This is the time of the year when most business leaders are getting their budgets approved and reviewing last month’s progress toward their new annual goals. Many leaders will find out that results are not being achieved in comparison to their year-to-date goals after just a couple of months.
“How can we be off target so early in the year which has just begun?”
This can be due to a number of reasons including:
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- Poor assumptions
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- Changes in market conditions
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- Unplanned negative events
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- Lack of resources
- Errors in budget modeling like linear budgeting without seasonal effects
However, sometimes budgeted results are missed due to ineffective actions that result from poor implementation and poor execution.
In my past, I have seen many business plans that were well designed with great actions. However, the execution of those actions did not deliver the expected results. Often this was due to the lack of initiative, foresight, planning, and urgency or skill set from those responsible for the actions. As leaders, we focus on the why, what, when, and how much to spend on the planned actions. We do not spend enough time on who will be doing the actions and asking ourselves do they have the leadership, experience, and skill set for the planned actions?
Improving results dependent on people requires an investment in people.
Such investments include reassigning your best employees to new roles, providing training to those in the roles, or acquiring the required talent to drive the new actions. Having the leadership talent to achieve planned improvements is something equally important to the actions themselves and deserves more time and planning.
So, as you review your business results to your budgeted plans, ask yourself if you have the leadership talent to achieve your planned success. If not, it’s time to take action on who will be driving your business actions.
Written by: Matt Dionne, Managing Partner
