Up & Down Sizing: resilience at the heart of business organization

Speakers

• Bertrand Diard (Talent, Influans)
• Charles Gorintin (Alan)
• Thierry Vignal (Masteos)
• Alice Besomi (Eurazeo)

Issue

• IIdentify the core of your business and the adjustment variables, to optimize the organization of your business to deal with variations.

Key ideas

• Down-sizing does not necessarily mean licensing or reducing its infrastructure: sometimes, a company grows by 300% one year and only by 30% the following year, which still requires adapting its organization;
• In times of crisis, you should not destroy the fundamentals, but strengthen them: a business that has good fundamentals can afford to cut back on its workforce without breaking the machine;
• Today, as at the beginning of Covid, investors recommend that companies keep at least 12 months of cash to be in a position to deal with changes in the context.

Points of attention or don's

• You have to be able to adjust without going too far in order not to break the culture;
• The company must cut the superfluous without breaking the machine or panicking the employees. It must focus on the key roles it needs and identify what it can outsource to go faster (sales, tech, etc.);
• Any change in dynamics creates uncertainty that is very penalizing for management;
• Outsourcing provides flexibility, but be careful not to outsource key functions;
• No total flexibility: flexibility means adding additional complexity. In an ideal world, anyone can do anything at any time, but in practice, people are never better than when they refocus on a task and put all their experience into it;
• Reducing the focus on technology is not necessarily a good decision in case of difficulty: it is better to invest in order to then be able to overtake all competitors.

Key learnings or do's

• You have to be Focus : even when the company is doing well, it must focus on the core of its business and not spread out over too many projects;
• Faced with very rapid growth, the key word is culture. The culture has to be extremely strong to create the binder;
• A downturn can be a sign of unease (numerous departures), but it can also be seen as an opportunity to stabilize the organization and provide relief for operational teams;
• Hiring is less visible than leaving, especially in young companies: communication must be impeccable to avoid any discomfort;
• La transparency is essential internally: if decisions, even the most difficult ones, are explained, they can be understood and create a lot of resilience; it is just as important externally: sharing the company's culture very widely makes it possible to attract talent who will want to be part of the adventure;
• You need relays within the company (managers, coaches, etc.) to pass on messages, explain them, and involve those who did not fully understand;
• The board is a working body: it is necessary to create a relationship of trust with investors, talk to them as soon as a difficulty arises to avoid any surprise;
• Emphasis must be placed on recruitment and onboarding to find people who will be able to fully integrate into the company culture and thus reduce churn;
• It is necessary to focus on “Swiss Army” profiles, adaptable, curious, who want to solve problems, because they will better know how to reposition themselves and regain their bearings in periods of down-sizing.

Charles Gorintin : “Alan-ers are people; they are not represented by their position.”
“At ALAN, we recruited a former CEO of a company in the energy sector who is passionate about the subject as an accountant. Placing a person who is not an expert, but eager to learn, in a position allows you to bring a lot of creativity when the expert will always remain stuck in his previous vision of the world and will not adapt to the particular context.”
“No matter what happens tomorrow, we know we can succeed because people are so adaptable that they can handle any situation.”

Bertrand Diard : “If you let natural turnover happen, it's the good guys who tend to leave first. You should not be left without choices by having let go of the very good profiles.”

Alice BESOMI: “In the event of a downsizing, the entrepreneur plays a balancing role: he must get some people to leave while ensuring that the best stay. The board plays a very limited role in this context: it can warn, but not force a hand. Entrepreneurs know the key profiles in their teams much better.”

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