By incorporating an entrepreneurial workplace, the impact can be millions of dollars, either in revenue, cost savings or both. I believe, even more importantly, it can dramatically change the culture of an organization in an extremely positive way.
I’d like to share an example with you how creating this environment helped one of my clients. This is a very successful company with a strong, loyal culture to begin with. What they found was, by integrating this entrepreneurial philosophy and the processes that go with it, they were able to achieve new heights.
They saw dramatic improvements with regards to communication. Their team not only embraced change, they lead change. They took on critical company initiatives, developed action plans and executed against those action plans.
This is an example of one of the impacts. They had an out of state satellite facility. The staff at the satellite facility felt they had outgrown their building as the business was growing rapidly and they had run out of space.
I began working with this team around the first of this year (2016). They went through a series of workshops gaining an understanding of what it meant to create an entrepreneurial workplace. The companies leadership team fully endorsed and supported this process.
This satellite facility decided to take on initiatives regarding what to do about their current facility and a possible move to a larger facility. They looked at everything from space that could be used more efficiently, adding a swing shift, to addressing parking issues.
In August of this year, this team presented their initiatives to their leadership team. They shared their recommendations regarding their facility. By using and incorporating what they had learned, they determined they didn’t need a new facility for another 5 to 10 years. With minimal capital expenditures, implementing new processes, and using their space to its fullest capabilities, they believed their current facility could fully meet their needs.
Aside from the significant upheaval the move would cause for them and their customers, the savings from these initiatives was over seven figures.
From a cultural standpoint, the impact was tremendous. This team came to understand and embrace that they had much more impact of their destiny than they realized. They took ownership and a lot of pride to make the best decision for their company, their customers and themselves.
About the Author
Michael Levin is a Manex Consultant who specializes in sales, presentation skills and management/leadership training. He is also President of Custom Solutions Inc.
