A poorly-managed company suffers different issues that can be difficult to recover from. It could be reduced employee productivity, staff quitting, massively decreased profits and even the danger of your company collapsing.

The issue with a poorly-managed company is that these effects will gradually get worse and worse if they aren’t dealt with at the source, so in this article, we’re going to take a look at the effects and signs of a company that is being badly managed and how you can recover.

A gradual decrease in profits

Bad management can often lead to a decrease in profits, but simply seeing numbers falling isn’t enough to point fingers at management being the issue. In reality, it’s a combination of many small issues that result in your company being less productive and potentially even failing to close sales, thus resulting in a drop in profits.

For instance, if your sales department is being managed poorly then they might be missing out on potential sales, they could be spending too much on advertising which isn’t being optimized for your business or it could be poor customer service which is slowly turning customers away from your brand.

In a situation like this, managers typically assume that the solution is to find staff to replace those that aren’t being productive, but this kind of high-turnover strategy for running a business doesn’t nurture talent and is a band-aid fix for something that is much more deeply rooted.

Poorly-managed staff with little motivation

When staff are managed poorly, it results in a lot of productivity issues and high turnovers. Employee morale is generally very low and this results in staff failing to meet quotas and deadlines. This usually isn’t the issue of staff lacking skill or knowledge, but more a motivational issue.

Motivation is something that is built from your company’s culture; the teamwork that you inspire and the message that your company is trying to deliver to the world. If you fail to tick these boxes in order to motivate your staff, then they’re going to be left with a poorly-managed team that has no motivation.

In order to overcome this, you need to find ways to invigorate your staff. Low company morale takes a long time to fix, especially if the issue has been left alone for a long time, but it’s possible to recover as long as you’re willing to work together with your staff to rebuild the company’s morale and nurture a positive company culture.

Here are a couple of examples of how you can get your staff back on track:

• Support your staff when they’re troubled or have issues with their work
• Identify talented workers and offer them career advancement opportunities
• Encourage your staff to suggest changes and ideas to help grow your business
• Train your staff with new skills to improve their productivity
• Give your employees a reason to connect with your company and its message

These are just a few examples to help you get your staff motivated and focused on their tasks. With a little push and the right amount of support, they can feel like valued members of staff that will be more than willing to help you grow your business.

Lack of communication with your audience

Regardless if you’re a large business with an international audience or just a small startup with big dreams, it’s important to connect with your customers and establish a brand personality that they can connect with. A lack of communication with your audience often means that you’re not paying attention to the importance of customer engagement, and this is usually the result of a poorly-managed company.

It’s important to pay attention to your customers in order to build your brand personality. Whether it’s through using social media or public appearances at events, it’s a good idea to keep communication channels open so that you can receive feedback, suggestions and comments regarding your latest products and services.

By accepting these comments and filtering the useful ones to give to your staff, you stand a much better chance of growing your business and connecting with your audience in a positive light.

A poorly-managed company will struggle to engage their audience and this is where a community manager can help to stabilize how you interact with your customers over the internet and in public. Once you establish these processes, you’ll find that listening to your customers can have a hugely positive effect on your entire business.