I met with a prospect the other day and they said they been doing things the same way for years. While they had added computers to the business process, the computers were just replacing pen and paper. They said they thought there was a better way but were unsure of what to do. This is pretty typical, many people can't see the forest for the trees. I told them what needed to be done is map out the complete work flow from trying to get a prospect to completing the sale and to filling the order. Then we would look at all tasks to make sure that they were adding value to the process, that they still made sense to do and not just doing it because we have always done it that way.

The next thing we would do is look at what they want their business to look like in ten years. By knowing where they want to be we could start laying foundation now to  allow the company to reach it's ten year goal. I then asked them what things would you love to automate or make easier in their business. I asked that they do not limit themselves to what they think is doable, let us decide that. You might think something is impossible and we thing no big deal, other times we get asked to do what the customer thinks is a no-brainier and there is no way we could make that happen for at least a few more years until technology advances to make it possible.

We then got talking about mundane tasks that people have to do that follows some sort of pattern. I told them if you can define the pattern we could build software that follows their business rules with no human intervention. For example say you want to send a customer a thank you letter 2 days after the sale if the customer took the product home with them or if the product had to be delived, 2 days after delivery. If that date fell on a holiday or weekend move it to the next business day. We could easily program into the software to print those letters at the right time without a person going in and trying to figure out who to send letters to add put the letter together. It would be something like a pop up when you log into the program in the morning asking do you want to print up thank you letters? You click yes and go to the printer grab the letters and stuff them into envelopes and out the door they go. Easy enough to do even after a long weekend. 

Another customer of ours use to take a week of hard work to put together a mailing for an open house. There would be names in a label program, customer lists, trade show send me more info ballets etc that would have to be all combined together in a label program. Then they would have to check for duplications in labels. They they had to check that addresses were complete, and on and on. For their last mailing it was a no stress click a button and watch the labels print out. Complete job was done 40 mins later. So a week of hard work and stress or 40 mins of bliss, you choose.

I can go on and on. Any time is a good time to try to do things the easy/fast way but in these times of trying to get more done with less it makes even more sense to spend a little to save a lot. And did I mention how much more professional you would look, how happy your customers are in dealing with you.

As a Certified Management Accountant I can work with companies to map out their business process. Then we can look at technology to see how it can improve the process. It is not unusual for a new system to allow staff more time to work on other aspects of their job or in some cases make the position obsolete. 

You have heard it before but I will say it again. Happy employees are productive employees. If you were looking for a job would you apply to your company? For most of us we probably don't think about that too much. Today's employees wants to work at a company that cares, trusts, appreciates, and values its workers and acknowledges hard work. Employees want to see ethical and respected leaders who are visible and accessible. Companies that are recognized as an employer of choice exhibit not only high levels of employee attraction, but also higher employee productivity, greater workforce stability, stronger levels of employee satisfaction and loyalty.

According to Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, co-authors of How to become an Employer of choice, there are eight principals to consider.

Company image

Organization culture

Respected leadership

Caring of people

Growth and opportunity

Meaningful work

Compensation and benefits

Making a difference

We often think that employees are just looking to make the most money, but that is only one factor of having a good job.

Barbara J. Bowes - CMA Management November 2008

The future of Canada's economy is a concern for Canadians and businesses alike. In a speech to the Canadian Club of Montreal, Mark Carney, Governor, bank of Canada, outlined how upheaval in global financial markets and the slowdown in the U.S. economy are important international actors affecting the Canadian economy. While a U.S. recession would have an effect on the Canadian economy, a separate report by the Bank of Canada said  that a healthy banking sector, which the central bank and the Canadian government confidently agree Canada has, acts as a protector against such downturns. It will be interesting to see how our elected officials will play a more active role stabilizing financial markets during our country's "economic Downturn".

Andrea Civichino - CMA Management Volume 82 Number 7

On the weekend my family and I were at two water parks. One water park had a bracelet that could open your hotel room, open lockers, buy snacks etc. The other water park had a nice bracelet that other than color of bracelet, did nothing.

Now as a user which park do you think was more enjoyable? The one that I had to carry my room key and money or the one that needed nothing? You bet I liked not having to carry keys and money. This is definitely a case of the business embracing technology to enhance customer experience.

In today's global economy where companies are competing to sell consumers products and services anything that you can do to distinguishes you from your competition and enhances the users experience is valuable.