By Ken Ingram
Cost reduction is no longer the sole reason to outsource. Outsourcing itself has changed. In the past, companies had all the talent, skills and abilities needed to reach the businesses goals and objective. However in today’s constantly changing environment, our capacity to maintain those skills has become scarce.Organizations are evolving at a much faster rate than in previous years in order remain competitive and the most compelling reason to outsource may be for survival and business performance.
When I became a black belt in Six Sigma, many of the employees looked at the new methodology as a strategy not for the purpose of becoming more efficient and competitive, but as strategy to eliminate jobs. Those of us who saw it as a methodology to improve cost and to become more competitive while increasing customer satisfaction were able to increase our value to the organization. By getting involved in the process we became a catalyst and were recognized as change agents.
If a business is not constantly making adjustments and corrections in all areas of the business, it becomes complacent. Complacency leads to extinction even for businesses that have been around for decades. One area often overlooked is the workforce. Unless a consistent effort is made, even people will depreciate. We have to constantly challenge the status quo or risk becoming a part of history.
When you have great people, cross-training can be a solution to the changing business dynamics in lieu of outsourcing. You may already have the right people in your organization but they might lack the knowledge and know-how to become the absolute best that they can be. They may resist change and you may resist change because of the investment. In Quebec, the government offers subsidies of 50% of most mandates to keep your business and its people running at optimum.
Peter Drucker’s ‘Management Challenges for the 21st Century’, he describes how the old paradigms will need to be replaced by new ones. In the book ‘Good to Great’, Jim Collins talks about why some organizations make the leap and others do not.
What is important in all of these concepts and ideas, is that you put them into practice. More than any year in the past, your leadership, teamwork, sales and business development skills will be put to the test.
There are now several things that your organizations may want to achieve and cost reduction is one of them, but it may not be the most important goal anymore. You may be looking for ways to bridge the gap by providing additional capacity and skills that are in scarce supply.
When I became a black belt in Six Sigma, many of the employees looked at the new methodology as a strategy not for the purpose of becoming more efficient and competitive, but as strategy to eliminate jobs. Those of us who saw it as a methodology to improve cost and to become more competitive while increasing customer satisfaction were able to increase our value to the organization. By getting involved in the process we became a catalyst and were recognized as change agents.
If a business is not constantly making adjustments and corrections in all areas of the business, it becomes complacent. Complacency leads to extinction even for businesses that have been around for decades. One area often overlooked is the workforce. Unless a consistent effort is made, even people will depreciate. We have to constantly challenge the status quo or risk becoming a part of history.
When you have great people, cross-training can be a solution to the changing business dynamics in lieu of outsourcing. You may already have the right people in your organization but they might lack the knowledge and know-how to become the absolute best that they can be. They may resist change and you may resist change because of the investment. In Quebec, the government offers subsidies of 50% of most mandates to keep your business and its people running at optimum.
Peter Drucker’s ‘Management Challenges for the 21st Century’, he describes how the old paradigms will need to be replaced by new ones. In the book ‘Good to Great’, Jim Collins talks about why some organizations make the leap and others do not.
What is important in all of these concepts and ideas, is that you put them into practice. More than any year in the past, your leadership, teamwork, sales and business development skills will be put to the test.
There are now several things that your organizations may want to achieve and cost reduction is one of them, but it may not be the most important goal anymore. You may be looking for ways to bridge the gap by providing additional capacity and skills that are in scarce supply.
