The challenging economy is the subject of conversation anytime construction executives get together these days. Most businesses are down, and everyone has hunkered down into survival mode until the second half of 2009. One area, interestingly, that is seeing growth is the CEO Performance Roundtable Program. This program actually picking up steam as the recession lengthens.
According to a Reuters article from Tuesday, March 10, 2009, benchmarking or peer groups are, “…picking up steam as the recession worsens. Around the county, the heads of small to midsize firms are increasingly turning to each other for the support and confidence needed to keep a stiff upper lip as the mood at their companies darkens.” The goal of these performance or benchmarking groups is to serve as a makeshift board of advisors for each other, vetting a host of business problems ranging from succession issues to changes in market strategy to cost-cutting measures to delicate personnel decisions and more.
The value of a roundtable group in a recession can be tremendous. According to Charlie Harbutt of Garbutt Construction in Dublin, Georgia, “The tools our facilitator has delivered to us have been very helpful. He helped us analyze our general and administrative costs. Instead of doing low impact cost savings, items like cutting our coffee and soft drinks, he’s helped us drill down on high impact items to see exactly where our money is being spent. That’s had a good payoff.”
Mike Zingg of Design Structures will offices in Wisconsin and Oregon had this to say: “When we hosted this past fall the focus was an in-depth analysis of our financial and organizational health. We came away with a wealth of ideas on ways to improve. Since that meeting, we have cut overhead 50%, we have eliminated some people who didn’t fit our business plan, we have revisited our approach to market on the west coast, and we went from three partners to two. These positive changes were a direct result of feedback from our peers. We were able to look at our numbers and compare them to those of our industry and see exactly where we were doing well or not so well. This opportunity to ‘look behind the curtains’ of similar sized companies is unique to the CEO Performance Roundtable.”
If you as an executive, are looking for ways to become leaner and more efficient, the CEO Performance Roundtable Programs may be just the solution. For more information, contact Jack Ford at 877-326-2493, extension 231, or email at roundtables@familybusinessinstitute.com, or contact Chris Monek, AGC Senior Executive Director, at 703-837-5323, or email at monekc@agc.org.