When people talk about organizational change, they’re referring to major shifts in how a company operates, its methods, structures, technologies, or strategies.  Significant changes like these aren’t just one-and-done; they have lasting ramifications and impact the employees in different ways.  Because of that, it’s important to consider how potential changes may impact your organization.

Change Impacts a Local Paving Company’s Journey

Many of you may have heard of Albany-based local paving contractor Tom Anderson, manager of Perfect Pave.  In 2017, Tom’s team went through a large organizational change when they shifted from solely residential work to taking on commercial paving projects as well.  Although the change may seem minor, it had a big impact on the budget, profitability of the business, and the employees.

Residential paving equipment ranges from a few hundred dollars to a couple thousand, which the company can make back in a few days.  But, when a paving contractor decides to take on commercial work, it comes with a laundry list of fees and expenses that NYS requires.   After paying a few hundred bucks for proper licensing in New York, Perfect Pave had to purchase commercial steam rollers, which weigh in excess of 40,000 pounds and cost more than $150,000 each.

From the employees’ perspective, the company’s financial health comes into question when large expenses arise.  Employees begin to wonder how the company can possibly afford to pay for it and still pay all of its employees.  It does help that transactions are made in cash, which saves money on credit card fees and taxes.  In Perfect Pave’s case, the paving contractors started to question the security of their roles and look elsewhere for employment as a back-up plan in case something were to happen.  When Tom discovered this, he called our team.

The first thing we identified was the need for better communication and an organizational change plan.  Because we were already behind schedule, we started by calling all the employees together to explain the shift in business.  Tom stood in front of everyone and explained the addition of commercial projects, the reason behind it, and also touched on the financial health of the company. Then, Tom opened the to a barrage of questions during a lengthy Q&A session.  From that point, we recommended that Tom provide his employees with a weekly status update of how the transition was going.

Overall, Perfect Pave’s change was a success.  However, the lesson to be learned here is that organizational change needs to be planned.  Identify possible changes that affect the company and its employees and plan a strategy for how to manage that change as it progresses, including a communication plan to keep employees in the loop.

 

Owning a business is not like taking a stroll in the park. The business owner encounters problems, makes decisions, keeps the operations smooth and well-organized, and a whole lot more in a day-to-day basis. Identifying the basic business activities such as the ones mentioned above that occurs almost daily to any kind of business will equip you, the business owner, with the knowledge on which areas you can focus on as well as practice and improve upon for the better. Carrying out these basic business activities effectively will allow your business to grow and is critical to running your business operations efficiently.

Crafting a budget is crucial for the business as it determines how much is allocated for the operational costs, assets investments, and such other expenses. Putting a cap on the money that your business is willing to spend will make sure that there will always be enough to spare and that you are maximizing the resources for better profit. Usually, the budget for the current year can be patterned from the budget of the previous year. Or, the revenue of last year can dictate how much money can be reasonably spent for the current year. Implementing a budget for your business can help in controlling expenses and keeping the costs down.

It is not enough to just have a budget, you should also be able to manage and track your expenses as well as your income. By accounting your finances, you can manage and track the flow of money that goes in and out of your business. Through accounting, you should be able to manage your account payables, account receivables, payroll expenses, credit accounts, collections, taxes, and so on. You should also conduct auditing to monitor your finances – to make sure that a certain sum of money is going towards where it should go and that the accounting is accurate.

You will not have a business if you cannot supply what you are trying to sell. Managing your supply chain means monitoring and maintaining a good level for your inventory and ensuring that your inventory is stored and delivered properly.

Marketing your business is a continuous endeavor and not something to be forgotten about after securing several customers. The goal of marketing is to gain new customers and to retain the existing ones. The customers that you already have can be a fickle lot so it is important to keep them engaged with your business through marketing. On the other hand, it is just as important to keep attracting new customers for your business to grow. Keep being informed of the latest market trends and keep conducting market researches to stay in tuned and not let your business get left behind.

How well you handle the sales operations is the heart of your business. This determines if your customers will be willing to conduct more business with you in the near future. Sales must be smooth and customer-friendly to guarantee good impressions from your clients and to secure more future transactions. Sales and marketing oftentimes go hand in hand as these business activities support each other.

Your relationship with the customer does not end at the conclusion of a sales transaction, you should provide them with the assurance that your business is ready to resolve any customer issues that may crop up. Also, be proactive in asking for feedback from your customers. Not only will you gain information that will be useful for your business, you are also letting your customers know that their feedback matters and that your business listens to them.

In business, you are not just expected to maintain good relations with your customers, you must also take good care of your people. Human resources-related tasks include acquiring qualified talents to work for your business, manage their compensation and benefits, motivate them, and most importantly, train and develop them. Human resources should also be able to instill teamwork among the employees and keep the harmony in the workplace to increase productivity.

Conducting regular audits to your business ensures that the operations is running accordingly, that the financial accounting is accurate, and that the quality of the products and services continues to be top-notch. Auditing will help you monitor and assess how your business is doing.