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BUDGET, from page 5

RANDY WILBURN, from page 6

„ „ Will your cost of goods change? „ „ Are your suppliers likely to raise or lower prices? Are you planning to switch to lower-cost suppliers? Will quality suffer as a result? If so, how much will that affect your sales? „ „ Do you need to enhance your product to keep your current clients? „ „ Does your staff need more training? „ „ Are you planning to pursue other special projects or initiatives? „ „ Articulating your answers to questions like these ensures that your as- sumptions won’t go unexamined. It will help you to create budget num- bers that are as realistic as possible. COLLABORATE FOR SUCCESS. The budget process is an excellent way to foster teamwork and to obtain buy-in. Because most firms focus on maxi- mizing their billable hours, the strategic planning tasks tend to be rel- egated to only a few people. Although this idea makes sense, it leaves some staffmembers feeling left out. A well-planned budget process in- volves everyone and provides valuable input while improving morale. So, talk to your staff. Find out what they need. Begin with last year’s budget and make the changes that t your plans. Also, consult web- sites of trade associations or trade publications for data on industry averages. Because your budget must be compared and combined with others in the organization, your company will probably provide you with a standard set of line items. When you’ve lled those in, take a step back: Does this budget meet your goals? It’s easy to overlook big-pic- ture goals as you get into line-by-line details. And finally, can you de- fend your budget to others? WELL-PLANNED BUDGET BENEFITS. Paul Gergel, a partner at WithumSmith+Brown PC (Princeton, NJ), an accounting firm, says that a well-conceived and executed budget offers many benefits, in- cluding: „ „ Providing a benchmark to measure achievements and shortfalls. „ „ Helping the firm set directions to meet short-term goals. „ „ Providing mechanisms to develop long-term strategies. „ „ Serving to change corporate direction. „ „ Allowing the firm to implement strategies to correct less than-desirable results. He advises that as you work through your budgeting process, you should begin the process during the 10th month of the fiscal year, and plan on completing it prior to the year’s end. You should also: „ „ Establish a committee and set up responsibilities. „ „ Prepare a timetable with tight, reasonable deadlines. „ „ Allow the participants time in their schedules for the process. Don’t ex- pect them to do everything in the evening or on weekends. „ „ Prepare input forms for department heads, personnel responsible for functional areas, and all partners/principals. „ „ Hold a meeting to explain the process, forms, and the timetable. „ „ Make the financial officer available for “coaching” or assisting individuals as they work through the process. „ „ The managing partner should have adequate input into the process and should review responsibilities. „ „ Present the final budget to owners for ratification.

time management skills, and knowing how to cross-sell and cross-promote other areas of your company. It sounds like a lot, I know, but you can take each of these areas and turn them into bite-sized learning chunks that even the newest engineers and architects can embrace and implement. Once you determine what you want to do you need to move forward with confidence and the ultimate assurance that your decision- making skills, whether to hire or sit tight, will ultimately benefit your firm. Even if your decision is not a popular one stand by your choice and at least try to make it work. If you have a strong training program in place then the fear of hiring someone and having them fall on their face is greatly diminished. You never know how things will turn out unless you try. RANDY WILBURN is director of executive search for Zweig Group. Contact him at rwilburn@zweiggroup.com.

HIRE, from page 7

longer hours on a regular basis to get the work done? 2) Are they making more mistakes than before (not typical behavior)? 3) Overwhelm – the one person just can’t do it anymore. HONE YOUR DETECTIVE SKILLS. “ ‘Overwhelmed’ can be and is the most difficult to determine when it is occurring,” Herran says. “It is usually disguised as ‘hard work’ or ‘loyalty.’ Most employees won’t say much and will just plug along. You will need to notice a change in attitude, personality, and the appearance that he/she is just getting by, etc.” There are a couple of things you can do: „ „ Talk to the person to find out where they are; and „ „ Determine if the job can be broken down into two. “For example, I have a client with a customer service position,” Herran says. “The person do- ing the job was great at first, but over time as things got busier, she became quiet, we would find some of the work wasn’t being done and she was making mistakes that she never made before. In talking to her, we determined the job had become overwhelming, and the workload had increased slowly so it wasn’t obvious.” Herran’s client decided to divide the job into two distinct roles. By adding the additional per- son, the first employee was working with her original happy personality, no more mistakes were made, and the customers were thrilled to deal with her. The second person came on and was able to learn from the first person and they had a mentor. It was a happy ending for all.

© Copyright 2015. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.

THE ZWEIG LETTER OCTOBER 5, 2015, ISSUE 1122

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