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ALIGNINGEMPLOYEESTOORGANISATIONALSTRATEGY：

TheWhyandHow

Today'shighlycompetitivelandscapeposesahugedemandonbusinessleaderstodevelopandexecutestrategiesthatwillhelptheirorganisationseffectivelynavigatechange.Withtheunderstandingthattheirsurvivalislargelyhingedonthis,organisationsarenowrollingoutsmartandinnovativestrategiesbuiltonthreemajorpillars;theirpeople,productsandprocesses.

Justlikeanengine,thesuccessofanyorganisationisdrivenbyseveralcomponentsthatmustworktogetherinunisonattherightpaceandsetting.However,whileallcomponentsarecriticaltoeffectivefunctioning,somearemoreimportantthanothers.Now,inthecaseofanorganisation,aviablestrategy,withalignedpeople,systemsandstructuresisparamount.Strategicalignmenthowever,likeeveryotherbusiness-criticalconcept,doesn'thappenbychance.Itrequiresdeliberateestablishmentofsystemsthatdriveresults,andensureclearconnectionbetweentheoverarchingstrategyandcriticalorganisationalareaslikeleadership,teams/func-tions,cultureandindividuals.

Thinkofstrategicalignmentasridingatandembicycleorrowingadoublescull.Imaginetheridersorrowersmakingeffortstorideinoppositedirections.Thebicycle/sculleithergetsdestroyed,orthepeoplegetfrustratedduetofailuretomakeanyprogress.Likewise,organisationssufferwastedefforts,stagnancy,confusionandultimatelydeathwhenthereisalackofstrategicalignment.Furthermore,theybecomeincreasinglyweakenedandcannotsufficientlygainanycompetitiveadvantageunlessitconnectsallstrategiestofunctionalprocessesandinformationsystems.Itgoeswithoutsayingthatstrategicalignmentrequiresindividualsatvariouslevelstosupporttheorganisation'spurposesandgoalswiththesamelevelofcommitment.

However,beyondhavingawell-craftedstrategy,thelevelofsharedunderstandinganddegreeofalignmentwiththebiggerpictureacrosstheorganisationisoftenacriticaldeterminantofsuccess.Businessesfailevenwiththebeststrategy,simplyduetoalackofclearlineofsightbetweentheoverallbigpictureandemployees1responsibilities.

Now,itisimportanttostatethatcreatingstrategicalignmentisnotaone-timedeal,butacontinuousprocessthatrequiresconstantleadership,communication,andeffectivemonitoring.Indeed,strategicalignmentisnotaneasytask,particularlyinlargeorganisations.However,itisimportanttosuccessfullywalkthechosenpath.

StrategicalignmentcontinuestorankhighonthelistofdifferentiatorsofHigh-PerformanceOrganisations.However,themostbrilliantandwell-craftedbusinessstrategywillnotnecessarilygetyouthedesiredresultsorhaveanyrealimpactunlessemployeesunderstandthestrategyandtheircontributiontoitsaccomplishment.Awell-crafted,well-implementedorganisationalstrategythatlinksbusinessprioritiestoleadershipandcultureisthereforeessentialtolong-termsuccess.

Whenemployeesarenotonthesamepagewithorganisationalvision,culture,valueproposition,andcompetitivestrategy,itunderminesefficiency,speed,andtheabilitytogetthingsdoneinresponsetochangingmarketsandcustomerneeds.

Tostartwith,alignmentbeginswithcreatingaclearbusinessstrategysupportedbycompanyculture,designedtoensuretheimplementationofthatstrategy.

Herearefourstepstoguideyouincreatingstrategicalignmentinyourorganisation:

Effectivecommunicationliesattheheartofstrategicalignment.Itisessentialthatyoubuildaneffectiveinternalcommunicationstrategythatwillultimatelyhelpcreatesynergyacrossyourorganisationandestablishasenseofcommitmenttowardcommongoals.

Whencommunicatingstrategytoyourentireteam,youneedfocusonthemainobjectiveandthehigh-levelmilestonesrequired.Essentially,communicatetheframeworkwithinwhichyouneedyourteamtooperatetoachievethemainobjective.Youcangointomorespecificdetailwhencommunicatingwithsmallerteamsorindividualcontributors.

Whenemployeeshaveagoodunderstandingofyourvision,strategicgoals,andcompanyculture,theyaremorelikelytotakeyourbusinesstothenextlevel.

Furthermore,communicationissuccessfulwheneveryemployee,everyteam,andeverybusinessunitcananswerthefollowingquestions:

Insimplewords,whatistheorganisation'sstrategy?

WhatactionscanItaketosupportstrategyimplementation?WhatdoIneedtododifferentlyfromwhatIhavepreviouslydone?

Howwillachievementofthesegoalsbemeasured?

Whataremypersonalgoals?Howwillmyperformancebemeasured?

Whatwillbetherewardforachievingorexceedingthegoals?

Additionally,regularcommunicationhelpsmaintaintop-of-mindawarenessofthestrategyamongemployees.

SetClearandMeasurableObjectives

OnemistakeIhaveseenseveralorganisationsmakeisnotidentifyingspecific,measurablegoalsfortheirprojects.Asgoodandfascinatingasitmaylookorsound,strategycanonlyachievedesiredresultswhenitisfurtherunpackedintomeasurablegoalswithaclearexecutionplan.Unpackingyourwinningstrategyintocleargoalsmakesiteasyforeveryoneinvolvedtohavein-depthunderstandingoftheareaoffocustosetasprioritiesandalsotheirindividualcontributionstothebusiness'success.

However,thesesmallergoalsmustalsobemeasurable.Youmustbeabletotracktheprogressofeachgoalandalsoyourexecutionplan;thiswillgiveinsightsonapproachesthatareeffective,achievablegoalsandthoseyoumightneedtofurtherunpack.Iftheoutcomeofaprojectisn'tmeasurable(evenifthereisn'taperfectwaytomeasureit),itwillbedifficulttoknowwhetherornotyouachievedyourgoal.

Ensuremaximumparticipation

Generally,peopleareeasiertomotivateandmobilisewhentheyareinvolvedindecisionmaking.Gettingyouremployeesinvolvedinstrategicconversationsisoneofthemosteffectivewaystocreatealignmentinanorganisation.

Itisessentialthatemployeesareinvolvedbothinstrategydevelopmentandinconversationsonhowtoimplementthestrategy.Employeesmustunderstandhowtheyconnecttoorganisationalgoals.Bydemonstratinghowcurrentemployeesunderstandandexemplifythestrategy,aclearconnectionisestablished,andemployeescanquicklyunderstandwhatthestrategymeanstotheirrespectivejobfunction.

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Thisensuresthere'sabalanceintheknowledgesharedandunderstandingoftheoverarchingstrategy.Alsofgivingthemtheopportunitytoshareideasandconcernsbasedontheirfrontlineperspectiveswillnotonlyprovideemployeeswithasenseofownershipoverthestrategyandtheimplementationprocessbutalsohelpimprovetheirquality.

Furthermore,individualperformancegoalsshouldalwaysbelinkedtothestrategicgoalsoftheorganisation.Thisway,theyareencouragedtoconstantlymakeapersonalcontributiontotheachievementofcorporategoals.

IShareProgressReport

Itiscriticaltoshareprogressreportstowardachievingstrategicgoalswithyouremployees.Employeesdesiretounderstandtheirdirectimpactonorganisationalstrategyandhowtheorganisationprogressestowardsitsgoals.Asaresult,employeesfeelmotivatedtoinvestmoretimeandefforttoensuresuccess.

Oneadvantageofsharingprogressreportsisthatwhenprogressisstalled,anengagedworkforcethatunderstandsthestrategicplananditsconnectiontoitwillpulltogethertoadvancetowardachievingthesegoals.

Moreimportantly,documentedsharedgoalsaremorelikelytobeachievedthanthosethataren'tsharedormadevisibletothecompany.

Alignedorganisationsachievehigherlevelsofperformancebecausealloftheircontributionsarefocusedondrivingmeasurableobjectives

Summary

Creatingalignmentbetweenemployeesandbusinessstrategyisahugepartoft