ON THE COUCH: Elliott on business’ most important resource

Addressing a seminar for ANZ’s Business Growth Program, Elliott said while often policies and procedures could get in the way, at their heart these issues are often based around people.

“Put simply if [you’re] not winning in the marketplace, if [you’re] not gaining market share, and [you’re] not winning whatever your goals happen to be… it’ll end up always being a people issue,” he said.

“Even if it’s policy that’s got in the way, it’s because somebody didn’t raise their hand and say, ‘This policy has got in the way and we should change it’.”

Elliott said whatever the business, the root cause of procedural issues more often than not comes down to personnel – but not necessarily bad apples.

“It might be they’re not bad people,” he said. “Maybe they don’t feel empowered – maybe they’re not speaking up. And you have to ask the question why.”

“I think ultimately it is going back to: is your business succeeding? If not, where is the root cause? It’ll be in some of your people somewhere and it’s about trying to get to the bottom of that.”

He also touched on the importance of taking feedback on your business performance from all comers – including direct reports, staff and even customers.

Watch the video above to find out more.

Andrew Cornell is managing editor at bluenotes