Required fields not completed correctly.Have you already given up on 2012?
What challenges are we facing right now? Reading the headlines and listening to the pundits some people might almost feels like that it is time to throw in the towel and give up on 2012. Looking at it from a European perspective we are clearly facing some strong headwinds and major challenges. Economic growth is anemic at best, while debt is spiraling and unemployment is high with a negative outlook especially if austerity measures are being taken.
European Debt
The European debt situation is certainly worrying. The majority of the countries have breached their self-imposed maximum of 60% debt of GDP. The European Union as a whole is at about 80% with Greece being at 143%, Italy 119% and Belgium 97 %. Even the Germans have broken the agreement with about 83% debt. However, as a side note – even the US debt is currently at about 100% of GDP.
European unemployment
The average unemployment rate in Europe is currently at around 10% from a low of 4% in Austria to a high of 23% in Spain and 19% in Greece. Follow >this link< for an overview of the unemployment rates. The high rate of debt and the weak economy create some very unsavory choices – stimulate the economy and further increase the debt or push austerity measures knowing that this will further depress employment and the economy. All of this is creating a lot of insecurity – not only in financial markets but also in companies and employees.
Take the bull by the horns
The reality is that these are external factors that you (unfortunately) cannot influence yourselves. Most certainly you have to manage the risks as much as possible. However, I would argue that this is not enough because it is a wasted opportunity and it also creates other challenges from a motivational aspect for employees. In times of economic turmoil it is usually easier to keep good people but this is not to say that it is good for productivity when everyone waits nervously for the ax to drop. So, what is there to do?
So what can you do on a practical level to get up and running quickly? It is very helpful to use a structured approach and a framework like “Commercial Excellence” or “Increasing Shareholder Value” can help you a great deal with that. Applying them you can make sure that you look at all of the potential issues and improvement opportunities. After going through the frameworks you can focus on prioritizing issues/opportunities and working on the most important ones. The two frameworks have hundreds of different possible actions one can look at. Over the next few posts I will give you a high level overview of the two frameworks.