Michael Fingland, executive director and CEO of Vantage Performance, says you can't motivate people, instead create the right environment and people will motivate themselves. It’s the basis for creating high performance teams. In this edition of the Vantage Performance podcast he takes Phil Dobbie through the seven essentials.

This week a significant step was made by Australian legislators, introducing a Safe Harbour provision for directors of companies that could be trading insolvent. The Treasury Laws Amendment (2017 Enterprise Incentives No 2) Bill 2017 enables directors to pursue reforms in their business rather than moving the company into administration. In this podcast Phil Dobbie discusses the legislation with Michael Fingland, Executive Director of business turnaround specialists Vantage Performance. They...

When companies run into trouble they are often quick to lay off people to reduce the wages bill. But, as Michael Fingland explains to Phil Dobbie, this can be highly counterproductive – it upsets the company culture and you lose expertise that can be costly to recruit when the situation improves. This podcast covers over ways of reducing your wage costs, based on the outcomes of a brainstorming session from the Vantage Performance team.

The end of financial year can be a traumatic time for any business. There’s paperwork to be done, stock to be shifted, reports to be developed and, perhaps, explanations for investors. It’s no surprise then that, in the midst of the mayhem, many companies fail to adequately plan for the next financial year. In this edition, Vantage Performance’s Michael Fingland tells Phil Dobbie that smart businesses will already have develop a corporate plan for the year ahead – but for those that pushed it...

New legislation is set to offer protection for directors who keep a struggling company trading, provided they demonstrate appropriate steps are being taken to restructure the business. Vantage Performance Executive Director Michael Fingland describes it as a game changer, that will save many businesses that might otherwise have been wound up. He says a 5-10 percent reduction in the rate of business failure could inject an extra $13 billion into the Australian economy. In this edition of the...

There’s a common misconception that companies facing troubles should avoid talking to their bank. The fear is that the sign of trouble could see the bank tightening the terms of a loan, or pulling the money altogether. Michael Finland, CEO of Vantage Performance says things have changed. He explains to Phil Dobbie how your bank’s relationship manager has every reason to help you resolve your problems. There’s a lot at stake, for both of you.

Most companies have defined values, although they are not always understood or propagated through the business effectively. Sometimes their top down nature means there’s very little buy in from across the organisation. In this edition of the Vantage Performance podcast Michael Fingland suggests to Phil Dobbie that these values need to be determined by beliefs held by individuals within the company. A short workshop would be enough to gather a simple understanding of the way your staff think...

Vantage Performance’s Michael Fingland says many businesses fail when their turnover is between the $15m to $50m mark. They might have survived to that point, but being a bigger business presents its own challenges. Phil Dobbie asks what are the warning signs that highlight the need for change and how do you plan for this critical period in your company’s life cycle?

Part of the problem with business plans is, people don’t know how to write them, they put off doing them because they think it’ll take a long time and, if they do write one, they stick it in a drawer and never look at it again. Michael Fingland, CEO of Vantage Performance, tells Phil Dobbie that the traditional plan is dead. Instead you need a one page dashboard that everyone can work from.

We know that 80 percent of businesses fail, often because early warning signs are ignored. In this edition of the Vantage Performance Podcast Michael Fingland tells Phil Dobbie how a lot of businesses could be saved if trusted peers helped steer business leaders in the right direction early on. Just as the RUOK campaign calls on you to ask your friends and family if they are suffering any mental hardship, asking colleagues the same question about their businesses could save a lot of financial...

Most businesses start with a clear focus but, over time, the original vision that differentiated you in the market becomes a little fuzzy. In this edition Michael Fingland, CEO and founder of Vantage Performance, talks to Phil Dobbie about how to revisit the foundations of your company.

When the economy is struggling there’s a temptation for businesses to take a pessimistic outlook, downscale and forecast lower sales. Yet, it doesn’t have to be that way. In this edition of The Vantage Performance Podcast, CEO and Executive Director Michael Fingland tells Phil Dobbie that more focus can drive better outcomes. He suggests companies struggling in a difficult economic climate should start by looking at the behaviour of their sales team.

Men are renowned for letting health problems fester before going to their GP to get a problem sorted out. The same applies in business, with directors failing to obtain timely advice that will get their company back on track. In this edition of The Vantage Performance Podcast Michael Fingland, Executive director and CEO of Vantage Performance, takes Phil Dobbie through the ten reasons why directors don’t seek help earlier. And, yes, many of these issues are predominantly male oriented.

Do You Need a Chief Restructuring Officer? Michael Fingland, Managing Director at Vantage Performance, reckons that companies are five times more likely to survive a financial crisis if they have appointed a Chief Restructuring Officer. In this episode of the Vantage Performance Podcast he explains to Phil Dobbie the six reasons why a CRO is so important to turnaround success: 1. They buy time and support from key stakeholders to develop and execute solutions. 2. They significantly...

How do you ensure that your company, if its struggling, comes out the other side as a business that will survive and prosper? In this edition of the Vantage Performance Podcast Phil Dobbie talks to Michael Fingland, Managing Director of Vantage Performance, who provides 10 guiding principles that are crucial to a successful turnaround: 1. One to Two big changes in strategy 2. 100 day cash runway 3. Stakeholder management is critical 4. SCPPE Model 5. USP 6. WHY or Purpose ...

This week Phil Dobbie talks to Michael Fingland, Managing Director at Vantage Performance, about six real reasons businesses fail. Often we blame outside influences, such as changes in market demand or the introduction of a competitor. They can be partially responsible for the collapse of a business but, as Michael explains, many of the failures come from within a business. In this week’s podcast we talk through: 1. A sudden impact event 2. Insufficient management training 3. Not acting...

Key Principles of Successful Turnarounds In this podcast Michael Fingland, Managing Director of Vantage Performance, explains key guiding principles that are essential for a successful business turnaround: 1. The right strategy, the right capital structure to fund your business, the right people to execute your strategy and the right processes and reporting to know you’re on track. 2. You will need to execute one or two big changes in strategy to make a difference. 3. Stakeholder...

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was widely condemned when she sent an email to her 27,000 employees saying they couldn’t work from home any more. Her argument was that time spent at home was less productive than hours worked in the office. Richard Branson called her decision “perplexing”, given how technology is making remote working easier and more effective than ever. Marissa Mayer raises an important point, though. In this week’s podcast Belinda Wheatley, a HR business partner consulting to SMEs...

The government-owned State Bank of India has been around for 200 years. It’s incumbency guaranteed it a market share of around 35 percent, until the middle of the last decade when their dominance halved in the space of just two years. The turnaround was just as spectacular. By 2010 it had returned to its previous market position, despite fierce competition from new entrants. Harsh Shah, a client director at Vantage Performance, says the success was all down to O.P. Bhatt, the first chairman...

The global financial crisis has had a lasting effect – it’s harder now than ever to get a bank loan. In fact, in certain regions the number of approved loans has fallen from 1 in 5 of all applications down to just 1 in 15. Michael Fingland, Director & CEO of Vantage Performance, says banks are just as willing to loan money, but they need to ensure the customer presents them with the core fundamentals of a business plan. In this edition of the Vantage Performance Podcast Series he...

It’s difficult to imagine that we could pick up any management practices from the horrific spate of bombings that took place in Mumbai on the 26th November 2008. Yet, true heroes emerge in the face of disaster. Amongst them, were the staff at the Taj Palace Hotel. The hotel saw six explosions. The staff were able to evacuate guests, with many returning into the building, despite the danger. It was an example of first-class training and commitment that many brands aspire to but few...

Vantage director Richard Dunks wrote recently on the Business Strategy Blog about how to avoid the pitfalls when appointing an interim manager. That’s all fine, but our podcast host Phil Dobbie wondered why you’d want one in the first place – after all, isn’t the idea of a manager that they have a sense of continuity within the business? Well, not so, says Richard – increasingly they’re being hired to deal with shorter term projects where a specialist skillset is needed. In this week’s...

The CFO you have for the best of times is not necessarily the same person to carry you through tough times. It demands a very different skill set. Some CFOs will adapt, but not all. In this week’s podcast Phil Dobbie talks to Barbara Ould, a director at Vantage Performance, who suggests that when times are tough all CFOs need to step up to the plate. They’ll need to demonstrate their strengths with numbers, but equally they’ll have to demonstrate strong people management skills as work to...

Cash flow forecasting is the Achilles heel of many businesses, particularly in the SME sector. Elizabeth Mawby, a client director at Vantage Performance, has seen many companies outlining cash flows for only a week ahead. She says, to be of any use, companies need to be looking 13 weeks ahead. Putting a cash flow forecast together is straightforward. In this edition of the Vantage Performance podcast she takes Phil Dobbie through her five step process, which looks at: Assumptions Sales...

Often the directors of a business sense there is something afoot with their business operations, but they don’t have a sense of the magnitude of the issue. In this week’s podcast, Elizabeth Mawby says that it’s often a revelation when the turnaround specialists from Vantage Performance present the financial consequences of the problems a business faces. The good news is that normally actions can be taken to remedy the problem. But it takes straight talking and, often, some tough...