A short visit:
I saw Tony Starks coming out of the airport terminal looking exactly like I had seen him 10 years ago. He is 6 foot 4’ and built like Iron Man himself. He was looking sharper than usual even after an 8 hour plane ride from Europe to India. Starks Enterprise had signed a big agency for the European operations and Tony had come to launch it. Tony had just been named CEO of Starks international after his father’s unexpected demise. Tony is in the services industry and had started working with Vantage Agora as a customer only a few weeks ago. He was coming in to see how the project was taking off before he got completely caught up in his new role. Tony and I worked together in the past. I had come to respect his incredible creativity and brain power in terms of software development. I had also come to respect the fact that Tony was a self made man before he went and joined his dad in his family services business. In under five years Tony had helped grow the sales of the organization grow from a $23 Million to a $456 Million. For the last year plus sales had stalled because of the relentless economy. The pressure on margins had become so high that Tony had engaged with Vantage Agora back-office service and started his own team with Vantage Agora to leverage from the cost benefit and process efficiency we bring to the table.
On a side note, when we worked together Tony was the one that introduced me to golf. Not only did he introduce me to the game but also taught me the finer points of the game.
Lack of Accountability or Lack of measurement:
We were in the office early next morning at 7:00AM sharp. After a six straight hours at the office we headed out in the mild December afternoon towards my golf club. In Bangalore the weather is beautiful year round but in December it is especially nice between 60 and 70 degrees. On a weekday at 1:30PM in the afternoon there was literally nobody on the course. In India you have the luxury of having caddies that carry your bags. This gave both of us to catch up on varied topics of life and business.
The first hole is a short par 5 which I managed to double bogey while Tony true to his form managed to par with a great sand save. I grumbled to him that his business must have taken off really well and that he is getting to practice even after taking on his new responsibilities. That is when Tony actually confessed that he has been having issues. I casually enquired what kind of issues.
To this he replied, “Oh! It is the usual thing I guess. On one side I have the old timers that are not big on any automation and change. Now they are opposing every change that I want to bring about. On the other side I have people that have no accountability. They all seem do to the job for the sake of doing and don’t seem to care about anything. All they are interested in is how secure their job is and how much raise will they get. I am really sick of all this because I have a great feel for my customers and business but I have no idea what is happening on the floor. It seems that I am running at 100 miles/hour and the rest of company is running at 99 miles/hour but in the opposite direction. Bottom-line there is no accountability at all in my organization.”
I just thought of how typical this problem was with literally every company we meet. Not just in mid-sized or small companies but even in larger companies. Most senior managers believe that their systems have failed them or their employees have failed them. They say this when they themselves don’t use the same yardstick to measure both themselves and the organization. I must not have realized but must have started to smile. Obviously Tony was not amused and challenged me. “You think this is funny. I am here trying to ask you for your help from all your executive consulting background and you are mocking me. Nice!”
About the Author
As the founder of Vantage Agora (VA), Harsha has been instrumental in the growth of the company since its inception. Harsha has over 20+ years of experience in consulting, Enterprise Social Networking, Business Intelligence, and Process improvement. His work with companies such as Fidelity, American Airlines, I2 Technologies, etc, has made him an Expert in Business intelligence and Process improvement.
Harsha has developed a patent pending 'Enterprise Social Network – VA Club', Harsha also has 4 process improvement patents.
Harsha graduated MBA from southern Methodist University (SMU) Dallas, a masters in Computer Science from Louisiana State University (LSU) Baton Rouge, and a Bachelors in Engineering from Bangalore University (BU).
About Vantage Agora
Vantage Agora (VA) is a global provider of back-office solutions, custom IT services and consulting services for companies in the insurance, finance, and healthcare sectors. As a SSAE 16 Type II audited company, Vantage Agora utilizes advanced data processing and quality control systems on a secured network to ensure efficient, comprehensive management of back-office functions such as insurance, accounting, financial and administrative tasks. Founded in 2004, Vantage Agora has offices in Cleveland and Dallas.
Know more about Harsha and Vantage Agora.
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