
Building trust while cutting costs
During a restructuring, rumors spread and fear takes hold. You can reduce the turmoil by finding ways to inform, empower, and inspire employees.
US corporations are facing organizational challenges. They see huge opportunity for organic growth, but to get there they must hone market strategies, design new ways of working that maximize technology and prepare to capitalize on AI.
What, then, is the role of the leaders throughout this transformation? And how can strong leaders keep business transformation on track? We’ve distilled a set of ten guiding principles to help any leader who is starting or restarting this journey now.
Percentage of CEOs planning these activities in the next 12 months
Start with a clear, candid assessment of business conditions and the challenges facing the company. Take a market-back and customer-focused perspective, connecting transformation objectives to customer needs and marketplace dynamics. Describe the company's differentiating capabilities, and underscore the importance of channeling resources to these critical sources of competitive advantage. Conclude with an inspiring vision of the company's potential if it becomes fit for growth.
A credible, effective cost transformation scrutinizes every expenditure. Putting everything on the table signals the urgency of strategically aligning costs, while dissuading individual managers from lobbying for special exemptions. It also sends a message that "we're all in this together."
You need to keep doing business while you change your business. Don't ask managers and line workers to do both. Establish a program management office with responsibility for achieving transformation goals, led by a respected senior executive.
Principal, Strategy&, PwC US
Dr. Deniz Caglar is a leading practitioner in strategic cost transformation for Strategy&, PwC's strategy consulting business.