by Brian Clark | culture, Performance, performance management, strategy
One of the most commonly mentioned issues by leaders of organizations in my client community is the lack of execution and follow through. This critical issue spans from lack of follow up calls by the sales team to entire projects stalled or abandoned due to lack of execution and accountability up and down the hierarchy.
There are a number of causes of lack of execution and accountability. I will touch on some of them here as a primer. Given the enormity of the issue across all types of organizations, I will devote more time in future writing to this set of topics and offer some real solutions. These issues can be solved. In the meantime they are costing your organization time and money. Lack of execution and accountability also contributes to low performance cultures and morale. Who wants to work with a team that never celebrates the victories of completed projects, big deals won and new initiatives delivering results?
- Communication lacks clarity and specificity. This was really hammered home to me once when a colleague showed me a graphic illustrating how many people in an organization hear a message but do not retain it, how many understand the message and take no action, how many want to take action but do not know how and of course the smallest number of all; how many hear the message and take action. It is scary and if you are a leader of an organization you should be scared.
- Top to bottom and bottom to top accountability is lacking. If the senior leadership do not keep each other accountable then it is unlikely that middle management is accountable and if middle management is not accountable then the rest of the organization is not accountable. Guess what you have? A crappy paralyzed culture that will slip into to a ‘doom loop’ if it has not done so already.
- Nobody is listening. We all remember the ‘voice of the customer’ as a big thing a decade or so ago, [it is still important]. How many leaders and managers really listen to their people? I mean really listen. I have worked with firms who have implemented collaboration platforms to try to alleviate this and the people are too shit scared to be honest enough to make a difference. I bet most people doubt whether the leadership would even acknowledge, let alone, take action on input from employees. If things are not getting done, it could be that people have some input and ideas on why this is happening.
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There is another biggie that can be added to this list; the organization has not strategic objectives. Most people would be amazed to realize that many businesses do not have strategies let alone a business plan.
I will dive more deeply into this topic area in future posts. This whole issue of execution is a big deal and there are a lot of facets to the issue. I will do my best to offer some ideas for solutions.
by Brian Clark | change, culture, performance management, Values
Values can be effective in sustaining a great organisational culture as well as building a new one.
Values have had their proponents and detractors and I will admit to being a bit cynical about the use of values in an organisation to drive a cultural change. I have changed my stance a bit based on some of these components to a values framework.
1. A reasonably well known company I am familiar with adopted a very democratic method to choosing a new set of values for the business. There were committees, surveys, arguments, pilots and all sorts other change elements in a process that took 3 years. No exaggeration. Some or most of your values should be reasonably obvious based on how you ‘roll’ now. Your entire culture and its norms could not possibly be all bad.
2. Values need to be part of the language of the organisation. The best models are the leadership. The modelling must be behavioural. You do not need posters on the wall with inspirational images and the values. In my experience this actually cheapens the meaning and power of the values. I think it may have something to do with those inspirational posters that spawned in offices all over the world in the 80’s and 90’s.
3. Decision making needs to be based on the values. When decisions are made they will be scrutinised by people for alignment with the values. When leaders present and discuss decisions they must frame them in the values.
4. The values must be simple and easy to understand for every member of the workforce. The language and words need to be economical and clear just like good journalism. If you have a diverse work force that includes persons with different primary languages this is even more important.
5. Repeat the values all the time in communications. It is well known that communications are heard by a few, understood by fewer and adopted by virtually none. The way that managers and leaders lift the odds is by constantly repeating the values. It will seem weird but it works. Repetition of message.
6. Build your values into team meetings, social gatherings and all other events where people are assembling in teams and groups. You can do this by communicating the purpose of these events as well as including them in the agenda.
7. Publicly recognise behaviour and performance that is aligned with and demonstrates the values of the organisation. You may choose to create an award that recognises people who demonstrate the values and make this part of your organisations tradition.
8. Performance appraisals must include the values and they should be discussed and ranked by the employee, the manager and an agreed ranking by both. You can build a great culture more quickly when values are included in performance appraisals and recognition processes. When you are looking at succession or termination decisions the values need to play a key if not primary role in the decisions.
