Grow is a business coaching company that helps leaders, and their teams, unlock their business potential through strategic guidance and practical tools—giving leaders the clarity and confidence they need to lead. FlowCentric provides software services and solutions to organisations seeking to streamline and optimise their business processes. Together, these companies bring a wealth of experience in guiding businesses through growth while maintaining operational excellence.
A look into the Grow x FlowCentric Round Table event, held on 15 October this year, offers exclusive insights from business leaders across various industries and company sizes. The event, presented by Grow and FlowCentric at 22 on Sloane in Bryanston, Johannesburg, gave business owners, CEOs, and founders a chance to engage with peers on how to steer companies through periods of significant change.
Our insightful host, Andrew Aitken, CEO of Grow, introduced three discussion topics:
- Navigating business growth.
- Defining your competitive edge.
- Leadership in times of change.
With leaders from transportation, medical aid, digital development, real estate, and other sectors present, the dialogue delivered unique and thought-provoking insights from diverse perspectives. The common theme was the importance of business process management (BPM).
1. Navigating Business Growth
Aitken opened the discussion by explaining that every business passes through key phases: startup, survival, success, scale-up, and resource maturity (as outlined by Harvard Business Review). Each phase presents its own set of challenges, and successfully navigating growth requires not only recognising these challenges but also preparing the business to handle them effectively.
But how do you prepare for such challenges?
Denis Bensch, CIO of FlowCentric and co-host of the event, emphasised that documenting processes and using software to manage them is essential for safeguarding a business during rapid growth. Clear, structured processes help companies avoid bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Jacques Wessels, CEO of FlowCentric, added that monitoring EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) is crucial, as it provides a clear picture of a company's profitability and financial health through each growth stage.
Key points from the conversation included:
- Document current manual processes.
- Be decisive about which processes to implement at each stage and take action.
- Develop a 3- or 5-year strategy.
- Define strategic priorities, objectives, and key results. As the saying goes, “If you can’t define it, you can’t measure it, which means you can’t manage it”.
- Workshop your most critical processes.
- Automate repetitive tasks to boost role-specific productivity.
- Simplify and streamline employee access to information to avoid miscommunication and delays.
A business can only grow as far as its capacity allows. Effective processes support this capacity and ensure sustainable growth.
2. Defining Your Competitive Edge
Aitken shared a true story of a smaller dairy manufacturing company competing with a larger rival when their biggest customer opened a tender. While the smaller company had optimised its processes (ERP, CRM, and logistics) to serve a unique customer segment, the larger company won the tender by offering a lower price.
However, a month later, the smaller company was still supplying the client. The competitor couldn’t match the specific service that the smaller company had strategically tailored.
Similar stories emerged about how improved customer service followed careful process development, management, and automation.
The essential takeaway was that processes are the foundation of every aspect of a business. Whether in customer service, procurement, or resource management, streamlined processes are vital for positioning a company as a competent player in the market. Refining and enhancing processes can set a business apart from competitors. Automating mundane tasks accelerates productivity, ensures consistent output, improves customer experience, and frees up time for innovation.
3. Leadership in Times of Change
Aitken highlighted our natural, evolutionary need to feel part of a group. In the context of business, growth and innovation often bring significant changes that require adaptability to maintain our place within that group.
However, change can be difficult to manage if leaders don’t involve stakeholders in the process. ‘Leading with clarity’ means more than simply announcing a process transformation—it requires transparent communication that builds trust.
By involving employees in the development of new systems and processes, and considering their input, concerns, and day-to-day challenges, leaders can create a smoother and more comprehensive change management process. When processes are aligned with both employee needs and company goals, employees are more likely to view the change as a positive transformation, rather than a disruptive event.
Aitken concluded the topic by summarising two of the six 'primary embedding mechanisms':
- Incentivise and reward behaviours to embed new ways of working and facilitate cultural change.
- Set a strategic priority each quarter, focusing on what to measure, manage, and control in relation to projects and deadlines.
Of course, automating processes makes it easier for employees to adapt to change. A BPM platform like FlowCentric Processware, which enables scalability by adapting to changing business needs, empowers a flexible workforce.
The Grow x FlowCentric Round Table event offered business leaders valuable insights into the process of doing business and how to lead with clarity. Processes are the backbone of any company, and the right strategy for navigating growth, defining a competitive edge, and leading through change can help business process management achieve its full potential.
To discuss how FlowCentric can help you get the most out of your business processes...
