FOR an organisation to be competitive and be a force to reckon with in the market place, it must scale its workforce and its operations at the simultaneously.
Scaling people or workforce is the process of up-skilling and reskilling the workforce to develop them so as to readily adapt to new ways of doing work.
Scaling your business helps grow revenue and market penetration without proportionally increasing cost or complexity.
For this process to be executed efficiently; for example, when a company acquires high-tech machinery, the workforce to operate such machinery have to be either up-skilled or reskilled so that they could efficiently operate it so that they would produce quality goods that match the tastes and preferences of the segment which is being served.
Scaling people includes some of the following components among many:
Maintaining productivity
A scaled up workforce strives to maintain production output and productivity.
This could involve streamlining production processes to enable specialists to dedicate their efforts to the tasks which they are good at.
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When tasks are broken down, repetitive processes could be automated.
Automation helps in improving efficiency as workers with requisite skillset will leverage high machinery to produce high output while minimising costs.
Notably scaling is not all about hiring new workforce, but finding ways to cope with increased demand with the available personnel.
On the other hand, a company would need to hire workers who are aligned with the strategy of the company’s scale plan.
Competitive advantage
Most of the organisations that scale workforce and operations gain a competitive urge in their industry.
Scaling the workforce involves grouping workers according to their skills set and assigning tasks to specialists; thus, paving way for effective delegation of duties and communication of the strategic direction.
Empowerment and adaptability
Scaling workers involves empowering workers with new skills set for them to adapt to changes as they adopt a culture of growth and development.
Usually in such a set-up, scaled workers take ownership of the delegated task and they quickly adapt to new roles and easily learn new skills.
Prioritise the right customers and channels
In most of the times an established business might be serving different segments and the contribution brought by these segments differs.
The company through the marketing division will come up with the list of the types of customers to categorise them in order of their contribution.
Gather feedback and continuous improvement
Always seek feedback from your customers through questionnaires, interviews, observations or surveys.
Feedback is very important in improving a marketing strategy and refining the production process.
Moreover feedback is vital as the organisation will identify unserved segments or changing needs of a particular segment due to changing factors such as age, income or tastes.
As a visionary manager you have to be humble and learn from your mistakes.
Use the right channels
Use the right channels that involve choosing a strategic distribution route that will enable effective distribution of the product.
Communication has been effective to enable increased reach and engagement, thereby developing a good customer engine that will turn your customers into advocates of your business.
Scalable systems
Scalable systems are those that enable an organisation to produce a quality product while driving costs effectively and being able to meet expected quality levels.
The agility to meet demand and adopt to change in the market enables an organisation to meet changing needs of customers.
The effectiveness of a scalable system could be measured by how it responds to increasing demand of their customers and changes in the market or adaptability to any change.
Stay agile and listen to the market
It allows companies to adapt to changing needs and preferences of the customers, business environment and technological changes. It is either you adapt or you get left behind.
Scaling is not about growing fast. It is about growing smart, with clarity, control and customer focus.
- Innocent Hadebe is a United States based certified John Maxwell Leadership business coach and mentor. He runs the Innocent Leadership Group, an organisation inclined on capacitating upcoming entrepreneurs with the requisite skills to run their businesses.
