The power of the strategic plan

In today’s corporate world, whether you are in business, charity, ministry, sports, politics or even the academia it’s important for you to have an understanding of strategic planning. A plan is a document that should take you from where you are to where you want to be! A strategic plan looks into the future and tries to take eventualities and contingencies into consideration.

To develop a strategic plan, the organization will have to go through a number of stages which take the form of questions, as follows: 

•      Where are we now? - The analysis of the current situation.

•      Where do we want to be in the future? - Setting the objectives and the goals

•       How are we going to get there? – Creating the strategy( the details of the plan)

•      How will we know when we get there? - Monitoring and evaluation of outcomes.

Often we add a couple of other questions to the list to enable us have a more detailed picture:

            How long will it take us to get there? A time element should be involved for measurement

            What will we meet on the way? There are obstacles and hindrances that we have to overcome

             What will we need to get there? Tools comparative advantages, personnel          

Asking yourself these questions would keep you on your toes and enable a proper planning process.

Never keep the plan in your head thinking: “I have no need to write it down, because I know it back to front”. Writing it down does a lot of things for you:

1. It would enable you put the plan into a proper perspective

2. It would bring out some missing links or things you probably overlooked in the planning process

3. It would keep your plan realistic and keep your head out of the clouds so that you do not imagine too many things or take details for granted

4. It would enable you put a proper cost to the planning. You will be able to itemize the resources properly and account for what you want to spend and use.

5. A written plan would serve as guideline for you in case you end up swaying from your original intentions or you get the details mixed up.

One thing we ought to be able to do is find out if we are making progress. We should be able to ask ourselves how close we are to the goal we have set for ourselves. Mile stones in the shape of achievables or deliverables ought to be listed out to assure us how well we are doing. For instance,

if we say we want to be number one in our sector, there should be Key performance indicators that should show us how close we are to being number one.  The indicators could be numbers, market share, clientele profile or even the time of growth compared to other competitors in the sector.

Planning is invaluable, but strategic planning, anticipating most of the eventualities that could occur is the greatest form of planning that any manager should embark upon.

           

            

So you are talented, but is talent enough?

The modern Human Resources Manager is consistently on the lookout for talent to serve as a competitive advantage for his organization. On the recruitment and selection of a talent it bothers on the managers to ensure that the skills and gifts of the selected staff are used maximally to achieve the organizations goals and objectives: Thus the phrase: Talent Management.

Achieving an organization's goals and objectives should be more of a guarantee, not big talk! The knowledge skill and ability of the people concerned should breed confidence. The key question rings large in the minds of HRMs and line managers: Who can do the job?

Success versus Talent

Talent is not enough. Management analysts note that there is little correlation between man’s effectiveness, intelligence, talent, imagination and knowledge. The questions therefore arise: what does it take to succeed and where does talent fit? There are three perspectives:

1 Everyone has talent! People may have equal value but not necessarily equal giftedness. Some People have multiple talents. Most people have fewer abilities. All of us can do something well. Someone is always capable of doing something better than as many as the next 10,000 people. What is your strength zone? Find it and use it. In the organization that job of finding the strenght zone is the  HRMs

2. Develop the talent you have. Why do people spend more time trying to strengthen their weaknesses in skills development? Why not spend more time strengthening your strengths? (Apart from attitude and character which need to be worked on always) technical abilities can always improve if we put our minds and practice to it! Lawyers, doctors, speakers, teachers, musicians and fighters can always improve their performance level with practice, additional training and additional skills acquisition. Multiple award winning football recently said "   "I have kept growing off the field and on it. I am improving and adding things to my game, every day I enjoy being a footballer more" There is always an upper level we can make and meet if we work towards it. Again from the organizational perspective the HRM and his training associates have to draw up programmes that help strenghten these areas. 

3. Everyone can make choices that add value to talent. Apart from natural talent, key choices you make will set you apart from others.  Choose, for instance, to associate with people in your area of specialty who can influence you to do better. Choose to consistently think of ways in which your performance level can be improved. Focus and concentration is required in some professional callings, deep thinking and speedy analysis is required in others. What is your requisition? Find it and apply it.

So if we marry improving talent with the right attitude and skills we should be on our way to getting the best performance available in our area of operation. The competitive edge is coming as much from people as from products. The optimum use of peoples’ individual competencies is in order to match the organizational goals
If you are in top management you need to develop yourself. If you have top managers in your organization, do not leave thier development to chance. Engage them! There are some key areas in which top managers need to be developed consistently in major organizations:
New attitudes and behaviors that would promote culture change. \
We live in a changing world. Organizations are consitently in the flux over change. The work environment, climate, markets and customers are consistently changing and so we have to prepare our managers to change to suit conditions and demands.
Styles of empowerment and innovation are also changing drastically. Top managers are giving more authority and power for decisionmaking activity and they are being schooled in methods in which they can innovate and introduce new methods and approaches into their work activity on a regular basis.
New markets are opening up for different products on a regular basis. Sometimes it takes a different level of expertise to spot or identify new markets. A lot of the new markets in today's world are either hidden, esoteric or difficult to penetrate. specialized training is in order to enable managers to look in odd and unexpected places and understand new trends.
Managers are also in  need of knowledge that would help them maximize the use of technology.

Nigeria portends a big market for all manner of products and services. Some of this demand for services is readily recognizable, where as the other demands need to be subtly enticed out of the would be consumer.

How empowerment is failing in Africa

A governor of the middle belt state of Nigeria acquired wheelbarrows and distributed them as part of his empowerment scheme in his state. His logic was: If you have a wheelbarrow you have a tool to work with. The question many of his critics asked was: What kind of empowerment is a wheelbarrow?
There have sundry reports of youths who have risked their lives traveling to North African countries so as to cross the Mediterranean into Europe. Many people have perished at sea and in the desert because of this risky venture. Italian authorities recently investigated the deaths of 26 girls, mostly Nigerians who were found dead at sea with evidence of sexual abuse and violation. The continual exodus of youths from African countries is caused by a loss of hope in the future of their countries

   

The concept and meaning of empowerment has different interpretations to various kinds of people. One general description says its “measures designed to increase the degree of autonomy and self determination of people.” In an organization it is defined as “a management practice of sharing information, rewards and power with employees.”Empowering people is generally giving them opportunities to advance their fortunes in commerce, politics and national perspectives. Leadership determines to a large extent how, when and why people are empowered. Sadly, the African society demonstrates very few opportunities of empowerment for its people. The basic necessities that are taken for granted in various developed countries are grossly absent in many poverty stricken African nations. There is a high tendency for corruption in government, dishonesty and misappropriation in the use of public funds such that these countries cannot afford the necessary infrastructure for the people who live there.

The absence of stable electricity in West Africa is major factor of underdevelopment. If people do not have access to electricity they spend extra sums of money to generate their own. Activity that should be driven by electricity becomes absent or highly expensive to sustain.

Lagos, a city in South West Nigeria, suffers all the indicators of a society rigged with poverty and a gross lack of empowerment. There are large numbers of youths who are in jobs and activities that put a daily meal on their table, but do not produce anything. Many school leavers and drop outs are involved in football gambling and internet fraud and petty crimes for sustenance. Industry in Lagos is virtually dead. Importation of cheaper goods, lack of security and reduced access to energy has lead to the closure of many industrial organizations which could contribute to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country if they were still up and running. Industries are fast becoming obsolete in Nigeria. Many of them have multiple problems. They have no access to viable and affordable energy sources, no proper roads through which goods can be evacuated, constant harassment by law enforcement for cash gifts, multiple tax payments and competition against cheaper imports.

Minister for Agriculture and rural development in Nigeria Mr. Audu Ogbeh who had earlier declared that there would be ban on the importation of rice in December 2017 has since realized that an outright ban would be difficult to implement. Rice is currently grown in 18 states in Nigeria but the combined harvest of these states cannot meet the demand of the Nigerian rice consumers who currently eat over 500metric tons of the commodity every year. Nigeria is the largest importer of rice, oil and sugar in West Africa and holds a high up position for the importation of these products worldwide. Sadly, Nigeria is still importing N1trillion worth of food a year. Ogbeh says government in Nigeria cannot afford to finance rice farmers like they do in Thailand and other Asian countries. The question is: If government is not ready to subsidize farmers to help get agriculture off the ground then how does the farmer survive and how does agriculture thrive in a country like Nigeria? Giving the farmers loans, tools for production and outright purchases of their products as well as introducing processing mills that would prepare the rice for sale would go a long way in making a credible impact on rice production. But government has rejected that strategy.

Farmers in every major country where agriculture has flourished are not left to struggle on their own they are empowered by government who finances parts of their operations and reduces tax collection from them. Its not so in Nigeria.. Farmers have complained that Internal Revenue Service(IRS) have showed up at there farms threatening to shut them because of tax issues.

Economic empowerment should be such that start up and existing organizations that need help should have access to tools, necessary imports and tax holidays that would make them profitable and thereby help develop the economy. Many of our governments couldn’t care less.

By 2050 the emerging economies in the world: Brazil, India, Russia and China would have gone far ahead in terms of development. Brazil, in spite of economic challenges has made huge headway in the development of Computer Applications, India is becoming a hub for computer software and medical tourism, Russia is also making great forays into computer development, exploitation of gas reserves and warfare equipment, China is working on connecting all its cities by rail, increased automobile manufacturing and military hardware development. It is expected that China and India would be leading producer of manufactured products by the year 2050. Africa’s only hope in this race appears to be South Africa and even there, corruption and political turmoil is making  the country lag behind.If proper action is not taken, Nigeria would be left behind in scheme of manufacturing and at the height of service delivery. 

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The Competitive CEOs Skill set.

The skills you require to become a successful leader in your sector.

Cognitive ability

This is raw intellectual horse power and mental agility that helps your creativity and enables you understand situations and circumstances that are sometimes complex and maze-like to the ordinary eye. The ability to think on your feet and proffer solutions to nagging problems in a nick of time.

Strategic Thinking

Your thought process for the company or organization should not be based on the realities of the moment alone. Being strategic in your thinking is tuning your thoughts to the future, both immediate and long term. You ought to have the ability to think up scenarios and long term solutions even before they happen.

Analytical Ability

Ability to sort through diverse sources of information and see what’s important. You ought to be able to, within a short period of time, determine what is critical to continuity and success in an organization, a project or assignment. The analytical ability enables you to determine the most important factors.

Decision making ability

You ought to be able to make sound decisions with minimal risk in an environment of ambiguity and uncertainty.

Personal and Organizational Communication skills

Communication should be your strong point. Remember you are constantly engaging the troops (your followers/team members) and convincing them to tread a path that should lead you and the organization to meet your strategic business objectives. Close to the communication prowess is your ability to influence and persuade different groups. You ought to have salesman skills as well as an understanding of group dynamics.

Managing Diversity

Work groups, businesses and organizations are as diverse as they come in today’s business environment Prepare to manage people from different cultures, gender, age and so on.

Managing Talent

Hiring the best you can find is always an advantage.  But retaining and developing talented people is another story entirely. Thriving CEOs need to learn how to do this.

Ability to learn

Continuous learning should be a commitment and practice of Chief Executive Officers. You ought to be able to learn from your team and adopt the best skills and strategies from them without being intimidated or threatened. You do not have to be the smartest guy in the company to be the CEO.

Just how competent are you at your job?

Just how competent are you at your job? Now that's an interesting question. Let's see now, you need skill and knowledge to get that job done. But you may find that among a certain group of professionals "knowing how" to do something is a little different from "knowing about knowing how" to do something. There are lot of people who talk about things they probably never really had the opportunity to practice themselves. Take for instance, some of the professors at your local university. Many of them have studied a lot in their fields, but not all them can really practice the professional aspect of their calling which entails doing the things that they discuss in class.
Competency is described as "an underlying characteristic of a person which results in effective and/or superior performance on a job"-Boyatris 1992.
The competency test is a quick way of assessing yourself to determine if you are making progress or not.
Check out the following questions:
1. Is my knowledge about my profession purely academic. In other words, do I merely talk about how its done and how it should be done without any hands on experience that shows we can do it?
2. If I have a project relating to my core skills and profession and I am asked to do it myself, what are my chances of success?
3.Could I play the role of teacher/coach in order to enhance the skill of another person's skill or ability?
4. If I am asked to play the professional role which includes my core training and skill would I be able to perform optimally?
The ability to perform the activities within an occupational area to the levels of performance expected in employment is the sum total of competence. So ask yourself again: Just how competent are you at your job? Knowledge and skill should enhance work activity.

Attitude is a component of business success

Human Resource Management professionals are recruiting more for attitude with the intention of training for skill and competency in this century. The crux of the matter is the right attitude and behavior is urgently needed to ensure that employees of an organization would do the job right and focus on meeting goals that are set by the organization. The right behavior is consistently being taught in management school.  HRM understands that bad behavior and attitude can get in the way of skill, if steps are not taken to determine and differentiate good attitude and behavior and distinguish it from bad or unacceptable conduct.

Every employee should take an attitude test, in addition to the aptitude that we so much focus on, and see if indeed his behavior is not serving as a hindrance to his success and growth on the job.  Here are some parameters you ought to consider to determine if your attitude is right or wrong:

1.    The whole is more important than the parts! This philosophy has its Here root in your ability to put the organizational interest before your personal interest. A good manager ought to be able to sustain business, development or success in organizational strategy while being uncomfortable himself if the need arises. Human nature often makes us think of our individual comfort first. But if we can delay gratification, in a good system, rewards are normally greater when they are delayed.

2.    Keep your eye on the goal! Organizational vision and mission statements should be so compelling that they should help the staff or operatives get through business on a bad day. Keeping our minds eye on the vision we have, often helps us go through uncomfortable circumstances and situations undaunted, because we know and believe in where we are going. All of your workforce should be able to stay focused, understand the mission and vision of the organization and relate everyday actions to this mission and vision.

3.    Have a unified direction! In management and productive processes we find that even though the direction of people might be similar, the paths we tread could vary, as long as they ultimately lead us in the same direction. Everyone in an organization should work towards the same goal, no matter how varied our skills, work or jobs are within the same organizational setting. A unified direction would strengthen the processes and outcomes in any organization that it exists.

4.    Reinvest in your skills and productive processes! If you take time out as often as possible to spend a percentage of your resources on honing your skills and improving your productive processes, you are bound to consistently improve on what you are doing for a living. Consistent practice, seeking out cutting edge strategies and improved practices will give you a high appeal at your business. Never be satisfied with how good you are. Seek to get better.

5.    Try New and more efficient ways of making progress! Innovation attracts patronage when it is refreshing and more efficient. Management professionals of all kinds should not be afraid to try out new ways of doing things. Research and development should lead to more efficiency and better ways of achieving results. As long as quality is not compromised newness is attractive.

6.    Staying positive no matter what is going wrong! In management, things are liable to go wrong no matter how well we have planned the processes. We can control certain variables, but there are others that we cannot control. Staying positive in the middle of disappointments is an important psychological attribute that we all need. Those who give up so easily could have a bad influence on the team.

7.    Rewards are important! Rewards are important in management. They serve as a viable source of motivation. But the attitude people have towards rewards is also important. We should not have people on our teams who seek to be achievers merely to claim rewards. A focus on a larger picture is important.

Having all this in mind is one thing, implementing it is another. The best way to find out if your staff has the right attitude is to create scenario and psychometric tests for them which will expose hidden character traits.

7 Business competencies you need to lead!

Leadership: Taking the initiative on your job, making decisions on behalf of the organization and not referring to a boss or a top manager every time you run into a problem is a sign of you developing your leadership skills. You could go higher.

Communication skills: Your oral and verbal communication is important. How often are you understood or misunderstood at the work place? Do you write a memo and get it thrown back at you with the instructions: Make it clearer we don’t understand what you mean. Speaking clearly and being understood by those you address is of utmost importance.

Presentation skills: If you are asked to make a presentation to people at your office what would be your reaction? Do you know that people have been promoted based on their ability to present a strategy, plan or workflow process. What about you?

Workflow Management: Getting the process of production to move faster with greater productivity and maximum quality involved is a great asset. If you can do this, you are bound to be recommended for the next promotion.  Top management is always looking for people who can improve the flow of work.   

Adaptability: How good are your skills, can you adapt to various situations? Does your skills set enable you function in different capacities without strain? Being adaptable could make you a great asset to your organization.

Customer Service: The customer will remain king for as long as we want to be in business. Every worker needs to know that treating the customer right is one of the greatest skills that can be learnt and must be learnt by all people in the work place. As long as you can hold the customer with high esteem you are on your way to being valued by your organization.  

The whole hub of job motivation

When we talk of job related motivation, the first thing that comes to mind is money. But research shows that money is not the only source of motivation. In fact, there is a whole hub of motivational concepts that spur the worker into doing a better job and money is just one of the many things on the list.

Here are some of the things that would enable you to know whether you are truly getting the best out of your job. Look at the following options and see if you can answer in the affirmative to all them.

Do you have:

A job that is worth while and of interest to you?

A boss you can respect?

Enough basic pay?

Some degree of personal challenge?

The opportunity to progress?

The chance of being part of a good team of people?

The chance of being well trained to do the job?

Sufficient resources to carry out the job?

A reasonable

degree of stability and security?

The chance of being involved in deciding how to do the job and organize the work?

You will notice that only one of these options has to do with money. What about the others?