While debate goes on over internal control requirements for public companies of all sizes, private companies face control risks that range from overly-complex spreadsheets to the controller who decides to shun the IRS.

One of the greatest sources of controversy in the business world in recent months has been whether small public companies are capable of maintaining the level of internal controls prescribed by section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

But even as that debate rages on, say experts, private companies — which are not subject to Sarbanes-Oxley — face serious threats as a result of poor internal controls; the smaller their staffs, and the fewer their resources, the greater the risks.

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By: Helen Shaw, Writer, CFO Magazine

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Enough with management theory already! If the success of your business is to any degree labor-dependent, here are seven actions you can take right now to make your people more productive, and enrich your bottom line.

1. Test their focus. Do the people who work in your company know what's really important to your business's success? Are they pooling their collective energy in pursuit of those things? Here's a way to find out. First, write down what you believe to be your company's top three business priorities, right now. Put the piece of paper in your desk drawer. Then ask the next five employees you happen to bump into the same question: "What do you believe are our company's top three business priorities, right now?" Use those exact words. Make sure they understand this is not a test. Whatever they tell you is correct, and there are no punishments or rewards connected. Check for consistency among themselves, and with your answers. If the answers are all exactly the same, let me know; I'd love to congratulate you. If they aren't, you'd better get busy. As former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson once said, "Confused players aren't very aggressive."

2. Do someone else's job for a day. On a recent Southwest Airlines flight, I noticed a flight attendant slightly older than his colleagues. Turns out he was a pilot in disguise. That day, from coast to coast, he cheerfully went up and down the aisle dispensing peanuts, smiles, and a great attitude about the lessons learned from those he called "the people who really keep this plane in the air."

3. Give them a challenge to beat. Identify a major business challenge or opportunity in your company (declining sales, changing customer demands, new government regulations, emerging markets, excessive employee turnover, etc.), and invite non-management people to form a focus team to help you tackle the issue. Make sure the team takes ownership for finding solutions, and that they don't waste time meeting for the sake of meeting. Emphasize that results, not activity, will be rewarded. Then reward them, with real money, in relation to the bottom line value of the results they produced.

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By: Richard Hadden, Principal
Contended Cow Partners / Vistage Speaker

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