What should organizations consider to insulate themselves from potential crises? There are long term gaps that seem inconsequential that suddenly become urgent during crisis situations. These are the responsibilities of senior managers that are frequently ignored with short term objectives, focus on efficiency, and running a “lean and mean” enterprise. The reasons and attitudes often shared are:
• I’ll be gone before anything bad happens.
• I’ll fix it when it needs to be fixed.
• We’ll get by like we always have. (And, Don’t bother my narrative – we know the facts.)
• No one is irreplaceable. (No one is that crucial for a customer.)
• I like to keep the staff really busy. (And, We don’t need to have staff waste time talking to customers.)
Of course, there are counters to all of these attitudes. The counters usually get ignored. A key is to recognize it isn’t just the urgent need for talent—it’s management that was needed before it became urgent.
If you haven’t seen these signs in your enterprise, look for these:
• ‘Short timer’ mentalities in long term workers.
• Frequent rejection of offers by applicants for critical roles.
• Groups with little variance in expertise or length of experience
• Little or no mentoring or communications between senior folks and less experienced staff.
• Junior staff feels it is being ignored or “punished” for new ideas
Next Up- The Long Term Situation
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