The Impact of Change on Business Strategy and the Emerging Roles of Executives
02nd Dec , 2019
The business environment today is fast-moving, and if you are expecting the pace of change to slow, you will be sorely disappointed. The world changes every day: populations are rising, customers demand greater diversity in products and services with greater speed, technology is driving change, and the economy and business markets are rapidly evolving. Business leaders who fail to embrace change and adapt their business strategy and their people can easily fail by remaining out of touch and unable to compete under current and emerging trading conditions.
Now, with the rapid change in the business environment, the roles of executives are changing. What was once thought of as obscure has fast become the norm. At International Business Mentors, we are routinely asked to provide business mentors and business coaches to help business owners and executives to remain current, deal with shifting expectations, and help anticipate and adapt to future changes in all aspects of business.
Why Is This Necessary?
Emerging issues such as climate change, environmental issues, corporate governance, mental illness, wellbeing, modern slavery, money laundering, waste, privacy, gender, diversity, parental responsibilities, technology shifts and trade wars are now commonplace issues in the modern business, and organisational leaders need to be kept alert to their implications and adapt appropriate policies, strategy and work practices.
The implications of such rapid change are escalating business risks and new opportunities. Therefore, senior leadership needs to critically refresh their corporate strategy and incorporate required changes effectively into their organisations in order to reduce risk and optimise business performance.
How Business Coaching Can Help
A business coach or mentor from International Business Mentors can assist you with the critical evaluation of strategy to meet required change in strategy, organisations and effective implementation. You will be taught how to challenge the status quo, given changes, and simply asked the right questions that lead to new ideas and new innovations that can directly impact the bottom line.
Any business can benefit from looking from a fresh perspective with business coaching in such areas as customer needs, new ways of delivering customer service, new ways of strengthening customer interactions, new products or services that might attract new customers or markets, operational requirements to fulfil customers’ expectations at the right cost levels, supply chain alliances needed, funding requirements, research and development, acquisitions, divestments, technology revamping, competitor strategy, and many other areas.
The Importance of Staying Up to Date
Business leaders not only need to be kept up to date with trends that will impact their business, but they also critically need to consider what their competitive positions are and should be in the future to meet the emerging trends in their industries. With an adapted strategic view of the future and their strategy to meet it, senior leadership must also plan their target organisation required to implement their strategy in the future. This will involve attracting the appropriate expertise and talent, or training up existing and capable executives to be better able to perform the critical roles and implement the adapted strategy. Critical to this process will be attracting, keeping and selecting the right people, particularly in the C suite roles, who will in turn cascade the changing performance targets and business culture requirements and manage all employees to implement the adapted strategy.
New staff members are very important in assessing the impact of change. New employees are especially valuable and can often point to areas of opportunity for improvement that existing staff in the company might have overlooked. Existing employees should also be encouraged to question why things are done a certain way and look for improved ways to get work done faster, better and with higher levels of quality and service and lower cost. This is another area where assistance from business mentors and business coaches can be invaluable.
Catering for Change
Change is important in organisations, allowing employees to learn new skills, explore new opportunities and exercise their talents creativity to benefit the organisation through new ideas and increased commitment. Employees need to be prepared to deal with organisation and position changes. Preparation will involve an analysis of the tools and training required to help them learn the new skills. Importantly, organisations need to properly evaluate their employees’ capabilities and then take steps to fill any gaps between current skills and the skills required to respond to growth.
Change will create new needed positions within any specific business. Examples of such new roles created to cater for such critical business changes include:
- Facebook has appointed a Chief Privacy Officer. It makes sense that such a position has emerged in the space of privacy, but perhaps it would not have even been considered in earlier years.
- Price Waterhouse Coopers now has a Chief Purpose Officer. Again, it makes sense in today’s environment.
Some other roles now anticipated by business futurists might include:
- Chief Trending Officer – Will keep the organisation up to date on important shifts in public opinion on all manner of issues critically affecting the business.
- Chief Environmental Officer – Not only a matter for public concern, but necessary to keep updated on environment protection laws and to be compliant to implement the business’s policies on the environment and avoid any legal compliance and hefty penalties. Sustainability will be an integral part of every business.
- Chief Automation Officer – The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it can be effectively integrated into the various areas of the business, and how this will impact people in the organisation.
- Chief of Wellbeing – Businesses are embracing the importance of looking after their employees to make for a harmonious workplace and improve productivity.
- Chief of Branding – Competition for consumers has intensified and as such, so has the importance of branding. This can be extended to employer branding in order to retain and attract excellent employees.
- Chief of Fusion – The composition of employees, including diversity, part timers, contractors and flexible working conditions, needs to be monitored to ensure all are well integrated into the organisation.
There are many other positions that can be considered and created depending on the industry and size of the business. At International Business Mentors, we can assist with business coaching that can help create another competitive edge for businesses in a rapidly changing business environment. A well-matched business mentor or business coach can confidentially assist business leaders to anticipate needed changes in strategy and therefore the organisational changes needed, including the creation or adaption of roles to cover emerging issues that will significantly impinge on the business.
Your own business mentor or business coach can help you with change. This help is based on their own business experience, allowing them to assist you with critical discussion and support.
Areas Where a Business Mentor or Coach Can Provide Assistance
Examples of how a business mentor or business coach can support you in times of change include:
- Help you reset your business strategy
- Assist you to develop your target organisation to deliver that adapted strategy
- Help you research and identify relevant emerging critical positions and anticipate future people developments
- Help you consider critical new job requirements and performance targets to meet the strategy
- Assist you in identifying who in the organisation might be well placed to fulfil a new role, and what training would be needed, i.e. succession planning
- Discuss how to best use the job market to recruit future critical talent
Business leaders find critical change difficult, making it important to have a confidential, independent and experienced sounding board in the form of a business mentor or coach from International Business Mentors. This can be an immensely valuable business process that allows you to leverage up business performance.
Call International Business Mentors today to find out how business coaching can help you to adapt and grab your evolving business opportunities in a period of rapid business change and increasing risk.