Bold execs need IC experts to help companies recover

By James Bennett, Managing Online Editor, Melcrum

Company executives who seize the initiative over the next two years as Britain emerges from recession can dominate the business landscape for a decade, according to research by accounting firm Deloitte.

The firm says those who keep their heads down and wait for a recovery will lose out, while those who are prepared to take bold decisions can put themselves in a winning position.

It cites Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco, and Sir Martin Sorrell, head of advertising, marketing and PR giant WPP, whose “strength of conviction” in the 1990s recession put their businesses in positions of great strength.

Deloitte suggest that to be successful companies should instill a process that begins with strengthening the balance sheet in order to have the capacity to take opportunities, rather than a reckless sprint to get to the finish line. According to the firm this involves optimising performance, not just on costs, but also on having the right size and shape of business to survive. It also means building confidence among shareholders so the support is there once the time comes to build new markets and make acquisitions.

I hate to say it but there’s one thing missing here - who is going to do drive and engage the employees in order to optimise performance? Who is going to enable the CEO and his executive team to have the right internal structure and shape for the business to survive and push on? And who is going to build confidence among shareholders and stakeholders by heading up, pushing through and achieving internal business goals?

If all this is to be achieved then Deloitte has missed a key human element to corporate recovery. Sadly I can only offer two words of advice, but luckily they are the right combination to enable bold leaders to seize the initiative and take UK plc out of the gloom and back into the boom. The first word begins with ‘i’, the second with ‘c’. Guessed it yet?

Internal communications.

I’ll leave the rest to the thousands of expert practitioners and consultants out there working hard with their leaders and companies everyday to take the necessary bold and brave decisions that will eventually lead us out of the red and back into the black. You may have been forgotten by some but not by us.