Don't Grow Too Fast! It's Deadly

You want your business to grow. Are you ready? Can you handle an immediate 10% increase in business, and short-term growth in the 20-25% range? If the answer is "no," you have growth management preparation to do.

Most companies would answer, "Of course! Too much business is not the problem. We need more business!" Unfortunately, as often as not, the company isn't ready. This can be lethal to any business.

Look at your current supply line. Add 10% to the number of unfilled orders for every day for the next month. Can your current staff, equipment, and standard timeline absorb that change without causing any disruption? For the second month going forward, bring the additional orders to 13% above current numbers. How does it look? Do you have enough staff? Is your equipment in shape to handle the additional demand? Where is the breaking point? 20%? 30%? You need to know. You don't want to get there by surprise.

Lucy and Ethel have a delicious problem!

Frequently, companies try to handle the growth in business without increasing their staff or capital costs. Big mistake. More output always costs more money, whether in the short term by paying staff overtime and bonuses, or in the long term by replacing frustrated and valuable long term employees.

When an organization grows rapidly, two things tend to suffer - quality, and morale. Infrastructure breaks down under the additional load. Machines overheat. Computers crash. Files are lost. Deadlines are missed. Overtime hours are ordered. Pressure builds. Newer employees don't perform as efficiently or as loyally as long-term employees; it takes time to bring them up to speed and proficiency. Existing employees are suddenly responsible for substantially larger workloads with no increase in their paycheck. New employees frequently interrupt the existing staff looking for help and guidance. Existing employees become tired and discouraged, and quality and morale are in trouble.

Clients notice the late deliveries, quality control issues, and declining customer service. They are frustrated that quality is fading. And like all bad news, it travels fast. Reputation and market share begin to falter. Rebuilding a reputation in an industry or community is a very, very slow process. Many companies don't make it. (Think Target in Canada.)

In a period of growth, it is important to have a growth plan. Do you need to institute a temporary formalized training program to bring new employees up to speed? Is it time to tune-up or overhaul your machinery? Are your computers due to be updated or replaced? Does new machinery mean you need more existing workforce training?

Growth is great. It often comes as a surprise as a competitor pulls out of the market, or a new ad campaign is unusually successful. As soon as you notice the upswing, it's time to build morale and loyalty. Buy the staff lunch a few times a month. Make sure everyone has the best quality, most functional equipment necessary to perform their job. The best performance from your employees comes when they feel important and respected. A couple of overtime hours isn't a reward to most employees. Relate to them as people. You've hired them to do a job, and to do it well. Give them the right physical and psychological tools.

The Staffer To Fire Right Now

Over 80% of employees surveyed in several recent studies indicated their job satisfaction is most

Employee With Negative Attitude

affected by the mood, attitude and cooperation of their coworkers. Almost 100% of who reported they disliked their work reported their primary aversion is to one specific coworker who is unpleasant.

In any operation, most of the staff will look for ways to work together and achieve together. Unfortunately, there is often one, sometimes a few, employee(s) who prefer to stir things up, gossip, create controversy, and generally be an obstacle to peace and productivity. And even more unfortunate, many bosses feel sorry for these Negative Nancys, and keep them on because "no one else would ever hire them." What gives?

"I can't fire her. She knows too much, and no one can replace her." Or, and this one really drives me crazy, "If he knows he's being fired, who will train his replacement?" Seriously? Whose poor management plan was that who gave this person such an enormous amount of power that they can now hold the whole company hostage? Who does their job when your problem employee goes on vacation?

This is an overwhelming problem to a workforce. When an organization has a personnel problem, there are two consistent places the root of it can be found: either the management staff does not model a team attitude and a terrific work ethic, or someone with a bad attitude or work ethic is being tolerated. In either case, the problem infects everyone else. It is very difficult to hold yourself to a high standard of performance if your boss or your coworkers put no value on doing the same. It could be chronic lateness, foul language, sexist or racist behavior, ugly gossip, drinking on the job, or even theft or falsifying records. Like any problem, these things start small, but as they are tolerated they grow rapidly.

Do your staff a favor. Remove the obstacle staffer, and clean up the example set for your employees. You have warned, discussed, reprimanded, and threatened your problem employee for the last time. They are not irreplaceable, and keeping them may cost you the best parts of the rest of your staff!

The absolute worst choice in this situation is to do nothing. Things will only get worse - they always do, every single time. The first runner-up bad choice is to fire the bad apple without a plan, and end up bringing them back on staff. Make a plan, accept that there are going to be some inconveniences and skinned knees, and show that troublemaker the road. Your organization will begin improving immediately!