Business Inside Out by Martin Towers: Clear objectives needed for company success

It’s about people, leadership and a strategy. Placed into the right structure with the right attitude, preferably ‘can do’ rather than blame. For its all very well having Superman as CEO, if the quality of middle management is poor, the workforce untrained, the business under invested, limited brand recognition and the product very much a commoditised me-too, there is unlikely to be much chance of long term success and a standalone future whoever is in charge.

To get the best out of people, the company itself needs to motivate, inspire, encourage and support. Not only that the best teams are formed when there is a chemistry between the individuals. Not so much group-think, more about people coming together from different backgrounds and experiences to create a whole greater than the sum of the parts. A set of diverse backgrounds blended together for the common good leading to superior returns and competitive advantage. For otherwise what is the point in a competitive world and a constant battle for the best talent.

The growing emphasis upon people can be attributed to covid and its immediate impact. Not just on their working arrangements but on their whole mental well-being in lockdown, the like of which has not been experienced before. Covid gave HR leaders the chance to shine as companies worked their way through the implications. WFH became established yet not necessarily the universal panacea. Horses for courses. WFH may raise productivity but every day? The team chemistry and corporate values can be lost if the team never meets. Hence the growth of hybrid working for many as a general compromise.

This whole debate around people management has struck to her heart of the organisation and high up the CEO’s in-tray never mind HR.

The internal working environment within a company may not be apparent to the outsider looking in. In trying to decide whether a company is successful or not, a good one or not, attention will be drawn towards non people factors. Even the accountancy profession cannot measure team effectiveness, chemistry, culture, skillsets and attitude as intangible assets of value.

So what are the tell-tale signs of a successful company beyond the internal people factors. A coherent sensible strategy is obviously one. Ask the question; if the company did not exist, would it be invented? Is the composition of the group today simply some historical accident rather than a grouping of related and complimentary business streams that feed off each other and add value?

Don’t lose sight of the fact that if the company is not making a profit and generating cash, there is no company. The bottom line matters most in the end.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Martin Towers is the former finance director of Kelda Group, which was the parent company of Yorkshire Water, and former CEO of Spice PLC. He is now an early-stage business investor.