Top CEO Issues - April 2021

Is there anything you need to be discussing in your business?

From the top

• Boards
• ▪ Board composition and director removal
• ▪ Opportunities that external, independent directors bring to family Boards
• ▪ Use of LinkedIn for Board Directors
• ▪ Moving into Board roles during / after tenure as CEO
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• CEOs
• ▪ True role of CEO - positives and negatives
• ▪ When to get more deeply involved in day-to-day challenges, micro-management 
• ▪ Importance of client engagement - being seen and seeking feedback
• ▪ Importance of sharing progress of the company, with finger on the pulse 
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• Future CEOs
• ▪ Preparing to be a CEO - areas to develop; next steps
• ▪ Bringing First Team Mindset and behaviours
• ▪ Setting up own business
• ▪ Management of teenager / late teen boys
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• Leaving the business
• ▪ Succession planning and sale / transfer of business - options and opportunities
• ▪ Systematise your preferred exit plans long in advance for the best possible terms
• ▪ How best to approach future ownership structures of privately owned businesses 

Management matters

• Growth
• ▪ Gearing businesses for growth and hiring the right people
• ▪ Use of business growth fund
• ▪ Separating non-core businesses out and making them stand on their own feet financially and operationally
• ▪ Purchasing a business, managing culture and understanding the unwritten ground rules
• ▪ Valuing a business for purchase
• ▪ When to say ‘No’
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• By the numbers
• ▪ Financial target setting
• ▪ A good time for refinancing
• ▪ Seeking seed funding
• ▪ Leveraging government employment grants and incentives
• ▪ Pricing goods and services profitably in competitive market
• ▪ Developing a ratio of profit / headcount for indirect staff
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• Grants and tendering
• ▪ Many government grants available, with low awareness
• ▪ Tendering and understanding evaluation process
• ▪ Benefits of using third party to facilitate applications 
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• Supply problems
• ▪ Challenge meeting demand with tight supply chains, driving increased stocking levels which in turn impacts cash resources
• ▪ Impacting fulfilment of forward orders 
• ▪ Freight problems leading to higher costs and the need to hold more raw material stock 
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• General issues
• ▪ Organisational structures - what is best practice; reporting lines; structuring roles to satisfy key individuals instead of real organisational needs
• ▪ Overcoming legacy mindsets
• ▪ When decisions made by overseas HQ do not reflect local operating environment 
• ▪ How vulnerable is your business model to disruption? 

Selling strategies 

• Marketing strategies
• ▪ Market planning and positioning
• ▪ Importance of having a highly regarded brand or 'brand bank'
• ▪ Building opportunities with universities and research laboratories to promote product development
• ▪ Engaging a third party to pull apart sales systems and selling approach to improve sales growth
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• Customer relations
• ▪ Relationships are everything
• ▪ Customers expect you to have exactly what they want
• ▪ Know your customer segment, not just your customer
• ▪ Competing with the last best experience your customer had
• ▪ Tracking customer appreciation and building into organisation culture
• ▪ Letting some clients go for the benefit of the team

A changing world

• Business environment 
• ▪ Governments lack understanding of real-world business environment - industry groups ineffective in conveying message; different agendas mean don’t speak with one voice; employment law and power costs biggest issues
• ▪ Combining commercial activities with social service obligations and community expectations
• ▪ Environmental focus as part of business strategy - can support employer of choice strategies and client loyalty; not taking seriously risks serious brand damage
• ▪ Avoiding the gravitational pull to the status quo
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• Post-COVID
• ▪ New business trends after COVID-19
• ▪ Building a business post-COVID and the types of decision making processes
• ▪ How marketing has changed 
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• Climate change
• ▪ Benefits of Climate Active accreditation - embracing a recycling focus 
• ▪ Climate change opportunities, including dressing up products supporting sustainability

Thinking and communicating

• Thinking
• ▪ DNA of strategic thinking and finding the time, space and presence to create insight
• ▪ Adaptability and agility in thinking
• ▪ How the conscious and unconscious impact on thinking
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• Culture and communication
• ▪ Knowing your core values
• ▪ Positive culture and regular, open communications
• ▪ Important employees know what is going on before they start speculating 
• ▪ Corporate communications - managing risk and being pro-active with communications

Prioritising people

• Staff management
• ▪ Managing the increasing complexity of HR today
• ▪ The role of HR people and Culture Managers in the Executive Team
• ▪ Gender balance - how important in industry sector; value of aspirational targets; contribution of diversified workforce to improved behaviour and culture
• ▪ Female leaders good at 1-1 discussions and asking the right questions
• ▪ Number of COVID babies likely to strain maternity leave
• ▪ Balancing staff levels to maintain high service delivery standards
• ▪ Growth and shortage of people is going to lead to wage increases 
• ▪ Annual remuneration reviews - many members opting for 3% increases across the board although some for CPI adjustments only
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• Working arrangements
• ▪ Flexible work practices becoming the norm - finding the right balance to meet business, client and employee needs; consider benefits to business and individuals 
• ▪ Time off in lieu as a way to compensate for extra hours worked
• ▪ Reappraising office requirements - rent or purchase?
• ▪ Five remote working options from no remote to remote only and combinations in between
• ▪ Many members 100% back in office 
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• Mental health
• ▪ Assessing risk of having employees with mental health - understanding how to manage in crisis; recognising changes to pre-empt episodes; be in contact with family members who might notice changes
• ▪ Mental health awareness for executives - building resilience
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• Hiring and firing
• ▪ Behavioural questions to help selection
• ▪ Retaining key staff - staff now leaving for quality of life
• ▪ Staff referral programs to find new staff
• ▪ Pros and cons of employee share schemes and how to set up
• ▪ Many young people not employable - work-shy; lack appreciation of real-world work environment; unrealistic expectations
• ▪ Conversations and process when managing redundancies