DreamVast Market Update - February 2009

From Deanne’s Desk               

Welcome to our first DreamVast Market Update for 2009.  We will be sending updates to you on a monthly basis but please come and visit us at www.dreamvast.com and add your comments in the meantime. 

So, to 2009.  Wow!  What a year ahead of us.  Yes there is doom and gloom out there; some short sighted execs have closed down some programs they thought were “bolt ons” to the business, but in other sites the time has very much come for Business Transformation Specialists (BTS) who know how to deliver cost out and/or increase productivity and efficiency gains. 

Over the next year we are expecting a shake up in the BTS market – as in all markets – with more contract work; businesses looking for quick wins and big focus on cost cost cost.  We will give you updates on who is moving where, what’s happening in programs, what the latest thinking is and tip and tricks for all BT professionals to help you progress your dreams. 

We also will remind you of just how important and special you are.  DreamVast have been in the BT space for a decade, we’re here for the long haul.  Glad to be sharing the journey with you!

Turning Heads

Derek Pangbourne, last of Pragmatic Improvement, took up his new role at ANZ Bank as Head of Business Management, Australian Operations just before Christmas.  Derek said he’s “looking forward to the challenge of operationalizing operations and making the business more effective for ANZ’s clients”. 

Christina Wilson, a long term GE MBB recently took the reins as Head of Operations at Origin Energy.   Christina said she wasn’t looking to move from GE but the role was too good to pass up.    

Michael Arnold, last of Bartter, is moving to his new BI Specialist role at Rio Tinto next month.  With all the horror stories in the paper regarding layoffs in the mining industry, DreamVast and Michael were both very pleased when we secured the job offer. 

Good luck to all our candidates and friends in their new roles!

Program Gossip

One of the most successful BT programs ever seen in Australia, the Bartter Business Excellence (BBX) program has been wound down to almost nothing since Simon Bartter took over as CEO of the billion dollar agribusiness in June last year.   Previously, long term CEO, Geoff Frost and COO, Philip Irvine introduced a Lean Six Sigma based program that returned in excess of $100million in benefits in 3 years.  Frost and Irvine utilized BBX as a strategy execution piece, crucial to the financial and cultural success of the business.  Rumours that have reached our ears from inside Bartter suggest the business is ripe for takeover by a competitor at a much reduced price than was mooted under the leadership of Frost and Irvine.  If there’s a better example of cutting the neck of the goose – or chicken – that lays the golden egg, we certainly don’t know about it.  Burnt roast chook anyone???

Westpac –St George, more fun and games at yet another bank.  The St George Quality Program was going from strength to strength, right up until they were devoured by Westpac in late 2008.  Westpac of course used to have their own BT program, which was once supported by Annalisa Armitage before she went off to the more glamorous world of image consulting. 

There are now two major focus at Westpac – integration and off-shoring.   It’s expected that once realignment is supported by stable reporting lines the powers that be will be in a position to understand the flow of the business and then comes time for optimization.  BT specialists reporting for duty Ms Kelly!!!  Watch this space for more news as it unfolds or let us know what you know from the inside.

Market Health

DreamVast’s website (www.dreamvast.com) has a BT Market Health Poll on the home page that we will be reporting on each month.   To kick off the New Year however, we’re sharing our thoughts on how the market is looking. In a word?  Quiet.  Most businesses are carrying the budgets set in early 2008 when the catchcry was growth and BT was focused on productivity and revenue growth.   Times were good, businesses were flush, salaries went through the roof.   Fast forward to January 2009 – bottom lines are covered in red ink and cost containment is now the name of the game.  Most employers we have spoken to are “making do with what we’ve got” or “waiting until the next financial year and seeing how things look then”.  Yes we have contract work on and a few permanent roles, it’s always quiet at this time of year, just not quite as silent.  How’s things looking your way?  Let us know by adding your comments to the end of this DreamVast Market update.

Thought Leadership

Each month DreamVast will bring you the thoughts, rants and raves, or insights of some of the country’s most successful BT leaders.  This month we are proud to introduce Greg Searson, Head Business Process Management at AMP.  Greg has a long BT background starting at GE where he trained as an MBB, through program leadership at Unisys, Bartter and now one of Australia’s largest insurance companies, AMP.    Please practice your Voice of Customer and add your comments on Greg's article at the end of this DreamVast Market Update!

Thought Leadership
- Greg Searson
 
Looking out to 2010 and beyond looks great for the six sigma professional as the real impacts of the current economic environment see organisations reverting back to old cultures. 

Organisations have been working hard to build a culture of disciplined processes, waste and variation reduction, and getting it right the first time. 

It appears the current means for organisation survival is to layoff thousands of employees. Cost out is the big initiative – and it’s via redundancies. I question the manner in which some of the layoffs are completed.

1. Was the organisation already overstaffed
2. Have you lost some of your good employees
3. Have you just asked your employees to work harder
4. Have you stopped doing some important activities
5. Did you eliminate waste to or improve efficiency/productivity to achieve the reductions
6. Have your redundancies matched the reduced level of production
7. Have you neglected to remove underperforming employees due to redundancy cost?

What are the longer-term impacts on organisations?

• The return of the quick fix band aid solution
• Defects rates and rework will increase
• Customer complaints increase
• Employee satisfaction and engagement scores will reduce
• Increases in breakdowns - more compliance breaches
• Costs will increase – revenues will decrease
• Bureaucracy will increase
• Reduced levels of capability

These all sound like impacts that can be addressed with good Black Belts. 

In this environment anyone who predicted the top of the stock market can forecast the future. I cannot forecast the future, so belief without proof is required. We have all heard slow down to go faster.  It takes up to six months for any Improvement program / Six Sigma program to deliver its first measurable results. Your organisation will need to maintain the levels of performance and customer experience or re-build once the current slash and burn is completed.

Keep your employees that return the most value – your good Black Belts.
 

Random Jottings

 “I did everything right.  I over delivered on every KPI; I acted with integrity; I gave it everything I had and now I’m 42 and unemployed – how did I get here?  I keep hoping I’m going to wake up and it’s all a nightmare”.  I heard those very words this morning as I shared a coffee with a man who has been a candidate, a client and is now a friend.  He is absolutely correct – he did do everything right.  I remember a year ago this same man, COO of a $1billion company asked me what he needed to be better.  “You need a fall Max” I replied.  “You’ve succeeded in everything you’ve ever done.  You don’t know what it’s like to fail”.  Fast forward 12 months and unfortunately Max knows only too well what a fall feels like.  “I’ve got another one starting private school this year” he remarked as we spoke of his wife and kids and how his being at home more was affecting the family.  “You were right I’ve had to bring my salary expectations down a little but I’m still healthy, still running and eating well.  I’ve got great support and I know it will turn”.   He grinned and I couldn’t help but smile in response.

Max’s character has always impressed me.  Yes he’s a brilliant strategist; yes he knows how to turn around businesses and lead change and bring people along on the journey with him, but what I’ve always admired about Max is his unending ability to see the best in things; the glass half full; the opportunity in his business; the potential in people; the high standards that he irrefutably holds himself to.  It underlines the difference between successful winners and those who settle for less than they can be and what they can attain.  Yes Max has had a fall and got knocked around a little.  But he’s also more aware of risks; more attuned to the corporate politics that play out at the heady heights of the Board Room and how that affects his people and his customers.  Max sees a much bigger picture and he’s a better talent now than he’s ever been.  He has perseverance.  Courage.  He has humility.  It was served by the gallon rather than the spoonful but once swallowed I know Max is never going to forget the taste. 

I’m proud to represent Max, I always have been.  We’re working to get him back into the driver’s seat and I’m looking forward to the time, in the not-too-distant-future, when he’s once again commanding thousands and standing as an iconic leader in the BT space.   It will be different because he is different.  As the Buddhists say, thank the times or the people or the experience that rubs against you, because it makes you smoother and more perfect.  Glory comes not when you fall, but when you get up again. Max, you truly are glorious. 

And just to remind all of us how truly awe inspiring and humbling perseverance and courage can be, take a look at this video of Derrick Redmond then leave your comments, your story or your pain on our doorstep at the end of this DreamVast Market Update.

Derrick Redmond Video Clip (will open a new window)

DreamVast Salary Survey

Each month we will bring you the latest on our industry recognized DreamVast Salary Survey and its counterpart the DreamVast Salary Checker.  The DreamVast Salary Survey is based on actual salaries paid to our successful candidates across industries.  From this month, we invite you to take the DreamVast Salary Checker (either as a client telling us what you pay; or as a candidate telling us what you earn.  You will need to login or  register first, and each month we will compare our salary data with your VOC salary data.   Should make for some interesting reading!  When you complete the DreamVast Salary Checker you get a complete copy of the current DreamVast Salary Survey so if you want to know if you are being over or under-paid register here.

Your Turn

Thanks for taking the time to read this DreamVast Market Update.  We would love to receive your comments – happy, sad, moans and groans, bouquets or briquettes.  All will help us to be better and serve you more effectively.  Please register here and let us know your thoughts.   Alternatively, email or call me on 03 9443 0545 or 0413448822. 

Cheers

Deanne Tindale