7 Essentials to consider when dealing with recession

0 1. Secure your intellectual capital consider defining and reviewing the core competencies of your business that will set you apart from your competition. Are they clear and protected within your strategy? 0 2. Engage the people consider defining a communication plan and a clear message to keep your people informed and engaged. Do your messages build the team spirit you need? Make sure all managers are in tune with the messages and have the tools and skills to transfer them effectively to their teams. 0 3. Focus on your business drivers consider using a tool such as the Balanced Score Card to define and communicate your strategy in terms of both results and the drivers of results. Do you have as much knowledge about where your business is going as you have about where it has been? 0 4. Build customer orientation consider using a tool to assess current levels of customer orientation from which you can develop a plan to enhance it. Include the required skills and attitudes in the core competencies of those in contact with customers. Are you using as much of your resources as you could to pro-actively keep and attract business? 0 5. Focus on your customers needs consider assessing your sales teams current skill set in consultative or needs based selling techniques. Could adding something to this skill set enhance existing knowledge and expertise and win you more business at better margins? 0 6. Think lean consider the value of bringing in an external agency to help your team take a different look at your processes to evaluate your value stream. Are your processes as effective and as efficient as they could be? 0 7. Review non-essential spending consider the impact of any spending cuts on drivers of performance as well as on financial results. In particular, review the business objectives and KPIs behind any investments and how these may actually help the business in the short term before cancelling plans. Have you cut the right things? Are there any new investments you should make? If any of the items in our 7 point checklist trigger any ideas, consider converting them to SMART actions.

Supporting the UK manufacturing industry

Festo Ltd Applied Automation Centre Caswell Road Brackmills Trading Estate Northampton NN4 7PY Tel: (01604) 667584 Fax: (01604) 667001 email: info_gb@festo.com

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Act SMART action plan

Actions

S be Specific about what you want to do so that the message is unambiguous and can be communicated clearly.

M ensure the result is Measurable. Define clearly the outcome the action is intended to produce and, where possible, express this outcome in measurable terms/KPIs.

A make sure the action is of the real situation your an effective balance between the short term imperatives and the long term strength of the business?

R check that the action is stretch the business but should

T make sure the action is Time restricted. Without appropriate milestones and deadlines it will be difficult to asses progress and impact.

Status

Appropriate. Does it take account Realistic. Such actions should business is in and does it provide not be seen as impossible.

Copyright 2009 Festo Ltd