Top-performing companies are characterized by strong and capable leadership that continuously challenges their status quo.
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In today’s North American manufacturing marketplace, companies perform at various levels of success. Although it continues to be challenging for shops to be best-in-class, there are those that we would consider Top Performers. Top-performing companies are characterized by strong and capable leadership that continuously challenges their status quo.
These leaders reward and acknowledge their employees’ successes while pushing them to the next level of achievement. You might hear them say, “Great job! Well done! No,w what’s next?”
Leaders of top-performing companies are aware and reflective. They know how they stack up against their competition. They benchmark, measure everything, and then react and “pro-act” on their metrics.
They make a concerted effort to understand business and market trends—local, regional, national, and global—so they can be agile and flexible. They expect the unexpected. They gather market intelligence and build a presence in their competitive arena through networking at industry events.
They never assume they know everything, and they never stop learning. They understand their key performance indicators (KPIs), cost drivers, core competencies, and what they’re good at, and they identify where and when they can push the boundaries of the company’s performance.
They embrace risk, but only if it’s thoroughly analyzed and they can make calculated,informed decisions. Financially, their balance sheets are indeed “balanced,” meaning that they have an appropriate level of debt to capital, are in good standing with their bank(s), and have consistent cash flow. Operationally, they have good throughput, quality, and on-time delivery—all of which contribute to double-digit profitability.
Finally, Top Performers seek to hire people who can bring new ideas and capabilities to their positions and the business. For example, consider an art major rather than adding another qualified engineer to the Engineering Department because this person would think differently and more creatively.
Top-performing manufacturers are businesses that are characterized by the following:
- Profound understanding of their core competencies
- Strategically tailored to their values
- Thorough benchmarking and agile response to their metrics
- Willing to challenge their status quo and question methods, operations, and performance
- Robust financial health
- Wise cap ex and reinvestment
- Omnidirectional in communications and influence
- Well-informed but eager to learn
- Highly flexible and upwardly mobility
At times, leaders of top-performing manufacturing companies are described as fearless. We think this is misleading. Rather than particularly courageous, we’ve found these individuals to have an “edge,” a hunger to excel that they communicate clearly across their enterprise, which, in turn, influences and inspires higher performance.
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