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Common Challenges for Leadership
Common challenges that leaders face across industries include:
- Technology
- Labor (recruiting, training, retention)
- Buying and selling businesses
All three of these challenges become increasingly cumbersome as we continue to move through the 2020s.
Many businesses have not yet come to terms with the fact that they need to invest in technology to stay competitive in today’s marketplace. Other businesses are too familiar with the labor issues that are haunting many companies around the world. Meanwhile, there are leaders nearing retirement age who are considering “getting out now" rather than in a few years, and there are leaders on the other side of that coin looking for businesses to scoop up as a growth strategy.
And if these are just the common challenges, aren't there even more when you break it down further? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.
Manufacturing: Common Challenges for Leadership
In addition to technology, labor issues, and knowing when to buy or sell a business, leadership teams in the manufacturing sector have additional challenges common to that industry. These typically include:
- Capacity planning and managing backlog
- Automation (a more specific technology issue)
- Complex supply chains
So what are these stressed, concerned leaders to do? Is there a light to guide them, or do they have to lean on intuition and gut instinct?
The Economic Roadmap
Leading a business is stressful enough by itself; when you add in the aforementioned challenges, it can really begin to “feel” like an impossible task. But it doesn’t have to! Certain tools can serve as a beacon of light to help guide you in your decision-making processes. These tools may include:
- Accurate market forecasts
- Accurate sales forecasting (sales or units shipped)
- Strategy based on the Business Cycle Phase™
With these types of tools in your business strategy, you have an accurate economic roadmap you can use to time your investments while tactically pivoting around every corner along the way.
To help you get started…
2022 is going to mix it up for manufacturers! Did you know that most segments in the manufacturing sector are headed for slowing growth?
- How would you plan differently if you knew growth in your market was about to start slowing down? Would it alter your sales goals?
- Would you hold off on a particular investment until things picked back up?
What do you have planned for next year that you would potentially change if you learned growth in your markets was about to slow?
To help you get started in using accurate forecasting to guide your business strategy, here is ITR Economics’ most recent three-year outlook for many markets within the US manufacturing sector:
US Manufacturing At-a-Glance Dashboard
We are providing this so you can grab the steering wheel and prepare to guide your business around the coming 2022 corner!
You no longer have to drive solely on instinct. It’s time to take action and begin planning ahead with even greater confidence!
Looking for more on how to increase employee engagement? Join us for our next workshop focusing on Implementation + Strategic Planning.
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