design for remote work. Providing leadership training and development opportunities can help remote leaders develop the skills they need to succeed in a virtual environment.

Strategic Advisors for Organizational Design

Businesses may also benefit from working with strategic advisors to develop and implement effective organizational design strategies for remote work environments. In addition, strategic advisors can provide expert guidance on organizational design principles, human capital management, leadership development, and more.

In summary, Hamptons Group is well-equipped to advise businesses on effective organizational design for remote work environments, drawing on our expertise in organizational design and development, human capital management, and leadership development to help organizations navigate the challenges and opportunities of remote work.

A  Sustainable Future with Adaptive Planning

March 1, 2023 Business

Jeff Bartel

Chairman and Managing Director

The global pandemic taught business leaders the importance of remaining flexible and adapting quickly to changing markets. The effects of COVID-19 may be subsiding, but the need to remain adaptive has not. Between emerging technologies, shifting consumer demands, supply chain disruptions, and inflation concerns, today’s organizations must have the ability to veer and adjust as necessary. The adaptive planning model is an effective way to build flexibility into your business strategy. 

The Importance of Adaptive Planning

Adaptive enterprise planning involves building a flexible business plan that can easily adjust to shifts in various factors, such as goals, objectives, customer demand, dependencies, constraints, risks, and feedback. Some business leaders incorrectly use the terms agile planning and adaptive planning interchangeably. Despite their similarities, these planning methods differ in both scope and purpose.

While agile planning focuses on building flexibility at the operational level, adaptive planning is done at the organizational level. Adaptive planning requires collaboration from all key players. Several factors make now the right time to switch from a traditional planning model to an adaptive one.

Ability to Adapt to Shifting Markets

It is imperative that your company is flexible enough to adapt to the changing market of today. Adaptive planning assumes that changes will occur. Consequently, businesses have to evaluate and adjust their business plans.

Prepare for the Future

Since adaptive, flexible planning requires frequent assessments, it allows your team to forecast the future needs of the company better. This step enables your company to readjust its business plan to prepare for the future. This continuous cycle of assessment and adjustment can give your company a competitive edge so it can remain relevant and successful.

Data-Driven Decisions

One of the best benefits of adaptive planning is that it allows businesses to make collaborative, data-driven decisions. Building an effective adaptive planning model requires collecting and analyzing various data points. With this process already built into your business model, your teams always rely on the real-time planning potential it needs to make sound business decisions.

Build Resilience into Business Plan

Most importantly, adaptive strategic planning can help build resilience. It allows your company to prepare for the unexpected. So, when markets shift, supply chain challenges occur, or a labor shortage hinders production, your company will not be stuck navigating these issues with a rigid, traditional business plan. Instead, it can quickly set new goals, shift priorities and efficiently communicate these changes to all key players.

Steps for Effective Adaptive Planning

Studies show that 90% of small business owners have concerns about inflation, yet less than 25% have any type of plan in place to deal with this challenge. This statistic is concerning at best. Adaptive planning cannot only help your organization deal with inflation concerns, but it can help it navigate a variety of challenges.

It is necessary to set up a business planning process to be effective. Here is a look at the main steps of adaptive business planning.

Set Business Plan Objectives

The first step of any successful business plan, including adaptive planning, is to set clear goals and objectives. For adaptive management, this step requires high-level, dynamic planning that involves collaboration from all key players.

Prioritization

The next step is to break these goals and objectives into smaller, more manageable targets. Next, your team must prioritize these goals. Naturally, immediate goals most important to the company should receive the highest priority. While objectives that are long-term or are still developing should receive lower priority. This step allows the company to focus on the essential objectives and can help avoid wasting too many resources on pursuits that are likely to shift significantly over time.

Plan

With priorities set, your company can develop effective strategies for meeting these goals and objectives, with the most focus on high-priority objectives. The project planning process should also be collaborative, with all key players working towards the same common goals and mission.

Implement

Naturally, the next step is to put your business planning strategies into action. This step involves company-wide communication to ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities.

Evaluate

One of the most critical parts of adaptive business planning is to evaluate outcomes. This type of assessment is done regularly. For example, planning assessments should be done quarterly at a minimum. Set regular times for these evaluations, but be prepared to conduct additional assessments if a significant challenge, such as supply chain disruptions, occurs. This evaluation allows your teams to determine what strategies are working and where improvements or shifts are necessary.

Adapt Business Plan

Once you analyze results and bring in other factors, such as new challenges, customer demands, and emerging trends, you can start to adapt your business plan. Consider customer and employee feedback, company values, changes in the market or economies, potential risk factors, and other notable factors. This process involves more than just shifting a few objectives. It may require refining the scope of your business plan, eliminating or shifting long-term goals, reevaluating priorities, or other adjustments.


Steps for Effective Adaptive Planning

Traditional planning typically takes a long-term approach that teams only evaluate annually. This rigid approach can be practical for five-year planning, but it also can be challenging to adjust and alter once in place. While traditional planning served a purpose in the past, it simply cannot keep up with today’s fast-paced markets.

On the other hand, adaptive planning takes a more flexible approach where scale and scope can be quickly adjusted to meet emerging demands in the market. This planning alternative focuses on team collaboration and assigning priorities to various goals and strategies to ensure the most critical objectives receive the most attention.

Tools and Techniques for Adaptive Planning

There are several tools and techniques available to make adaptive planning more efficient. It is necessary to evaluate your options and make sure that the tools you choose offer the flexibility required by your company. For example, your company can use multiple innovative games and techniques to help brainstorm new ideas, such as the Sailboat Game and Prune the Product Tree.

You can also use techniques such as surveys, questionnaires, and interviews to gain feedback from employees and customers. Tools, including Affinity Estimation, Planning Poker, and Wideband Delphi, can help teams better plan and set precise estimates.

Using Strategic Advisors to Implement Adaptive Planning

Preparing your business for the future means being flexible enough to adapt. Transitioning from a traditional business model to adaptive planning can be challenging. A strategic advisor can help make this smooth and effective transition. Contact Hamptons Group today to meet with one of our experienced strategic advisors.

Corporate Level Strategy: Measuring Its Effectiveness

October 13, 2022 Strategy

Jeff Bartel

Chairman and Managing Director

We often observe corporate leaders not investing their company resources, including time and money, into the development and implementation of a corporate-level strategy, citing that it is not considered a priority. Of course, building a perfect business strategy is impossible, but through careful planning and continuous evaluation, corporate strategies provide strong guideposts and can help forge long-term, effective practices for companies and firms. Accordingly, corporate-level strategy implementation and evaluation, together with maximizing the use of this powerful tool, is a crucial step in the process and must be considered as part of your plan.

The Importance of Corporate-level Strategy Evaluation

Evaluation is usually the final stage of the corporate-level strategy process, but it remains one of the most critical steps. Without this assessment, it is impossible to develop successful and agile business strategies and processes that are quickly adapted to meet new demands.

Your company reaps several additional benefits by implementing a solid evaluation process.

Assess Strategy Success

A comprehensive evaluation can help determine if the strategy is successful, needs adjustments, or requires revamping altogether. In addition, this step can help you avoid wasting valuable resources.

Set Performance Benchmarks

Setting performance benchmarks is a critical component of any successful corporate strategy. These benchmarks provide a way to gauge the success of future outcomes and identify if the strategy requires additional adjustments.

Analyze Outcomes

Evaluating results also ensures that strategy outcomes align with corporate goals, values, and objectives. This alignment is critical to the overall success of your business.

Identify Potential Risks

A close examination of strategy results can identify potential risk factors for the current and future outcomes. This analysis can help you mitigate these risks to avoid future issues.

The Metrics – Measuring Corporate-level Strategies

Measuring corporate-level strategies is not just about tracking basic metrics such as revenue but about assessing strategy outcomes, assuring alignment with corporate objectives, and forecasting success. Ideally, some metrics are set at the beginning of the project. First, however, it is essential to have a comprehensive measurement strategy in place.

Just as no two corporations are the same, no two measurement strategies are identical. Instead, it is crucial to tailor any measuring plan to meet the unique needs of your corporation. Additionally, the metrics chosen depend on the type of corporate-level strategy you want to assess.

For instance, tracking metrics, such as retention rates, employee satisfaction, safety rates, and absenteeism, is appropriate if you assess a workforce management strategy for the corporation. On the other hand, suppose you are evaluating a marketing strategy; KPIs, such as cost of customer acquisition, conversion rates, Net Promoter Score, website traffic, and clickthrough rates, are likely more ideal.

Other standard corporate metrics include:

  • Revenue growth
  • Net sales revenue
  • Churn rate
  • Return on investment
  • Customer retention
  • Website bounce rate
  • Net income
Business leaders analyzing data as part of their corporate-level strategy. It shows a board table with the business leaders' hands, computers, water glasses, and notepads.

Analyzing Data – Evaluating Corporate Strategy

Setting metrics is just the first step of the corporate strategy evaluation process. You must also take the time to transform this data into meaningful insights that drive improved outcomes. While this is not an inclusive list by any means, below is a look at some of the most common analysis strategies.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis carefully evaluates strategy outcomes’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This method allows you to use the analytical data to identify which parts of the strategy are working well and which need adjustments or removal. It also helps to identify potential risks, as well as any opportunities available, to help expand business processes.

Value Chain Analysis

Value chain analysis takes a different approach by evaluating every step of the strategy process. For example, it may assess operations, talent management, marketing, logistics, and sales. This type of analysis can help identify weaknesses that are impacting other departments. Conversely, it can identify strengths in one department prompting improved outcomes in another. This step can help develop a cohesive strategy for the entire corporation.

SOAR Analysis

SOAR analysis is very similar to SWOT analysis, except it focuses on strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results. This type of analysis is more forward-focused and ideal for emerging enterprises or corporations in a growth stage.

Take Action – Taking Corrective Action After Evaluating Corporate Strategy

Taking action is the last phase of the corporate strategic evaluation process. Unfortunately, many companies fail to handle this stage effectively. Only change and adjustment can tailor a corporate strategy to meet the needs of the company’s overall outcomes.

Start by identifying weaknesses within the strategy. This is possibly a step in the process, a specific department, or unachieved goals. Next, look for ways to adjust the strategy to improve outcomes. For instance, you may need to develop a new implementation plan, modify corporate policies, and make structural and organizational changes.

Setting metrics, analyzing data, and taking action are all important components of the evaluation process. Using these tools can help your corporation measure success, ensure that the business strategy aligns with corporate objectives, and develop a successful overall corporate strategy.

The Need for Agile Corporate Performance Management

September 29, 2022 Corporate Management

Jeff Bartel

Chairman and Managing Director

Agile corporate performance management is essential for the modern dynamic marketplace, requiring adaptability and alignment. It is relevant for adapting to extreme shifts in market conditions like the COVID-19 pandemic. Agility in business enables employees to maintain or increase performance even in the context of a business’s evolving needs. Thus, business performance management approaches are for companies that have aligned business priorities with employee goals to propel the company forward.

Strategic Corporate Performance Management

In an agile business model, corporate performance management (CPM) entails breaking down your company’s strategies into operational objectives and indicators. The strategic approach enables your organization to maintain efficiency through all transformational periods, remaining effective in every next normal.

CMP is also significant for budget remodeling, cost reduction, improved KPI alignment, an upgraded organizational strategy, and a refined financial planning process. In addition, a framework is crucial to ascertain your enterprise performance management. Therefore, strategy execution is of fundamental importance for senior executives today.

How do you implement your strategic plan? Strategy execution involves ensuring your organization’s goals, metrics, and projects align with your strategic priorities and concentrate on key business drivers. Many organizations join the corporate performance management market size by dedicating an entire performance management department to achieve agility in business.

The performance management cycle is a four-phase closed loop. It contains:

Strategies and Objectives

The first step of the corporate performance management framework is setting the organization’s strategies and objectives. Next, identify the goals and strategies that support your organization’s corporate purpose and financial performance that align with the framework to maintain business agility in every wind of change. You can quantify them as projected revenue or growth, ROI, market share, customer satisfaction and retention, carbon emissions, employee retention or diversity, workforce incidents, and many more.

Targets and Metrics

Establish key business drivers that help achieve your objective and strategies. Business metrics measure values, indicating the organization’s progress concerning its strategic goals. Therefore, understanding the relevant KPIs for your business is essential.

Performance metrics used in corporate performance management include;

  • Financial metrics – financial corporate performance management entails using data from the company’s books of accounts, income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements or budgeting and forecasting data like earnings, expenditures, and inventory reports.
  • Internal metrics – analyzes the quality of corporate management performance through employee performance.
  • Customer satisfaction and loyalty – are critical indicators of the business’s health and performance.
  • Compliance metrics – measures how well your organization follows employment regulations, financial reporting, and environmental rules.
  • Strategic metrics – indicates how well your organization executes strategies implemented by management to attain immediate targets and achieve long-term goals.

Execution of Strategic Plans

Develop an annual execution plan using business drivers, short and long-term goals, and targets.

 Measurement and analysis create a continuous performance management process.

Measurement and Analysis

Develop systems and methodologies for measuring KPIs for the business’s financial and operational plans. Use any relevant data that supports business performance management, converting it into actionable business information that is quantifiable to gauge the success of the objectives and operations.

Measurement and analysis create a continuous performance management process. Each evaluation comes with adjustments to maintain the success of the strategies. Traditional analysis processes take time to bring results. Agile business intelligence is a better alternative for real-time analytics.

Agile Business Philosophy Creates Corporate Adaptability

Agile for business means easy adaptability through change. It shifts attention to people and interaction instead of tools and processes.

Agile boosts a business’s velocity to adaptability and sustainability in a volatile business market. Therefore, your firm develops an enduring competitive advantage and a dominant position in the market.

Rapid feedback systems are indicators of an agile business. The resulting ecosystem from such mechanisms fosters interactions, enhancing trust among stakeholders. Feedback loops also encourage collaboration. They also lead to quick problem identification and the implementation of mitigation strategies.

Agile processes facilitate high communication rates through feedback loops. The constant communication enables stakeholders to stay updated on changes. It is easy to trace errors and implement changes.

Why Your Company Needs Agile Corporate Performance Management

Employees respond positively to agile enterprise performance management because it encourages communication and collaboration. Employees can take part in the change process.

An agile enterprise and corporate performance management also enhance work efficiency by keeping employees focused on ongoing tasks instead of multitasking. Face-to-face interaction also increases productivity since it encourages collaboration.

The agile approach also provides the feedback employees want. The process encourages participation by integrating real-time feedback into the employee’s workflow instead of the traditional receiving orders from management. The two-way conversational approach also nudges employee’s in the right direction.

Furthermore, employee performance improves based on collaborative and communication efforts. They get timely feedback and are empowered to ask pertinent questions about performance.

Three Keys to Implement Agile Corporate Performance Management

  • Linking goals to business priorities – the best corporate performance management approaches align business goals and operations to their purpose and vision.
  • Another best corporate performance management practice is training managers on interactive and collaborative skills to improve employee interaction.
  • Differentiating consequences – differentiate rewards for extreme performances.

Government and Private Sector Collaboration for Innovation

May 13, 2022 Strategy

Jeff Bartel

Chairman and Managing Director

Innovation drives competition and progress in all sectors, making it a critical factor for the success of both private entities and government agencies. Moreover, both organizations bring something to the table for innovation purposes, making collaboration an ideal option in many cases.

When Should Government and Private Sector Organizations Collaborate?

Private sector and public organizations should collaborate when:

  • They can align on a desired common outcome
  • The type or level of a challenge requires something from every kind of organization, such as government authority and commercial agility
  • A need arises that may draw on the resources of both sectors

Some examples of times when public and private sector collaboration can be essential include:

  • Public health crises (the COVID-19 pandemic is a recent example)
  • Times of economic strife (such as a period of recession or depression)
  • Periods when nations or societies are facing challenges that are extremely large in scope (such as climate change)

Why Do Government and Private Sector Organizations Collaborate?

Government strategy consulting and other private-public collaborations have additional benefits for both sectors besides the outcome of the work at hand. Some of the biggest reasons for these types of partnerships are summarized below.

Collaborations Build Public Trust

Public trust is an issue for governments and enterprises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, public views on how trustworthy the government was decreased. The majority of Americans did feel the United States government was somewhat or very good at keeping the country safe from terrorism, responding to natural disasters, ensuring safe food and medicine, and maintaining infrastructure. However, the majority felt the government was bad at protecting the environment, providing access to healthcare, handling threats to public health, helping people get out of poverty, and managing immigration.

According to the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in government continued to decline following 2020. On the other hand, business is seen as a unifying force in society. Most people believe that businesses provide leadership and successfully execute plans to yield positive results when faced with challenges.

Public-private collaborations allow efforts to be accepted in a more trusting light that might be seen as suspicious if only governments were involved.

Collaborations Have a Record of Success

Collaborations between the government and the private sector have a record of success across a wide range of challenges. When businesses are involved in regulatory strategy, for example, the results can be more realistic requirements that industries can uphold while supporting the health of the market and positive outcomes for labor, the environment, or other concerns.

Successful collaborations help drive down costs (for businesses and the public), achieve goals, and provide positive outcomes more likely to work for all.

Building Relationships to Solve Problems in the Future

Present collaboration creates foundations for relationships that help solve problems in the future. For example, when public-private collaboration works toward environmental integrity now, it helps mitigate climate change issues in the future.

Government and Private Sector Collaboration for Innovation

Collaboration is a must-have when faced with immediate concerns like a natural disaster or health crisis. However, the government and the private sector should work together for innovation in a proactive bid for a better future.

What Drives Government and Private Sector Innovation?

The biggest driver for this type of innovation is increased economic and social success. Other motivators include optimizing resources, minimizing risks by sharing burdens, overcoming resource and data barriers, and supporting higher contribution levels and buy-in for ongoing support from various sectors.

Barriers to Innovation

Common barriers to innovation include a lack of leadership or accountability, fear that keeps projects from moving forward, a lack of resources, short-term thinking that traps organizations in the status quo, and an inability to deliver solutions “to market.”

Luckily, a collaboration between federal, state, or local governments and private sector organizations breaks down many of these barriers. When private and public sectors are aligned on the desired outcome, fears associated with perception are drastically reduced, resources are typically increased, and the integration of various thought processes makes short-term thinking less likely.

How Is Successful Innovation Collaboration Measured?

Success is measured via ROI. Collaboration teams should look at resources invested in the effort and the types of returns experienced. These returns may not be in the form of money or goods but increased trust, positive R&D developments, or the desired outcome. Traditional metrics such as financial returns can also be accounted for in determining success.

Examples of Successful Government and Private Sector Collaboration

Social Challenges

Business and public resources can come together to solve government issues or more considerable social challenges. One example is in India, where the ability to travel to urban areas to vote, bank, or access healthcare was limited in many areas. So the government worked alongside technology firms in the nation to plan and build a “digital highway” that provides virtual access to services to all of India’s citizens.

Urban Challenges

Urbanization and gentrification of cities may be suitable for local economies in some ways, but it causes a variety of challenges that are being met by public-private collaboration. Increasing property prices and pollution and displaced populations living in urban environments before gentrification are just a few of the obstacles collaborative innovations are helping to solve.

Working within a strategic issues management group that brings together resources from the public and private sectors, individuals, businesses, and agencies can achieve more.