Annus Horribilis or Annus Opportunitas?

By Steve Hinton

The Queen famously called 1992 her “annus horribilis” in her Christmas broadcast and that phrase has struck a chord with many of us in the business environment in 2009. It’s been pretty grim for many firms this year and not everyone is predicting a return to idyllic conditions in 2010.

However, in the true QED spirit of positive thinking, here are some ideas to ensure that the New Year is an “Annus Opportunitas” – a year of opportunity.

One good thing about tough times is that they make us focus on the really important things and discard the distractions and diversions that can get in the way when we feel more bullish. The challenge is to maintain and sharpen that focus as we move into the recovery phase. We believe passionately that, in business, the only lens that really creates focus is the customer. Now is the time to make sure you are driving everything from the customer’s point of view and the Customer First Standard is a fantastic way to make sure your customer lens is polished, in use and trained on the right things. Check out what it can do here

But you won’t be alone in recovering your optimism. Everyone else will start to be lifted on the wave so how will you stand out? You need to think carefully about your innovation capacity – how to build into the fabric of your business the ability to generate and exploit new ideas. Otherwise, you’re just a “me-too” and customers can pick and choose from other firms who are thinking ahead. There are tools out there that can help – try Creatrix™ for a great way to build innovation into everything that you do .

You have probably had to take hard decisions over recent months and make people redundant. As things pick up, make sure you don’t fall behind the curve when you start to re-hire. Do it before you start to suffer from capacity problems and concentrate on getting the best people – use proper selection tools, such as assessment centres, and you will build in competitive advantage with every new person you take back on .

And what about your existing team? How are they going to respond to the new challenge of growth? How are you going to motivate and enthuse them to redouble their efforts all over again? Maybe we could learn from the world of sport and think about coaching. Now, which type of athletes use coaches the most, do you think? Well, the answer is not footballers or track and field athletes but “the best ones” – all top athletes use coaches to develop and hone their performance. The same thing works in business too. Using coaches to move your managers to the next level produces an amazing benefit to your business and profitability and gives them personal and professional growth too. We’re passionate about our coaching – have a look here

So, let’s move on from annus horribilis. Let’s embrace a year of opportunity and equip ourselves with the tools to make sure 2010 goes with a bang. A Merry Christmas and a very successful New Year to you all.