Business: some lessons from the past 12 months
- It’s never what you think is going to happen that actually does
Brexit dominated our thinking, then along came COVID-19 proving business plans and budgets are largely fantasy - The highly leveraged and indebted company is not a good model
Even if interest rates are low, debt is an accursed burden when a business is facing financial challenges. - Long leases and upward only rent reviews cannot continue to be the norm (and the Business Rates system needs overhauling)
Rent must not be allowed to be too high a proportion of overheads and the Business Rates system needs to be re-examined. Plus, Rents/Rates in the high street are too high. - Darwinism (adapt & survive) applies to business more than we thought
In business, creativity and innovation are key and many companies have risen to the challenges faced at every level, re-engineering their businesses rapidly to adapt to changed circumstances - Employees respond well to pressure – and must be trusted more – they do so when they can see plainly that they have a stake in the survival of their companies
- WFH goes hand in hand with trust – flexibility is the watchword in how people should be allowed to work and contribute, BUT, stating the obvious, there must be the work to do
- Part-time working needs to be part of any company’s employment policy
- Large offices, daily commutes, business travel, business lunches and meetings all need reviewing
- Corporate greed comes in many forms and includes ludicrous top level salaries/bonuses and excessive dividend extraction – prudence and fairness must prevail and whatever happened to the ‘rainy day’ notion?
- Our values must change – what really matters in life cannot be measured in monetary returns
Posted on December 31 2020 by Neil Thomas
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