Those who do not take off now will soon be able to bury their company.
So? How much time do you have left to digitalize your company?
Enough? Or do you already think that you are well-positioned?
Are all processes already automated?
Are you well-prepared for further staff shortages and can you largely compensate for them? Even if no new employees will be knocking on your door in the near future?
In view of all these issues, many companies currently remind me of an alcoholic. They strictly refuse to believe they have a serious problem and think they will get a handle on it eventually.
All too often, people believe they are already on the right track and will tackle the problems. But is that really the case?
My experience has shown that many entrepreneurs and companies look into the future far too “naively.”
Many think that things will get better eventually. Many hope for new elections or some other kind of savior.
Of course, automation and digitalization are not the only problems a company has to deal with today.
But there are still enough messy and labor-intensive processes, inefficiencies in work, and manual processes that could actually be handled or supported “mechanically” in every company.
I do not know a single company that has already reached the optimum here.
Even if my title seems sensationalist at first glance, the situation is more than explosive.
Which fire burns hotter?
The chicken and egg question when it comes to firefighting
In many companies, fires are burning in several corners at once.
When the house is on fire in several places at once, the question arises as to where and how best to extinguish it.
In the example of a burning house with multiple fires, however, the question unfortunately does not arise.
All fires must be extinguished simultaneously if you want to avoid a total loss.
But unfortunately, I hear time and again:
- An employee is out, we have to postpone that?
- We currently have other priorities
- We are well-positioned. We currently have other problems
- We are currently having IT problems with a customer and have to settle that first
- We will still do it, but not until 2025
Interesting. But the question is which of these topics will really change and when. And simply postponing the whole block across the board achieves nothing if you don’t even know what you actually want to do in 2025.
Sickness rates – and it’s going to get worse
Sick, sick again, sick time and again, or gone completely
I notice it with my customers. Everyone complains about a very high sickness rate. It is always between 7% and 10%.
Take a company with 200 employees. That would be between 14 and 20 sick people at the same time.
14 to 20 people for whom continued payment of wages must first be made without any performance.
And if the same employees keep getting sick, especially right now, the whole thing rotates throughout the entire company.
The costs are horrendous. The performance is abysmal.
One should certainly ask the “Why?” question. Even if this can bring unpleasant answers to light. But it must not be ignored either.
Because, and I am firmly convinced of this, these figures will not take a turn for the “positive.” On the contrary. All signs point to a further increase and more and more “total failures.”
A “wait and see until it gets better” is therefore not an option.
A bit of software is just not enough
The “myth” of existing digitalization
Many companies “think” they are already well-positioned. They have bought a great ERP or inventory management system and invested heavily in it.
They have treated themselves to a “Digitalization Officer” who is supposed to drive everything forward.
But when I look behind the scenes of such companies, I have to realize time and again how blindly and naively they proceed.
They simply refuse to see the reality of the situation.
Yet it is simple. You can recognize a general need for action by 3 things:
- MS-Excel® is still used extensively in the company
- Many processes are still manual (email etc.)
- There is no controlled task management (email etc.)
If all these points apply, these are signs that you are not actually where you could or should be. You certainly cannot speak of successful digitalization up to this point.
The “skilled workers” aren’t delivering
Everyone is talking about the shortage of skilled workers
But, honestly, how many new skilled workers are you producing in your own company? How good is your employee retention?
How many employees are currently fleeing your company or are so dissatisfied that a flight is imminent?
Replacing sick or absent employees is one thing, but what about the existing employees?
In conversations with companies, especially larger ones, I hear that there are many dissatisfied employees.
Many years of almost infinite growth have allowed the Peter Principle to resurface in a particularly large number of companies (everyone is promoted until they reach their level of incompetence, or they skip it).
In Germany, people also like to call this “putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.”
So instead of obsessively looking after the “new ones,” you should also consider making it easier for the “old ones.”
The times of digitalizing simply to generate more turnover with the same staff are over in almost all industries.
Instead, one should digitalize and automate to make it easier for existing employees to handle the steadily growing number of tasks and to feel like valued employees rather than “work slaves.”
Automation is not possible everywhere
Automation – where possible
Automating processes is not that easy and is usually very costly.
But what use is it if you no longer have the staff to operate a machine or work in the warehouse?
Whereby a machine is not necessarily required for automation. This works just as well in marketing, sales, and other areas.
Anyone who wants to automate when there is no other way has a problem. Because without a plan (see below), “knee-jerk” decisions are usually made, which are costly and nowhere near as efficient as intended.
Anyone who wants to automate efficiently should therefore know exactly what they want, understand their options, and do so within the framework of an overall plan.
Incidentally, if “hardware” comes into play, as in a warehouse or production facility, it still means that you have to settle for longer delivery times in many areas.
Few suppliers are sitting in their office chairs, twiddling their thumbs and waiting for you to call so that things can finally move forward here. Quite the opposite.
1 and 1 is 3
Every little bit helps to solve the problems
When many people think of digitalization, they usually think of large, complex, and really expensive projects. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
I myself work with a tool for signing contracts, for example. This allows me to achieve a legally secure process for my contracts (customers, subcontractors, etc.) with little effort and it only took 1 hour on the train to set up.
Costs approx. 280 per year. In return, I get a legally secure signature process that is now recognized by almost all my customers (except the incorrigible ones who think they are already great anyway).
So it’s a limited investment that delivers a lot of added value very quickly.
Anyone who does their homework will find many programs that optimize at least sub-processes for little money. Then 1 + 1 really becomes 3.
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Nothing works without a digitalization plan!
He who fails to plan, plans to fail
Anyone who thinks they can just quickly buy one or two pieces of software and then everything will be fine is “sorely mistaken.”
Planless investments, without a precise needs assessment and a real digitalization plan, usually end in an investment nirvana.
What is needed here is a plan that takes into account the real requirements, circumstances, and prerequisites.
That is why it makes sense to consult a consultant. Use my experience to avoid falling behind and to spend your money sensibly and efficiently.
By the way, a free initial appointment is available directly at this link: .
Conclusion:
Without a strategy, an action plan, and the corresponding investments in automation and digitalization, many companies will not be able to survive in the medium term.
The large corporations are delighted and investors like Blackrock and their ilk are ready to buy up the truly interesting companies.
An alternative is to sell the company. Sometimes it is simply better to strive for an end with a fright brought about by oneself than a fright without end brought about by others. Certainly worth considering for some.
There is no more time for waiting. Those who wait will die.
Image sources: Shutterstock
