Lessons We Can All Learn From The Prime Minister's Resignation
You don't want to find yourself like Boris ...
Posted by Roger Eddowes on 21/07/2022 @ 8:00AM
Following the recent mass resignations from the Government and the subsequent announcement that Boris was stepping down, what lessons are there to be learned to ensure long-term business success?
We all want an engaged, motivated and satisfied workforce, don't we?
It's incredibly rare for there to be mass resignations in business. Yes, it does happen on occasions when there is a bad manager or the employer makes extreme changes to working conditions, but generally, it's only one person at a time.
Losing one employee causes an impact on business functions, but losing them at the rate the Government saw recently grinds the entire business to a halt. It is vitally important to discover the cause and correct it or you won't have a business for very long.
"This is the time to put HR to work!"
Exit interviews are very important at this point to discover what's going on. If an entire team wants to resign, there has to be a good reason and HR can discover it and suggest changes. This may mean a more senior manager needs to be spoken to, retrained or even removed.
Where there is a perceived lack of integrity and respect, as we've seen recently in Government, collective action invariably comes with strikes and resignations. There must be an upward-flowing reporting structure where your teams can, without worry, tell you what's going on. Businesses are invariably top down, but there needs to be a 'bottom up' channel too.
I will say that good pay is the biggest priority for employees, however, it has been known for people to leave for a role with lesser pay when the work-life balance is better or even if they're going to get more respect from their managers and the owners of the business always act with integrity.
"We all want an engaged, motivated and satisfied workforce, don't we?"
One thing we are seeing right now is the battle to become the new leader of the Conservative Party and, of course, Prime Minister. In business, we have more time for succession planning and can ensure an employee has contractual notice periods to find a suitable replacement. There may even be opportunities for the outgoing employee to train their replacement.
Unfortunately for the Government, a new Prime Minister means a new direction, new culture and ethos and new laws. With a long-established business, there is going to be a rule book that has been built up over years and years so that the business can continue without much interruption, allowing the inbound senior managers to make smaller changes over time rather than change the entire direction in one go as we will see when the new Prime Minister sets out their stall.
However, any change in senior management within a business, if handled correctly, is an opportunity for a bit of restructuring. A staff exodus is a pretty unique event and gives the new leaders an opportunity to review existing functions and see where processes, workflows, roles and technology can become more dynamic.
Backbench MPs are calling for a reduced Cabinet in future; could the same apply to your management team? This is where HR comes in again. Where changes impact employees' terms and conditions, you'll need to get their agreement to implement them. The bigger the business, the harder this will be.
"Not all the strikes this summer were about pay!"
With Government, no changes will come quickly as they have the manifesto they were elected on to complete, and all the candidates said they will definitely implement the pledges the country elected them on, but in your business, you can make changes quickly.
It just needs proper planning, good advice, and correct implementation to ensure your employees are all on board. You don't want to find yourself like Boris with your team resigning left, right and centre.
You'd be in real trouble then.
Until next time ...
ROGER EDDOWES Business Godparent
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Roger trained at Edward Thomas Peirson & Sons in Market Harborough before working at Hartwell & Co, followed by Chancery, as a partner. He started Essendon Accounts and Tax with Helen Beaumont in 2014 as a general practitioner with a hands-on approach.
Roger loves getting his hands dirty, working with emerging, small-to-medium and family businesses to ensure they receive the best possible accountancy advice. Roger utilises an extensive network of business contacts to leverage the best guidance and practical solutions.
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