Company leaders are constantly challenged to manoeuvre the primary focus (Revenue/Profit; Process; People) of the businesses they steward. They must help their people come to terms with the chaos they experience and its effects on them and the company, whether they are drowning in the “Flood Zones” or struggling to hold on to all that is familiar while in a “Wind Tunnel”. Their ability to predict and Solve the challenges of growth and fully exploit its opportunities is vital to the success of their people, and their companies. The good news… our Stages of Growth X-Ray and Associated processes is designed to help leaders tackle just that.
Several years ago, James Fischer, had an ambitious goal. The co-Founder of the Origin Institute, a research and consulting company out of Boulder, Colorado, wanted to understand and decipher the patterns, behaviours and the characteristics in entrepreneurial enterprises – and – develop best practices to better navigate the trials and tribulations of business growth. Enter the Stages of Growth X-Ray.
Is your companies growth keeping pace, falling behind or ahead of the curve? Here are some GDP and growth highlights to consider:
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Cross Canada GDP Highlights
- Provincial economies are coming off an impressive year, with only three jurisdictions in 2017 turning in growth performances under 3%.
- Looking at growth rates alone conceals an ongoing sizeable divergence in economic conditions from coast to coast. In terms of relative conditions, Ontario, QC, B.C. and P.E.I. remain in the driver’s seat, while Alberta, Saskatchewan and N&L are only slowly pulling themselves out of the depths of the recent commodity-led recession.
- Over the next few years, we expect some gradual narrowing in this economic differential, with provincial rates of expansion coalescing within the more moderate 1.5%-2.5% range.
- Protectionist trade policies, rising interest rates and tight labour markets are among the factors that will broadly conspire to normalize growth rates relative to last year.
- Labour Force changes highlights:
- Employment increased by 32,000 in March, driven by full-time gains. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.8%.
- In the first quarter of 2018, employment edged down (-40,000 or -0.2%), as a result of a decrease in January. Over the longer term, employment has been on an upward trend since the second half of 2016.
- On a year-over-year basis, total employment rose by 296,000 (+1.6%), with the number of full-time workers increasing by 335,000 (+2.3%). Over the same period, total hours worked grew by 2.2%.
- Manufacturing Sales Highlights:
- Manufacturing sales increased 1.0% to a record $53.9 billion in March, reflecting higher sales in the transportation equipment and food industries.
- Overall, sales were up in 16 of 21 industries, representing 71% of the Canadian manufacturing sector. Sales of durable goods rose 1.3% to $28.4 billion, while sales of non-durable goods increased 0.7% to $25.4 billion.
- In constant dollars, manufacturing sales in volume terms rose 0.2%.
Let us apply our Stages of Growth X-Ray process to your company and help you, your people and your company achieve elevated levels of success and excellence. Contact us today!
Our Stages of Growth X-Ray process is a road-map describing the 7 predictable stages of growth that companies travel through in their journey from startup to going ventures of 500 people or more, drawn from the collective experiences of hundreds of entrepreneurial companies across 35 different industries.
From this was developed the 7 Stages of Growth and our Stages of Growth Assessment developed with TTI and Laurie Taylor ( www.igniteyourbiz.com ).
Here are four vital insights from this amazing work that every CEO and particularly those of Small to Mid-Sized companies needs to know:
Complexity is driven by Employees not Revenues
Each stage of growth has five overarching challenges that will drive their business
There are two Chaos Zones you must recognize and plan for (Flood Zone and Wind Tunnel)
Different leadership modes and Styles are required at each stage of growth.
