As we are on the approach to the halfway point of 2019, you’re likely to be frantically oiling your social impact organisation’s engine, and trying to keep the pistons pumping hard enough to make it to a finish line that seems to get further and further away.
Why is this happening?
Generally, most businesses can handle one problem. However, it becomes much harder to manage when there’s multiple large issues while trying to get through ‘business as usual’.
Here’s some things that you’re likely facing at the moment:
- In uncertain times, trying to balance staff numbers with projected cash flow and demand for services;
- Preparing your internal quality systems for the mass migration of state and territory regulatory systems to the new NDIS Quality and Safeguards Framework happening July 2019;
- Finding time to apply for grants (or waiting on the outcome of ones that were supposed to be announced months ago);
- If you also deliver Aged Care services, surviving an Aged Care Royal Commission (currently preparing for Hearing 3) that continues to open more wounds and revealing gross systemic failures;
- Preparing for the inevitable Royal Commission into violence, neglect and abuse of people in the disability sector; and
- Retaining (good) staff. While this isn’t isolated to the community sector, more and more staff are disillusioned with their roles, salary and the growing entrepreneurial movement driving them to start their own businesses.
As a Social Impact CEO or General Manager, what do you do?
For many of these things, you just have to keep across where you are up to/your strategies, and try to keep moving forward. Worrying won’t change it and making reactive decisions will most likely backfire and not consider the long-term direction for your organisation.
- As business leaders, sometimes all we need to do is listen before we speak. Go back to your Business Plan. Speak to your team. Speak with you customers. What do they say? You’ll often find the answers (or reassurance) from those who have a role to play in your success.Taking a more considered approach means your decisions will reflect a broader perspective and thus help you survive the above challenges (and any other ones) thrown at you.
- Prioritise. You can’t do everything, so do the 20% to get you the 80%. Delegate where appropriate to your staff and make sure accountability is central to your communication and processes.
- Manage change calmly. Change is an unavoidable fact of the community sector and chances are, if you’re experiencing these issues, so is your biggest competitor.
For more information on how we can help your organisation with the above challenges, get in contact with our team at Amergin.