Mismatch of people and tasks creates a recipe for slowdown

    A business that fails to plan for the unexpected is effectively planning to fail. 

An organisation’s existing structure may serve past business models well. But today’s volatile environments have forced companies to explore and review more frequently the relevance of their functional structures. Traditional organisational structures are based on functions matched with specific skills of employees – for example, sales and marketing, production, accounting and finance, human resources and so on. But this kind of structure can fail to respond quickly enough to unexpected changes. Moreover, business growth and expansion under freer trade and fewer barriers brings new kinds of work to be handled, or else higher workloads in existing tasks. This leads to a mismatch between work to be done and the employees tasked with doing it. 

Future success therefore depends upon a proper analysis of employees and their tasks, leading to an action plan for the coming change. New tasks that emerge due to unexpected or unplanned business development come in several forms, for example: 

_ Export opportunity – a domestic company that starts exploring export opportunities might need to make adjustments. These might include understanding export customers’ requirements, handling logistics, ensuring collection and payment, and studying the impact of overseas laws and regulations.

_ Changes in laws and regulations – new laws or amendments to existing laws covering such areas as safety or environmental protection may require hiring a specialist to ensure compliance.

_ Audit and verification of standard practices – to protect the image of brand owners with worldwide licences, manufacturers must ensure they maintain relevant standards of environmental protection, employee safety, child-labour bans and quality issues. 

_ Internal improvement projects – many companies have initiated programmes along the lines of “small group activity”, “total quality management”, Six Sigma projects, and so on. These improvements can be customised to fit the culture and nature of the business. But at a certain point, dedicated persons may be needed to facilitate the programmes.    

 

To be successful, new projects need to be effectively handled by responsible persons. The company can assign additional work to existing employees, but the new workload may need additional people to prevent failure of the whole project. When considering hiring a new person, take into account the following:  

_ Timing – finding the right person for the required task must be done in a timely manner. Waiting until an uncertain picture becomes clearer is normally too late. New people need training and time to climb the learning curve. 

_ Scope of work – any new task requires a clear job description for both candidates and interviewers. This will help avoid misunderstandings that can result in unwanted staff turnover.

_ Teamwork development – successful candidates should be team players, chosen for their attitude and mindset in addition to the required skills and expertise.  

 

Too often, interviewers put the emphasis on qualifications, then find that their chosen candidate is a mismatch for the job. On the other hand a person with, say, a degree in history, may be able to handle financial functions if he/she has the relevant experience.  

Identifying and responding to mismatches between roles and those assigned to them can help companies avoid slowdown or failure of strategy execution.

  

Yanyong Thammatucharee is senior vice president for Accounting and Finance at Central Marketing Group.