How To Get To To the Top Without Working Too Hard is the Institute of Mediocre Management’s Book of the Month.

Restructuring: In effect dismantling what your predecessor did, although that was also implemented originally to ‘provide better returns for shareholders’.

Redundancies: Wages eat into profits. Remove as many workers as possible.

Rewards: ‘Performance based executive pay awards’ or bonuses can double a managers pay packet. Restructuring and redundancies deliver quick profits.

And we see that bosses of two of our most ‘successful’ companies are following the Institute of Mediocre Management’s advice to follow the 3Rs to personal riches:

CENTRICA

New Boss:
Iain Conn started as chief executive at the start of this year.

Restructure:
He has been conducting a ‘strategic review’ of the business over the past five months, which has concluded Centrica should concentrate on the British Gas side of the business (short term rewards)  and reduce its activities in actual energy production (long term rewards).

Redundancies:
Energy firm Centrica is cutting 6,000 jobs

Rewards:
Centrica saw a doubling of profits at its British Gas business in the first six months of the year.

BARCLAYS BANK

New Boss:
John McFarlane

Reorganise:
Mr McFarlane announced the bank would speed up the process of mothballing or selling the bank’s non-core divisions, to reduce them to a value of £20bn by 2017. He then said: “There is more that can be done to deliver better returns for shareholders, faster, and that work has begun.”

Redundancies:
The bank has announced 19,000 job cuts.

Rewards: 
Barclays bank has reported a 25% rise in statutory pre-tax profits to £3.1bn for the six months to the end of June. Profits last year were £2.55bn.