Jas Showed Us How To Get Our Staff On Board With Our Planned Changes.

What were the drivers for you wanting to work with a business coach?

We were experiencing a lot of transition in the senior management team and it was important to us, to be able to form better relationships between us all. Three of us were stepping up and taking over the business from our older senior partners. We are in our thirties and forties and the previous partners, in their sixties. Some of the staff had been with the business a long time and were quite used to the way things were – it was very important for us to ensure that the staff were on board with changes that we proposed to make under the new regime. We realised too, that we had to get a grip on the financial dealings of the business – it was critical for us to have crystal clear clarity on our cash flow and of financial performance across the business.

Why did you choose REACH Business Coaching?

Our accountant recommended them to us. So, we went along to some of their seminars to find out more about them and we liked what we saw. We sent some of our senior staff members too and that has worked really well. Because they understand what we’re trying to achieve for the business, they’re in a much stronger position to cascade this back to their teams by explaining the thinking behind it – we’ve enabled them to do this. It’s important to us that everyone in the business is buying into our vision for the future.

What were some of your specific challenges and outcomes?

There were two key issues for us – staffing and financial.

When we were experiencing staffing issues, Jas taught us to stand back from the business and look at these issues as a separate entity – in other words what does the business need. He helped us to take the emotion out of it.  And this really worked because it meant we weren’t getting so involved, we were looking at the situation with more clarity. Having a third party guide us through these issues has been a huge benefit. He’s helped us to navigate the ship.

He really put the spotlight on our financial situation too. Especially the structure and performance of our business. Jas took us back to basics by looking at our income, outgoings and profit – as well as looking in detail at analysing trends and performance. We then put measures in place to improve our income. We’re in a much better place to deal with any financial difficulties. We’re better informed, we’re much more knowledgeable and we’re in control. Stepping back and taking time to reflect on the business – so, looking at what the business needs rather than getting on with caseloads – has been a defining moment for us.

In the time that we’ve been working with Jas we’ve been able to spend time focusing on increasing fee income, reducing costs, improving profit and ultimately setting ourselves achievable and realistic financial goals for the future of the business – to the benefit of our staff, ourselves and our families.

What is it about Jas you’re buying into?

He’s plausible. He’s believable and he instils confidence in you – you’ll often hear him say ‘you can do this’. We come out of our meetings with Jas completely energised. Sometimes before we go into our meeting with him, our minds are fixated on how busy we are, the caseloads we’ve got to get through – but spending time with Jas is critical to our business. He’s also available when we hit a snag and need someone from outside the business to pull us back on track.