This question and answer series of articles provides scenarios for business owners to find answers to business frustrations.
As a business grows, the need for organisation becomes imperative. Organisational thinking and structure are essential for getting the most from your business and yourself, as well as for being able to achieve balance between your business and your life. Your starting point is your company’s organisational chart. Creating one solves a lot of problems and answers many questions as to how you can co-ordinate the work of the business so that it runs efficiently and produces the results you need.
Some hints about an organisation chart: build it around responsibilities rather than ‘jobs’; Everyone only has one manager; don’t tailor positions around personalities, tailor them to the functions the business needs. Finally, organisational strategy and structure must evolve in step with the business or slightly ahead of it. Make it forward looking. (A useful practical hint is that there is an easy organisation chart tool in Word and Powerpoint.)
Q: I have two loan consultants flat out and desperately crying out for support. My initial answer is to employ a new loan consultant to lessen the load – is there another way to skin this cat?
The answer lies in your organisation chart, if you have one. If you don’t, draw one up to show the business not as it is today, but what you want it to grow into. I’m sure that it will include some form of consultant administrative support. You say your consultants are desperately crying out for support. Why not look at putting on an admin/support person first? One you can train up your way, who can free your consultants up from the paperwork and allow them to be more effective in what they do best – going out and getting the business, which is how they add value to your company.
Approaching it this way will almost certainly be the more cost effective option, and, if you do build it into your recruiting and hiring process, you might even find someone who ultimately would like to be a loan consultant themselves. When they are ready to make that shift, they can be charged with the responsibility of training their replacement. Cat skinned.
Watch for Part Twenty-Four…coming soon!
Until next time…
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