Upside of the downturn

Might this apply within Conductive Education?

Emma De Vita, books editor of Management Today, has provided a brief review of Geoff Colvin's hugely successful business book The Upside of the Downturn: 10 Management Strategies to Prevail in the Recession and Thrive in the Aftermath, written in the context of the ‘third sector' (that is charitable or non-profit) organisations.

According to Colvin, the smart manager, rather than slashing costs and firing staff, sees the recession as an opportunity to restructure, reinvent and re-imagine the organisation, and to lay the groundwork for future growth.

Colvin offers 10 management strategies to guide you, which include resetting the priorities of your organisation from lofty ideals to practical goals and investing in the areas that make your organisation unique and valuable.

Of particular interest to the third-sector manager is the chapter called "Protect Your Most Valuable Asset". This is about your staff and why it's a stupid idea to make them redundant: it's better to keep them on your books and loyal to your organisation. This might mean reducing hours or offering them sabbaticals, but it will also mean that when the upturn comes, you'll have highly committed staff, grateful that you've seen them through the bad times.

And if a charity can't offer a little charity, who can?

References

Colvin, G. (2009) The upside of the downturn: ten management strategies to prevail and thrive in the aftermath, London and NY, Penguin Books

De Vita, E. (2009) Off the shelf. The upside of the downturn, Third Sector, 11 August

http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/DailyBulletin/925848/Off-shelf-Upside-Downturn/35624750EA4A3D6422DD48213E80E3F6/?DCMP=EMC-DailyBulletin

From the publishers' blurb

Some businesses – and some people – will emerge from this downturn stronger and more dominant than when it started. Others will weaken and fade. It all depends on critical choices they make right now.

Geoff Colvin, one of America’s most respected business journalists, says even the scariest recession has an upside. The best managers know conventional thinking won’t help them win in these tough times. They’re taking smart, practical steps that will not only keep them strong, but will also distance them from the pack for years to come.

The dozens of top-performing leaders Colvin interviewed reject the common view that slashing costs and firing employees are all that matter. They see the recession as a rich opportunity to reinvent their organizations and lay the groundwork for future growth.

Colvin’s ten solidly grounded strategies will increase your company’s competitiveness and build its long-term value. A sample:

• Reset priorities. Easy to say, harder to do. Pursuing the lofty goals set in good times can be disastrous now.
• Reevaluate people and steal some good ones. Mass layoffs are a tempting way to cut costs, but great companies often find smarter alternatives. And if your competitors are dumb enough to fire their best people, grab them.
• Keep investing in the core. Trim the fat from your budgets but not the muscle. The best companies actually increase some spending in a recession, funding the areas that make them unique and valuable.
• Don’t rush to cut prices. Many companies assume they must – yet the long-term damage often outweighs the short-term boost.

Colvin shows how these strategies really work, using examples of major companies that have applied them with inspiring results.

After the event, it will be most interesting to review how such principles might have applied within the little world of Conductive Education.