ARTICLE #3 (posted 26/03/2020)
At the End of the Dance
Of the retail industries, none have been hit harder than hospitality venues during this time of a global pandemic. The hospitality workforce has been temporarily decimated with virtually all venue closures; however, it is now time for these business operators to focus on the “End of the Dance” and plan strategies for emerging from this temporary pain.
Governments are doing their best to insert health and economic measures and we must accept they are in possession of more available data and expert guidance than the general community. Whilst the social and general media comments dance around what we should or should not be doing, we must put our trust in government leadership and guidance. But we can be proactive.
It has been reported that China alerted the WHO of the virus in Wuhan province on December 31st, 2019. We suspect China may have delayed their notification. Now at the end of March 2020, China is easing the lockdown in the province and allowing a return to work for some. This is 3 months after their notification and possibly 4-6 months after the commencement of the virus.
We can take from this a provisional expectation, that with the controls which our governments are putting in place, we could look to a rebuilding of business operations around July/August. Given the right circumstances with public adherence to our movement restrictions we could see this dance finish earlier. However, we owe it to our various workforces to start planning now on how our operations will look like in the future and how they will operate in a smarter way.
This specific crisis is a wake-up call to every industry. We have seen crises in the past and survived. We must learn from the consequences, because we will see similar issues in the future. Now is the time for each operator to consider how the future of the retail and hospitality industries may look like beyond this critical time. Operators will be looking to carry out their new trim operations in a smarter and more productive manner.
For business operators, in the interim, there are government support packages as well as planned moratoriums for operators who have sound records with their financiers or landlords, however, there will be many small businesses who may struggle to recover.
There will be an industry beyond this pandemic. It will be proactive businesses, that can readily reconfigure their operations to meet the challenges, which will succeed. No doubt some of these challenges will be with us for some time.
Should any business wish to discuss their issues and map a solution (pro bono), our experienced consultants can guide you through the concerns. We have financial, legal, operational and real estate advisors for your guidance.
You can email me jim.mckenzie@maconsultants.com.au or phone 0411-223-881
Be Proactive, be Ready and be Successful.
ARTICLE #2
Hospitality Industry Exit Strategies
A venue operating in the hospitality Industry is affected by many changes such as:
Venue operators need to be empowered by having clearly defined “visioned” triggers planned to enable discussions over whether the time is right for exiting the business, by either sale or succession planning. The correct time for identifying “Exit Strategies” is at the initial business planning stage. When the reason for building, or acquiring, a hospitality business is examined. The pinnacle objectives should be documented into desired outcomes. These desired outcomes become the “specific triggers” which prompt the questions which should be asked.
These “exit triggers” serve as a call to action for a situation review. If these triggers are not in place how do you identify when the time has arrived to ask the question……… Do we continue in the business, or seek an opportunity to exit?
Recent intervention projects have found clients unprepared at the time they have made the decision to exit a specific business operation. They had not considered the strategy or scheduling required to identify an exit opportunity.
Have you got an appropriate plan in place to identify when you should exit your business operation?
The Steps for Planning and Implementing “Exit Strategies”
Discussions:
Analysis:
Recommendations:
Implementation:
If you have a need to plan and/or implement an “Exit Strategy”, give me a call.
Management Audit Consultants have the specialists to produce the required and relevant deployment processes.
ARTICLE #1
Who among us can claim ignorance?
Currently in Australia we seem to have a plethora of hospitality businesses, caught in the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) spotlight for not applying mandatory labour management practices. To the casual observer it can appear as if these operations adopt an attitude to “try-it-on” and if caught apologise, pay a penalty and make restitution. This just tarnishes their brand and workplace image.
It has been well publicised that the FWO has made the Hospitality Industry a top compliance priority. This has been brought about by this Industry attaining the highest number of disputes (17%) and the highest number of anonymous reports (36%) in the Australian workforce for 2016-17. Recently published court judgments have seen businesses heavily penalised with restitution and costs.
Corporate governance and compliance practices are a fact of life for all businesses and cannot be avoided. It must be accepted and embraced in the culture of business operations. Operational accountability must be part of the workforce doctrine.
It is also quite apparent that labour management practices influence employees’ behaviour, attitude and performance. Having the correct balance of labour processes ensure a motivated workforce with minimum risk.
Implementing the correct Labour Management procedures for your workplace varies with the style and offer of the operation. Some examples are as follows:
For more information on how we can assist in developing a balanced Labour Management Regime CLICK HERE
