ARTICLES

CASE STUDY: Business Efficiency™ a Must to Grow Your Business

An excerpt of this Article was Published in the City Weekly Courier Magazine, Sydney, NSW
30 January 2003

KR Consulting, Sydney
Growing from start-up to a staff of six in four years is an achievement, and one of which Suzanne Kinsman and Renée Reynolds are proud. As Directors of KR Consulting they run a recruitment consultancy specialising in the selection and placement of people in temporary and permanent employment.

Starting off with the two Directors as the only employees, the ability to lay the right foundations for future growth was key to KR Consulting’s success. The engagement of a business consultant who specialised in improving Business Efficiency™ allowed them to grow and take on staff through the ability to delegate. The introduction of systems, procedures and job descriptions ensured that staff processes and business systems were in place to meet the increase in demand by clients.

Starting Out
As often happens with growing businesses, the way things are done at conception were simply adapted and modified along with the growth in sales. Suzanne and Renee had their focus firmly on growing the customer base and attending to customer service, what they needed was some breathing space to step back and re-evaluate procedures and processes. “When you start your own business you wear all the hats, and are trying to do everything” says Renée.

“We realised that we had this big picture of where we wanted the business to go, but we didn’t know how to get there – we were stuck trying to work out how to match our business ambitions with our goal of working four days each week and still maintaining a lifestyle” says Suzanne.

Getting an Expert to Help
This was the point at which Karina Samperi, from Samperi Consulting Group, a Business Efficiency™ expert was contacted. “Karina made us see how our dreams could become a reality – with the help of Samperi Consulting Group working “on” the business, we could focus “in” the business for a while” says Suzanne “Karina helped us develop building blocks for the future”.

An impartial evaluation of the operational situation started with individual interviews of each member of management and staff. “Learning about the key concerns and experiences of both employers and employees helped to uncover the core operational frustrations of the business. This in turn allowed a clear identification of the issues that needed to be addressed and/or reviewed in order for KR Consulting to continue to grow smoothly” says Karina Samperi.

Getting an external view of any business situation often uncovers what is not immediately obvious to those involved in its development. It also enables specialists like Samperi Consulting Group to bring years of experience from working in many different office environments and industries, adding significant value to the problem-solving approach.

Doing it Once and Doing it Right
“We knew that by bringing in an expert, that we would make the right changes the first time around, allowing us to get on and continue to grow the business” said Suzanne Kinsman.

To keep up with the myriad of changes in the recruitment industry, as well as to set the right scene for future growth, Samperi Consulting Group identified a number of key areas for focus. The ability to delegate jobs by documenting duties and systems, as well as standardising communication and computing systems were identified to help unblock bottlenecks to operational efficiency.

The initial analysis was able to pinpoint key areas, and to develop both short and long term business goals so that strategies could be put in place to effect change. A time frame for how long the project would take was set, during which all short and long term goals were to be met.

Staff Management Coaching and Training
The transition to a larger staff base meant additional coaching and training needs. This was delivered through group and one-on-one coaching sessions with the Directors. Training included improved communication with, and delegation to, staff, Business Efficiency™, set-up of business systems and management of staff meetings. By providing the Directors with workplace and management training, there was an improved understanding of, and ability to promote, the operational systems that were being put in place to improve efficiencies.

Creation of a Human Resource System
Running a business without formal human resource systems is a common sticking point for the growing business. At what point can you justify putting a specialist into the role? Whilst not a key revenue generating area, the area of human resources is one that should be neglected at peril. Rather than taking on another staff member purely to look after this function, KR Consulting worked with Samperi Consulting Group to set up systems relating to people management. This commenced with a review of the organisational structure and identification of areas of focus for growth and development, through to development and introduction of job descriptions.

All job roles were clarified and job descriptions prepared for each position. This included changing one part-time staff member to full time, and changing the receptionist role to a receptionist/secretarial role. A Staff Policies and Procedures Manual was created and prepared for each staff member, as well as an Induction Manual for new employees. By documenting procedures and policies, all staff were able to clearly understand KR Consulting’s operations and the reasons behind each policy, thereby providing for consistent delivery of service and measurement systems to encourage improvement.

Standardisation of Operating Procedures
Everyone knows how time consuming it is if each time you write a letter you need to start from scratch, it is just like re-inventing the wheel. The development of a standardised system for letters and forms freed up resources and made operations run more smoothly. All documentation was collected and a template system set up to ensure all staff had access to hard and soft copies of new documents and instructions. This provided consistency in documentation and layout and enhanced the professional image of KR Consulting by standardising the font size, font type and layout of all documentation including letterhead, faxes, memos and reports.

What Can We Learn

1. Plan for growth from the start, build systems that do more than cope
   
2. If you don’t have the internal skills, identify and contract experts to do the job – they can do it faster and more cost effectively
   
3. Realise the importance of operating procedures within all facets of business
   
4. Saving time will save you money!

“Building business foundations that help companies take a large step forward is what we do best” says Karina Samperi of Samperi Consulting Group.

The Right Frame of Mind for Growth
“Samperi Consulting Group provided a very practical, logical and systematic approach that ensured that each step of the project was completed in a timely manner, helping us to achieve our goals” said Suzanne. Both staff and management could see the immediate improvement in workflow and its effects on morale. By the end of the project, Samperi Consulting Group had helped KR Consulting achieve profit increases of over 30% per annum.

For more information on KR Consulting go to www.krconsulting.com.au or call +61 (0)2 9221 7400.

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