The
“Blocked Mindset Challenge” faced by SMEs in India
The pivotal role played by SMEs in our
dynamic, yet pulsating and rapidly expanding economy has no denial. In
spite of the huge underlying growth potential, they only contribute 17%
to the Indian GDP. It is
intriguing to know that about 80
percent of SMEs die out before their 5th year and only a few thousands amongst
the potent SMEs are listed on the Stock Exchange.
External factors like market and competition,
finance, government policies, etc. play an inferior role in hindering the
forward leap. Neither is it the lack of aspirations amongst entrepreneurs, nor
is their tendency to remain mediocre, which is stagnating the development of
enterprises. What is plaguing this
intent is the “Block Mindset Challenge” faced by the Indian SMEs.
“Mindset” is nothing but a set of beliefs or principles
acquired in due course of time. These beliefs have laid the foundation for the
success of the business, and have been accumulated with experiences gathered by
an individual (entrepreneur or employee), throughout his/her journey. But in
today’s effervescent and challenging market dynamism, one needs to follow
Darwin’s theory of adaptability, which advocates the survival of the fittest!
Mindsets exist at every level of
management in an organization.
Mind-blocks at the Executive level: The employees at the bottom of the pyramid
definitely form the foundation of organizational growth. It is ultimately their
manpower which will materialize the strategic plan and structure laid out by
the higher authorities. Mind blocks are born at this very base level of the
organization; the nature of these blocks deepens and intensifies at every level
towards the top of the pyramid. Employees reporting to managers develop
stereotypes and may believe that their contribution may never be appreciated,
that there may be biases; their opinion would not matter and so on. They
develop a generalized viewpoint about the work culture, cross-functional teams
and the senior most level of management.
Mind-blocks at Managerial level: The middle level managers holding key
positions like SBU heads, project heads, etc. have evolved along with the
augmentation of the organization. They have attained echelons with significant
contribution and are a link between the top and lower levels of management.
Prolonged appreciation for their involvement may also boost the self-image of
the manager, which can act as a fatal mindset block. This may lead to a myopic
mindset towards the employees. Due to lack of performance measuring tools, the
manager may be biased towards a few employees. They may alsorestrict the
progress and flow of innovation by their bureaucratic styles of leading a team.
Beliefs like “a subordinate cannot think or contribute better or even as much
as I can”, “My way or the highway”, “empowering employees can risk my position
in the organization”, etc. are lethal to the overall functioning of the
organization. Autocratic leaders pursuing lofty goals can take companies
away from their core business and blur a corporation's identity.
Mind-blocks at the Senior Management
level: At the senior
management level, the entrepreneur faces the most terminal mindset challenge.
Majority of Indian Businesses are family operated and functional from
generations. The entrepreneur may succumb to a rigid management style leading
to differences of opinion amongst the old and new generation. Concentrating on
the day-to-day operations of their organization, the entrepreneur may miss out
on the greatest opportunity to expand. Fervor to handle and control each and
every operation of the organization diverts their focus from the core business
areas and sidelines the need to curb competition. It's high time that the
delegation of authority is implemented in business so that you can focus on
more important issues where your expertise lies.
How do Blocked Mindsets affect
organizations?
The instability arising out of these mind
blocks at every level in the organization hinders the creation of the
leadership pipeline. It ultimately diverts the focus from strategic goals and
there remains no congruence between the various functions of the business.
These intrinsic loopholes affect the key growth essentials like value delivery,
customer satisfaction and competitive advantage, leading to opportunity loss.
SMEs need to understand business in a ‘holistic
manner’
In order to get rid of this pessimism in the organization, a
self-introspection study is crucial at all levels of the hierarchy. As per a Portuguese proverb “Change
yourself and fortune will change with you.” The entrepreneur needs to probe
himself whether his mindset, focus and actions are aligned with the
pre-meditated goal, whether these goals are well communicated to my
organization, whether the organizational synergies flow in the direction of
attainment of these goals. The key to making parallel all of the above is to
identify impediments and sharing them with the management, so as to divert
their focus from individual goals to work towards the common mission.
The managerial level employees need radical
thinking towards the business and a deeper understanding of how to work with
immediate teams. One needs to realize the significance of their role, serving
as a link between both, the upper and lower level of management, and harness
their position to streamline efficient functioning. Along with numerical
aspects like targets and output, the managers should turn on the spotlight
towards behavioral aspects of the workforce. This implies articulating and
building values thereby measuring performance based on activities related to
the holistic well being in the future.
Handling objections:
For organizations
diseased with such manifestations, it is crucial to take immediate corrective
actions. As quoted by Anthony J. D'Angelo, “The only real failure in
life is one not learned from.”Prioritizing this
remedial process needs extensive commitment and needs to be carried out in an
organized manner. While doing so, the leader would face enormous objections and
resistance which may delay the process. Imbibing the right approach can be done
by virtue of assistance offered by third party companies, which not only study
these mindsets but also offer implementable and sustainable solutions.
According
to Jack Welch, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself.
When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” So the initial
brick is to be laid explicitly by the entrepreneur
himself and the organization would follow!
(The author of the above article is Mr.
Tanveer Shaikh, Principal Consultant, Acumen Business Consulting.)
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