If you want your business to run more effectively and/or make more money then you must invest time and energy into your no. 1 asset otherwise you will eventually lose them.

The Physiotherapists' Practice

With four of us in family who are all into health and fitness, we have been going to this particular practice for past few years.

The actual environment is lovely, however there seems to be a high turnover of physiotherapists. It's only a small practice yet it seems that apart from owner and one other physio. who looks after us, rest seem to come and go fairly quickly.

I can easily see what problem is. It's owner. He lacks fundamental communication and business skills. Sure he knows his 'stuff' about how to help someone heal their body but he is sorely missing basic skills in leadership and managing his own staff.

The funny thing is he has a 'Mission Statement' in his office stating "Our people are our number one asset". How often have you seen this in businesses around country? Quite often opposite is true.

If this business owner's people were his no. 1 asset then he should have got message by now, that with high turnover of staff, there is one common problem…him!

I have spoken to him on a number of occasions suggesting he invest some time with us as not only can we help him be more effective with his people but also show him how easily he can make more money. Unfortunately (for him) he thinks he knows everything.

Not only is this business owner sadly lacking in leadership, business and communication skills, his people are same.

Sure, they're nice enough to talk too, however they would be so much more of an asset to this practice if they had on-going development. And that development has to come from outside practice.

Because no-one is aware of how they can run this practice more effectively, heaps of time is wasted, potential business is lost, not to mention how stressful all this is on everyone involved.

Show Them You Care

Many good people leave because they are unappreciated. They are taken for granted.

When I ask new clients how often they get together with their people on an individual or group basis to discuss their performance get their perspective on how they find their jobs and how to improve things, a common response is "it's something I've been meaning to do".

I often hear comment "I must do Jane's performance appraisal. I should have done it weeks ago BUT (here comes well-worn excuse) I'VE BEEN SO BUSY!!!"

The primary reason for you to consider offshore CAD outsourcing is economic benefit. The data says this benefit is more or less a sure thing. For instance:

"Offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) is expected to reach $3 billion in 2004, a 65 percent increase from 2003 total of $1.3 billion." --- Gartner Inc, Stamford, CT

"Offshore outsourcing is growing 20%-25% per annum, with little evidence of slowing. Indeed, while most enterprises experience initial resistance, most technical issues are readily resolved and geopolitical risk is deemed insignificant after careful evaluation." --- Meta Group, Stamford, CT The flood of companies outsourcing CAD offshore can be likened to migration of wildebeests. They're doing it to survive. Don't be a solitary wildebeest watching stupefied as others move to lush pastures. Move that tail NOW!

Move it confidently because there is significantly less risk in outsourcing CAD offshore than there is in outsourcing IT development or IT services offshore. My comments on risks:

Data Security: A major worry for IT clients, since data security measures are often porous in developing countries (to whom much work is outsourced). However, generally speaking, CAD information is less sensitive than credit card databases, employee payroll information, prison muster rolls or a bank's accounting ledgers. Insource highly sensitive CAD; if warranted, fragment what you outsource and farm pieces out to different service providers (aka ‘outsourcers’).