Managing rapid growth can be a challenging and daunting task at times, as things are capable of unraveling at any moment in time. This is particularly true for startups as well as young, growth stage companies. There are several steps that you can take to ride out the storm and help to achieve a certain level of stability, moving forward.
Hire an experienced COO
Essentially, your company’s version of Sheryl Sandberg. This is the oldest trick in the book and probably the most important one as well. An experienced COO will initially look at your firm from the perspective of an outsider and is far less likely to be guided by emotion. The COO can also help train the company’s founders in the art of leadership and he/she can prove to be a wise head amidst a sea of chaos and confusion.
Ideally, you should hire a person who has experienced success in a similar environment to have the best guarantee of success.
Set clear rewards for employees
During this period, you will possibly be placing incredible levels of stress on your employees and there is often nothing that can be done about it. This is why rewards are super important and you cannot skimp out on them.
Have attractive prizes for employee of the week and month, and surprise your team members with other benefits such as impromptu lunches, games, outings. It may be costly on the pocket but it is necessary for retaining your most valued employees. Making your employees your priority is also critical to bringing new employees onboard.
Develop a clear culture
A company culture usually takes it final form during the stage of rapid growth and it is probably how your firm will be perceived for years to come. Developing the right culture based on your industry, employee’s needs, and customer base is necessary if you seek to craft a distinct space for your firm in the marketplace.
Culture is the glue that binds employees to your firm and provide prospective employees with a reason to join your firm. This may entail hiring a dedicated employee for this role and will involve consistently reinforcing the core values of your firm.
Stay hyper-focused on customer experience
Even if other aspects of your business are in considerable disarray, you’ll most likely benefit by placing greater emphasis on creating positive experiences as it will ultimately make or break your business. Invest in resources that are sure to improve your customer support staff and develop coherent, relevant training modules. Invest in the right kind of CMR tools and ensure that the customer feedback loop is active.
Make a series of medium-term goals
The length of the ‘medium-term’ can be whatever you define it to be. In rapidly growing companies, executives could likely benefit from mapping out clear goals on a monthly basis and devote resources to meeting them. The goals may constantly change but this should not deter to sticking to some of your set achievable goals. It is all too easy to think about the future or the immediate week and forget to develop these policies, but your business should not ignore it.
Author: Jonathan Furman worked his way up to managing a small team at an ad agency and building a book of business valued at north of $2.5MM a /year in revenue. Later, he formed his own company as a financial intermediary, helping small businesses attain necessary funding during hard times. More recently, Jonathan has founded his own management consulting firm A.K.A. Furman Transformation, igniting his full passion in transforming all aspects of a company’s Sales, Marketing, and Operational Growth strategies, into the most powerful and polished version of themselves.
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