Article by Steve Hancox, published in ChamberVision (The Official publication of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce), Vol. 43, Issue 1, January 2001, page 9.

Leading the Way to Corporate Fitness At this time of year, many people make a resolution to lose weight and get in shape. Physical fitness offers many benefits: live longer, feel better, have more energy and as a result, be happier.  Have you ever stopped to think that those same benefits are available to your company? A corporate fitness program can help it:  Live longer (corporate survival)  Feel better (more cash and profits)  Have more energy (exciting marketing opportunities)  Increase satisfaction (opportunities for employee growth) Is your company “corporately fit”? How would you know? You might ask yourself what terms your customers would use to describe your company and its employees. If the answer includes the words: effective, efficient, responsive, proactive, creative, fulfilled and vibrant, you are there! If not, it is time to lead your company to fitness. Better, Faster, Cheaper Most small companies strive to differentiate themselves through operational excellence, which in plain English means being better, faster, cheaper and easier to do business with. There are a number of proven ways to do this. Know what your customers want and give it to them – always. Ensure the quality of your product or service – it is much less expensive and everyone is much happier when you get it right the first time. It is not enough to work harder; to stay ahead of the competition, all of us need to work smarter. One way to work smarter is to acknowledge that you cannot do it alone. You need to get your employees to help carry the load. Everyone needs to understand where and how the CEO is leading the company, so they can all pull in the same direction. In addition to teamwork, there are other resources available to the small company leader. Although many small companies shy away from using consultants due to the cost, the right one can and should actually improve the bottom line. Recognizing this natural reluctance, many consultants who specialize in helping small businesses offer a money back guarantee. Much as a personal trainer can help an individual on the road to physical fitness, a good small business consultant guides a company to greater profitability by becoming “corporately fit.” Leading your company to fitness The elements that are vital to success in personal fitness parallel those that are vital to corporate fitness. Just as the best weight loss programs include diet, exercise, education, measurement, support and behavior modification, achieving corporate fitness requires a multi-faceted approach. It starts with knowing your customer and identifying what is important to him/her. From there, every aspect of your organization is fair game for review – customer service policy, pricing, processes, procedures, controls, employment and HR policies, training and even your corporate culture. The goal is obvious: discern what the customer wants for each of the four objectives (better, faster, cheaper and easy to do business with) and find a way to organize your company so that it consistently delivers. When you are physically fit, you can run faster, swim farther or carry heavier loads than when you are out of shape. Your company is no different. Leading your organization to fitness will make it a much stronger competitor, a better supplier to your customers and an improved place to work for your employees. Regardless of whether you use a “fitness trainer” or go it alone, it is time to make another New Years resolution – to make your company lean, quick and agile. You will make more money and find that corporate fitness is much easier than diets or exercise.

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