The Post-COVID business environment is upon us. What does this new world change for your business and the longer-term strategic goals of your organization?
Now is the time to put focus on 2022 (and beyond)
It’s August and the sales year is nearing completion. You have an eye on your sales pipeline, you have laid out 4th quarter plans and hope COVID variants don’t disrupt them. You likely have a preliminary target where revenue will fall for 2021.
Laying out your next 18 months now in sales, marketing, and operations; seeing where to invest in infrastructure, departments, and people; and what opportunities to develop or move away from can guide your ability to see what capital you need to accomplish it all.
People
With less than 16 weeks left to close out a strong 2021 and ready 2022, what actions will drive the most impact? For example, have you focused on the talent needed to spark or continue your growth? It can take 45 to 60 days to complete those hires. Then those hires need to get up to speed to be productive, which can take another 45 to 60 days of onboarding and learning your systems. Hiring for the 1st quarter should begin in the 4th quarter. The same is true If your company is changing internal systems or software programs. Have you allowed for the loss of productivity as people train and settle into the new systems or processes?
So often, leaders don’t begin their planning until the 4th quarter. Sound familiar? If your 2022 plan is expecting you to hit the ground running in January, then you need people, process, and infrastructure in place in the 4th quarter to see those results in January. Otherwise, your 1st quarter results fall short.
Take Action
If your company is in high growth mode, having a strategic thinking HR leader can address the people/process/organization issues to enhance and impact the success of your business plans. Do you need a strategic HR expert to help you through the People parts? If so, I, along with my team of expert Partners at Newport LLC have the breadth of real operating experience to help you navigate these waters. We can provide insights to help you avoid costly mistakes, avoid HR risks, provide a structured framework for action steps across your company, and deliver results that help move you toward your 5- year vision. I invite your call or email me to schedule time to discuss your planning for 2022.
Kevin Shane is a Partner at Newport, LLC and can be reached directly at 301.512.3354 and kevin.shane@newportllc.com
