Inside Out

Adopt an inside out approach to successfully navigate changing circumstances and position your business for lasting success. 

Traditionally, businesses have segmented communications by audience.  One approach for investors; another for customers; another for employees.  That model is obsolete.  

In the age of digital media, boundaries have been irreversibly blurred.  Your audiences don’t exist in discreet silos.  

In a click, news and information is accessible.  Investors see communications developed for employees.  Customers access materials designed for investors.  Your business operates through a myriad of complex connections.  Understanding your audiences and how they cross pollinate is crucial to long term success. 

The past year has seen immense change.  All businesses around the world were forced to shift to remote or hybrid working models.  This transition was challenging.  For vast swathes of the labour force, work and home were turned inside out.  Some companies managed the transition well.  Others less so.  Mismanaged operational challenges became reputational crises.  Headline after headline of excessive working hours and employee burnout across different sectors are proof. 

Investors are increasingly concentrating on non-financial metrics to assess a company’s suitability for support.  The conditions and well-being of your workforce have always been inextricably linked to performance.  But the addition of social media and connected online platforms allow employees to engage with and influence financial audiences.  To slightly adapt the age old adage, your employees are your greatest advocates.  Deliveroo’s difficult market debut last week provides a cautionary tale – fail to manage the message at home and the story can quickly run away from you. 

There were a host of factors that contributed to Deliveroo’s flop – from unease regarding dual class share structures to concern over fierce competition from rival food delivery services and an uncertain market outlook post Lockdown.  But regulatory risk regarding worker’s rights dominated discussions online and on the airwaves in the weeks leading up to its debut.  An internal, employee strategy now has external, market influence.  Only two weeks after a landmark Supreme Court case led fellow gig-economy company Uber to reclassify its drivers as workers, it was always going to be the defining issue.  Had Will Shu and his team focused on bringing their riders along for the journey earlier, the business would have been better positioned to manage the issue; and the outcome could have been very different. 

Whether you are seeking to grow your business or successfully navigate a period of uncertainty, look inwards.  

Create a connection to a wider mission and a collective sense of purpose.  Introduce policies and procedures that build leadership credentials.  Communicate clearly with colleagues and listen to what they have to say.  That will be the difference between success and failure in future years.  

Everybody has a voice.  Everyone is listening.