In the very early days of my consulting journey, I was engaged on a monthly basis to assist a large organisation with their quality management system. One day I received a phone call, just before I was due in their office. The CEOs executive assistant rang to warn me that the staff had not been paid, and I might like to consider whether I bother turning up!

To say I was intrigued is an understatement. I appreciated the warning, but was prepared to risk a day’s fees to try to garner an understanding of what was going on. Sadly, when I arrived I found that staff had not been paid for some time, yet many were still turning up to work, holding on to a hope that there would be a payout of some sort. Management had made no communication to staff whatsoever and the CEO/major shareholder was in hiding.

Eventually the company went into receivership, but the poor employees were left lingering for weeks prior. We’re talking multiple floors of a city office block – that’s a lot of staff.

Sometimes companies fail.

In the past financial year CreditorWatch tells us that the average business failure rate is at its highest rate since the Covid pandemic, with insolvencies rising in typically stable sectors.

Good financial management is essential to ensure employees are always paid, and to avoid insolvency. But it takes more than that to make a business successful for the long term. It requires consistency in the quality of service delivered and an openness to agility in what that service is and how it is delivered.

One eye on today, and one eye on the future.