Do your team ignore this?

Let’s say you were adding a new process to your company.

You need it to make sure a particular task is carried out properly…..

….But it means more work for your employees.

How would they react to this change?

Would they embrace it fully….?

Or would that change be greeted with moans and groans – and then be quickly forgotten about?

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been discussing the possible barriers which might prevent you from creating essential systems in your business.

How you handle your people when you introduce these systems is the third barrier.

It’s not just that sometimes processes are more work for them.

Processes are usually about bureaucracy and being told how to work, and few people like either of those things.

Introducing change is also always difficult, even when it’s necessary and for the better.

This is a challenge I experienced in my own business recently.

Here at Insight Associates, we have a robust process for making payments on behalf of clients. Each transaction has to be reviewed by four people, and there is a strict paper trail.

Because it’s such a sensitive task, we have to constantly make sure it’s fit for purpose.

A while back, we added an extra step, to double-check that the payment is being made to the right place. (To be clear: This was never a mistake we made, we simply spotted a potential gap in the controls.)

This added an extra layer of complexity to an already complex process – which means more work for my staff.

Systems typically should reduce work, but ours was adding more work to the mix!

So how do you ensure such systems are implemented?

The key is never to introduce essential systems to your business and simply assume that everyone will adopt them – even (especially!) when you know they are business-critical.

You need to ‘sell’ the system or process to your team.

Ensure that they really understand why it is so important to implement, so you have their buy-in.

How might you do this?  

I asked the team to design the new process together with me.

We made them aware of the consequences, should a mistake be made. When people understand why you’re introducing a process, it becomes more meaningful to them.

And by being involved in the design process, they felt part of the solution.

Because it was not imposed ‘from above’, they’re more likely to embrace the change than resist it.

Systematising your business is crucial, if your company is going to function more smoothly and grow.

It’s the marker of a “grown up” business, which is ready to scale and can deliver consistent results, no matter whether you – the owner – are around or not.

So you cannot afford for the systems you create to be ignored. You have to get your staff on board.

There are two more mistakes you can make which can stop the process of systemisation from working in your business.

I’ll tell you about them over the next couple of weeks – watch out for those blogs.

But in the meanwhile, if you would like to institute robust financial systems and processes in your company – much like the one we have, to make sure every payment is handled correctly – hit ‘reply’, and let’s talk.

We can analyse your current financial processes and identify the systems you need to manage your finances more smoothly.

We can also implement them for you, whilst getting the buy-in of your team….

…so you can crack on with growing your business, and scaling it to £5 million, £10 million – and beyond

Why you hire the wrong accountants

The company owner took responsibility for building an accounting function which they understood very little about.

They had no idea what an efficient, successful finance department that helps propel a company forward looks like.

Read More »

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