Seven things to implement in your advice practice, today
Small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) that are still trading midway through 2022 have earned the right to declare themselves resilient. These businesses have successfully navigated two years of pandemic in addition to enduring the country’s tough macroeconomic conditions, defined by high unemployment; low economic growth and shedloads of political uncertainty. The question most business owners are currently wrestling with is what new hurdles they will have to clear in the coming months and years.
Return on resilience
Momentum Corporate’s Partnership Connect Insights 2022 report, titled ‘Return on Resilience: The Next Chapter’ sets out to answer this question, and help small businesses, especially advice practices and their employee benefits clients, to plot a path to survive them. To compile the report, researchers interrogated 117 business leaders; 117 financial advisers from “mostly small brokerages”; and 502 individuals, age 18 years and older. “Our annual research initiative is an opportunity to mine specific, up-to-date information that enables us to understand the big picture without missing any of the details,” wrote Dumo Mbethe, CEO at Momentum Corporate, in his opening comment to the report. “It offers more than statistics by informing strategy and helping us to build a vision for the future that is rooted in reality [rather than] building castles in the clouds”.
More importantly, the report uncovers ways in which business leaders can adapt their leadership approaches to maximise the ‘Return on Resilience’ in their businesses, irrespective of the ever-changing work landscape. “We work hard as leaders to identify and unlock the drivers of success in our businesses; as you write the next chapters of your organisation’s success story, I am confident you will find the insights from our 2022 research [to be] guiding lights for navigating the way forward,” said Mbethe. The report also builds on previous insights into the role of resilience in enabling a sustainable journey to success, at both personal and organisational levels.
Kudos for SA-based firms
Resilience is your business’s capacity to absorb stress, recover, renew and even thrive in new or changed circumstances; and it is worth noting that much of this resilience is generated by the firm’s employees. “Employee resilience needs to be intentionally nurtured, [and] our research shows this can be achieved by building an engaging culture in which employees identify with the company’s purpose and are empowered to manage their wellbeing,” said Mbethe, adding that local firms deserve praise for their high levels of resilience despite the unpredictability in the current business environment. The ‘Return on Resilience’ report sets out to identify practices and trends that will give businesses an edge in today’s competitive operational environment.
“The research results confirmed our belief that to be successful in this post-pandemic world, we as business leaders need to continuously adapt and renew our approach to leadership, our business practices, culture, employee value propositions and employee benefits,” said Mbethe. And there are two strategic pillars that need to be in place to drive adaptation, innovation and rejuvenation, regardless of the industry or sector your firm operates in. We share these pillars in the coming paragraphs alongside some insights into how such pillars should be integrated into your business.
Strategic pillar one: Adapt and enhance business strategies and practices focusing on clients, efficiencies, risk management and sustainability. This pillar acknowledges that most businesses are looking for new opportunities to grow, to diversify products and services, to develop new marketing strategies and to source alternative revenue streams”. Technology was singled out as a critical component for success under this pillar, with businesses being encouraged to formulate and implement their digital transformation plans to ensure success. “Technology plays a key role in meeting the need for flexibility,” writes Mbethe.
This is especially so in the competitive employee benefits space, where partnerships between advisers, employers, trustees, members and solution providers are critical. “Employee benefits solutions [must be] flexible and personalised to meet the needs of all employees, wherever they may be in their personal and professional journeys,” he said. Another non-negotiable to navigate uncertain times is for both adviser and employer to have contingency and business continuity plans in place. Such plans will “enable businesses to operate and compete sustainably in a disruptive marketplace”.
Strategic pillar two: Empower employees to meet their evolving needs by building an enabling culture and adopting leadership styles that support this culture. This pillar emerged from the growing disconnect between employer and employee perceptions. The 2021 Partnership Connect Report flagged some glaring employees concerns, including with leaders who were not performing as well as expected; culture and leadership styles that drive resignations; and training needs that are not being adequately met. “Fortunately, the big picture from our research can be captured in one simple line: ‘your people are the heartbeat of your business, because their success is your success’”, said Mbethe. “The solid steps we have taken to stay in tune with our employees, in touch with market developments and unlock the power of technological advancements will bring our unique South African stories to life and deliver a well-deserved return on our resilience”.
Seven action points to implement, today
It can be difficult to extract action points from lengthy reports. To this end, Momentum Corporate attempted to offer an actionable roadmap to success. “While our research highlights some key challenges, we offer practical steps you can apply in your respective business to help you move forward on your journey to success,” said Mbethe. This writer scanned the 45-page report to pick up on seven of the nine ‘practical steps and learnings for leaders’ it contained. You can read the basics here: for more detail you will have to download a copy of the report.
- Overcome challenges by “dynamically enhancing your business practices and creating an enabling culture for your employees”.
- Sustainable business resilience requires leaders to focus on their wellbeing: “Over the last two years, leaders have neglected their wellbeing, this needs to change if we are to deliver return on resilience”.
- Execute your digital transformation plans; but be prepared to adapt and evolve continuously to accommodate both emerging technology trends and the external environment.
- Leaders must recognise and understand the impact they have on employee morale and identify and address elements of their leadership culture that cause employees to disengage from the business, and possibly leave.
- You should engage in conversations with employees to truly understand their needs, preferences and motivations.
- You should remain mindful of the lasting effects of the pandemic and workplace changes on employees’ experiences; your care, empathy and support are needed to build and strengthen trust and drive engagement.
- Diversity, equality and inclusivity are not buzzwords that you can simply push to the side, and leaders should actively promote initiatives that build trust with consumers, employees and communities.
The power of partnerships
“The needs of your people form the cornerstone of all our employee benefits solutions; and these solutions are brought to life through the power of partnerships between business leaders, financial advisers, retirement fund trustees, employees and service providers like us,” concluded Mbethe. “Our passion about the success of your people inspires our mission to craft innovations that help build resilient and engaged employees”. He again emphasised that empowered and engaged employees were more resilient, and resilient employees were the foundation for a resilient business!
From an FAnews perspective, we enjoyed the closing challenge issued by Momentum Corporate to firms in its broader stakeholder network. “As leaders, you have two choices: either the future happens to you, or you take a proactive approach, starting with a vision for the business, then designing and building the future around this. Which one do you choose?”
Writer’s thoughts:
Having worked on a number of special reports over the years, this writer knows all too well the cost in financial and human resources to produce something at the scale of the ‘Return on Resilience’ report. Do you find value in the reports and surveys that solution providers conduct from time to time, or would you prefer them to direct resources elsewhere? Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email us your thoughts [email protected].
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