Goals that miss the point

I did a programme on collaboration for a large consultancy and afterward the MD suggested another one, which she said would be “revolutionary”.

“A war on waste,” she said.

It was basically to embed a culture of frugality, where people turned off lights, brought their own tea bags and so on. She said it would save many thousands a year.

I said I didn’t want to do it.

She asked why not, and I said there were much bigger fish to fry in the business, like staff turnover.

It was high, close to 25%. About a quarter of the fee-earning workforce was leaving every year.

Losing staff for a consultancy like this is expensive. Recruitment fees, lost intelligence, training for new joiners, project lag and the mistakes made as tacit knowledge leaves the building – it all adds up.

I suggested the company was losing several million a year because of staff churn. She agreed.

“So, never mind tea bags, I’d love to help you understand why staff turnover is so high and start fixing that.”

She went quiet. We both knew this would be a difficult outcome. It involved politics, culture and key personalities.

She never got back to me.

Delegation will unleash talent, so put some thought into what it should be released for.