Towers Perrin found in a June 2009 report:
“A company’s success depends on its people. But their collective power stems, in part, from an organization’s ability to point them in the same direction and importantly, in a direction that is aligned to the organization’s business strategy. When an organization’s leadership, workforce and culture are aligned with its strategic priorities, people can be a major source of sustainable competitive advantage.”
Chief Operating Officers and their teams are responsible for making their organizations run smoothly and efficiently. Communicating revised company goals and the important role each employee plays in delivering against those objectives is critical to achieving that objective. Human Resources is a key partner in creating and implementing the solution effectively across all units, all divisions, all employees. Together, the COO and HR can bring employees into alignment with the company’s objectives.
One of the most effective and positive methods for creating alignment is through strategic recognition. These highly structured programs encourage employees to notice, acknowledge and praise the exceptional efforts and behaviors of colleagues that reflect the company values in achievement of the strategic objectives. In this way employees are not only reminded of the values and objectives with every recognition they receive, but it also becomes very real to them how they are helping to achieve those objectives in their daily tasks. Simple tracking and reporting mechanisms allow leaders to review dashboards showing where employees may be lagging in their understanding. These analysis tools then enable targeted intervention where additional training may be needed.
How aligned is your organization today? What steps are you taking to get your employees aligned with your priorities within their new organizational structure?
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At September 24, 2009 6:15 PM, Vandy Massey said...
Good points in this post, Derek.
In our experience, the best ways for companies to get employees living the company values is to ensure they are front of mind at all times. Those companies that live the values from the point of recruitment, through induction, evaluation and training programmes find that employee alignment is much stronger.
We work with a number of such organisations, helping them to create appraisal and 360 feedback questionnaires that embody their organisational values. It stands to reason that these organisations are more successful at integrating these values than those that simply advertise a list on posters and in locker rooms.
Staff who know that their performance will be assessed against company values as part of the core competencies, are bound to think about those values more often and more carefully.