Thursday, September 27, 2012

Do I Really Want to Work Here: What Are Your Diversity Practices Telling Me?

Have you ever walked into an organization and just got that “Uh, why does everyone look the same” feeling… I know I have. You may have heard the expression, people are like snowflakes, and no two are the same – that's diversity folks. In today’s ever diverse business environment, for organizations to excel, they must pay attention to - and show they value - the diversity of employees and customers.

Infinite diversity in infinite combinations – Vulcan proverb


 

Many of us know from the first time we enter into an organization, whether as an employee or a consultant, that what they say is not what we see – or feel.  So, what are some things that may trigger your “where is the diversity…” feeling?

If you want high engagement, people need to feel as though they can “bring their full selves” to work! We realize it can occur because of many different factors – however - we are intrigued by organizations that don’t pay attention to diversity. Perhaps they just don’t notice what a negative impact lack of diversity appreciation can have?

Regardless, building a successful business requires more than just saying you value diversity. It requires creating and espousing the traits of an organization that embraces diversity, so employees, vendors, and stakeholders can feel safe and comfortable and “bring their full selves” to work –an organization that is respectful, appreciative, trusting, understanding and engaging.

So what won’t trigger that “where is the diversity” feeling and show those interacting with your organization that the organization does in fact value diversity?

High level – we’ll offer a few qualities that may trigger that “where is the diversity” feeling and a few that help create cultures that embrace diversity.
















































Doesn’t Embrace Diversity



Embraces Diversity




  • People don’t “bring their full selves” to work




  • People “bring their full selves” to work




  • Pay and promotion of one group over another




  • Equal pay and promotion based on performance




  • No visible diversity at all levels




  • Visible diversity at all levels




  • No diverse recruitment strategies




  • Diverse recruitment strategies




  • Homogeneous mentoring and coaching




  • Cross cultural mentoring and coaching




  • No supplier diversity programs




  • Dedicated supplier diversity programs




  • All people don’t feel equal and valued




  • All people feel equal and valued




  • Practices Oppression




  • Values Equality




  • Poor Engagement




  • High Engagement




  • Exclusive




  • Inclusive



 


So how do you create an organization that values and embraces diversity?

...for starters, begin with diversity in recruitment, we often use and customize, our Recruitment and Retention Lifecycle™ with our client’s.

Short answer – use the 3 steps below to develop and excel in the “embraces diversity” qualities listed above.

Policies and Initiatives: The first step in creating an organization that embraces diversity is for leaders and employees to create diversity policies Leaders and managers within organizations must incorporate diversity policies into every aspect of the organization’s functions and purpose and create specific diversity strategies’ and initiatives. Diversity needs to be defined broadly and should encompass a wide range of policies and initiatives that meet the diverse and changing needs of employees and customers – ranging from recruitment to engagement and retention. Leaders and employees should take active roles in defining and implementing these diversity policies and processes which, in order to succeed, should be fully aligned with the organizations strategies’ and objectives. In order to develop and maintain effective diversity policies, leaders should view employee participation as a necessary part of any diversity initiative. Diversity policies must support employees in learning how to effectively interact with and manage people in a diverse workplace. Policies should recognize and encourage employees to continue to learn new skills in dealing with and managing people. They should also recognize the impact that diverse clients will have upon the success or failure of the organization. Diversity policies should promote learning and education, equality, and appreciation.

Leadership Commitment: The next step to creating an organization that embraces diversity is to obtain leadership commitment. Accountability for achieving diversity goals and objectives needs to be directly tied to incentives and pay increases. The degree to your diversity initiatives will be successful relies on the involvement and commitment of leaders. Organizations which have leaders who are actively involved in implementing diversity initiatives create cultures that embrace diversity by inspiring their employees. Committed leaders champion diversity by infusing it into all organizational processes and ensuring that diversity is integrated into the core values of the organization. They recognize diversity as an important goal, and position the responsibility for meeting diversity goals not merely with human resources departments or diversity offices, but with top-level and senior executives – and themselves. Leaders that are committed to diversity provide the visibility and time and resources to make diversity happen. These leaders view diversity as both a top priority and a personal responsibility.

Engagement: The third step in achieving creating an organization that embraces diversity is - always focus on the people. We’ve said this before, and we think it so important we’ll say it again, organizations can’t exist without people. People make the difference in every business. Once you have diversity strategies and initiatives in place, and accountable and committed leadership, you need to engage employees in your diversity practices – and get them to engage with one another. Design ongoing communication systems to create and reinforce the workplace diversity commitment and practices to all employees with an emphasis on why it is important and what it means to the organization. These communication systems should encourage peer to peer learning and knowledge sharing increasing diversity awareness amongst employees. Additionally, training and empowerment initiatives provide a foundation, for all levels of the organization, to foster the accomplishment of diversity goals. These can include cross cultural mentoring and coaching and employee led learning events. Another way to engage employees in sharing and embracing diversity is via affinity groups or employee resource groups (ERGs). These groups can be groups of people with common interests, identities, and issues like African American, Women, LGBT or even more defined in scope as aligned to your specific organizations products and functions - such as Women in healthcare, Young IT workers etc. It is also helpful to keep the workforce engaged in diversity initiatives by developing organization-wide assessment and evaluation systems to monitor diversity progress throughout the organization.

Diversity: the art of thinking independently together. - Malcolm Forbes 


Here’s hoping that most of you desire to be part of an organization that embraces diversity –and strive to create and maintain an organization where people really want to work!  What triggers your diversity “gut check?” What do you think are the impacts, if any, of not valuing diversity?

Stay tuned for more articles in our “Do I Really Want to Work Here…?” series!

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog | Facebook

________________________________________________________________________________

*All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, publication, and all other use of  any and all of this content is prohibited without authorized consent of Tolero Solutions and the author.

 

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Do I Really Want to Work Here: What’s Your Culture Telling Me?

Have you ever walked into an organization and just got that “hum something just doesn’t feel right feeling”… I know I have (more times than I’d like to count). Many of us know from the first time we enter into an organization, whether as an employee or a consultant, that what they say is not what we see – or feel. The ever so important “gut check” we shouldn’t ignore.

“Corporate Culture can have a significant impact on a firm’s long-term economic performance.” – John Kotter

So, what are some things that trigger your culture gut check?

  • We realize it is probably because of many different factors – however - we were intrigued that more  people are not interested in how to create a high performance culture. Perhaps they just don’t notice what a negative impact poor culture can have? Regardless, building a successful business requires more than just saying you have a good culture, it requires creating and espousing the traits of a high performance culture so employees, vendors, and stakeholders can see you “mean what you say” –a culture that is open, honest, trusting, transparent and engaging.


So what makes a high performing culture?

High level – we’ll offer a few qualities that may trigger your “gut check” and a few that make for a high performing culture.
















































Poor Performing Culture



High Performing Culture




  • Poor Communication




  • Open Communication




  • Secrecy




  • Transparency




  • Mistrust




  • Trust




  • Abuse of Power




  • Socialized Power




  • Inflexible Structures




  • Flexible Structures




  • Uninventive




  • Innovative




  • Unclear Strategy




  • Defined Strategy




  • Practices Oppression




  • Values Equality




  • Poor Engagement




  • High Engagement




  • Rigid Processes




  • Flexible Processes



 


So how do you create a positive and high performing culture?


...for starters, check out our whitepaper on the topic titled: What is a High Performance Culture? Creating a culture that supports long term growth and sustainability.


Short answer – develop and excel in the “high performing culture” qualities listed above – you can get started in 3 steps.


Direction: The first step in creating a high performing culture is defining your direction. An organization cannot achieve a high performing culture without having a clearly defined direction - a detailed strategy, including a clear mission and a defined vision statement. The strategy should help determine who you want to be, where you want to go, and how to chart the course to help you get there. The strategy should answer several imperatives, including but not limited to: what can we do best? Do we have flexible processes and structures in place to support execution of our mission? What motivates our people the most and how do we provide that to them? What is essential for our financial stability? And how do we exceed customer expectations and define and measure success?


Communication: The next step to achieve a high performing culture is communication; frequent, transparent, and authentic communication amongst leadership, employees, stakeholders, and customers is a necessity. To keep audiences engaged in your products and services, and committed to the organizations’ strategy, mission and vision, they need to know what is going on and why (within reason).  If you want to create a high performing culture, it is not enough simply to communicate; methods for receiving and acting on feedback received from target audiences must also be developed.  Develop communication plans and processes to ensure that all audiences (internal and external) are reached with the content vehicles and frequencies appropriate for them to remain interested and engaged.

Engagement: The third step in achieving a high performing culture - always focus on the people. We’ve said this before, and we think it so important we’ll say it again, organizations can’t exist without people. People make the difference in every business. To achieve a high performing culture, you must recruit, engage, and retain the right people for your culture.  Many things bring employees through the front door, but bad work environments drive them out. To not drive them out you need to build a highly engaged and committed workforce. Let employees know they and their ideas are valued and that they work in a culture where their voices can be heard. Creating this type of environment increases employee motivation and retention and reduces employee turnover. This type of positive environment helps people reach higher levels of productivity. Success depends on knowing and understanding your workforce and valuing each employee's satisfaction, motivation, well-being, and development. People are the company. High performing organizations recognize and embrace this fact.

"Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times."    

 -Niccolo Machiavelli

Here’s hoping that most of you desire to be part of a high performing culture –and strive to create and maintain an organization where people really want to work!  What triggers your “gut check?” What qualities or strategies do you think make the difference between a poor culture, and a high performing culture?

Stay tuned for more articles in our “Do I Really Want to Work Here…?” series!

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog | Facebook

________________________________________________________________________________

*All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, publication, and all other use of  any and all of this content is prohibited without authorized consent of Tolero Solutions and the author.

 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Domino Effect – Don't Play Games With Your Organizational Success

Have you ever played dominos?  If so – you know how long it takes to set up the pieces in whatever pattern you choose.  Yet regardless of how long it took you to set up the pieces – once you push that first piece over – it takes seconds to cause a change reaction that brings everything to the ground.


 (Today’s Millennial’s probably have an app that does it digitally for them…)


Dominos are actually a learning lesson when it comes to business.  An organization will spend months, if not years, setting up the pieces together in a pattern that yields growth.  Then at one point – someone  adjusts or replaces one of those pieces and that change inadvertently knocks over the other pieces  – and it causes a chain reaction - the domino effect. This occurs when a small change causes another similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change, and so on in linear sequence. It typically refers to a connected sequence of events or linkages within systems.


Organizationally, the domino effect can be caused by the replacement or addition of new technology; it could be an acquisition, or downsizing of the organization.  Regardless - the catalyst that sets the dominos in motion is some type of change – businesses need to navigate these changes carefully and be sure the changes, or the people making the changes, aren't like a bull in a china shop.


"Everything affects everything else in one way or another. Whether you are aware of that or not does not change the fact that this is what is happening. That's why I say a business is a system. This systems perspective reminds us that this is what is going on. And when you see it this way, you can manage your business better. You appreciate, for example, that any action will reverberate throughout the entire company. This causes you to pay more attention to what you do, and learn the right lessons from your experience." - John Woods


Unfortunately that’s not how most businesses approach changes – with a systemic focus - most actually don’t take into consideration all the interconnected parts of the organization that could set the domino effect into motion, impacting the success of the change, productivity and profitability.


Want to make sure your company doesn’t go through the domino effect? 


 Follow these simple steps:




  • Plan for Change: Don’t forget organizations are interconnected systems. Change in one area has a direct impact on other areas. Learn how to successfully plan for change, implement, communicate, and create employee involvement and commitment, and measurement systems during change. Remain flexible and open to adapting the structures and processes as needed.



  • Develop a Strategy: Have a developed and detailed change strategy, including a clear mission and a defined vision statement. The change strategy should help determine why you are taking on the change, where you want to go, and how to chart the course to help you get there. Does it answer organizational imperatives? Can leadership clearly communicate the strategy? Do employees understand why the changes are happening and how and where they fit into making them successful?



  • Engage your People: Organizations can’t exist without people. People make the difference in every business. To achieve a high performing culture, you must recruit, engage and retain the right people for your culture.  Build a highly engaged and committed workforce. It is people who measure the organization’s progress and steer its direction. It is the people and their capabilities, individually and collectively, that ultimately determine if changes are successful. Always put your people first – both daily and during times of change. Challenge them, engage them, and support them. Provide for your people and they will provide for you.


"General Systems Theory … says that each variable in any system interacts with the other variables so thoroughly that cause and effect cannot be separated. A simple variable can be both cause and effect. Reality will not be still. And it cannot be taken apart! You cannot understand a cell, a rat, a brain structure, a family, a culture if you isolate it from its context. Relationship is everything." - Marilyn Ferguson


So, organizations are interconnected systems. Changes in on area have a direct impact on changes in other areas. Even though the pieces to your business aren’t actually dominoes – you should treat them as such.


 Because once the dominoes start to fall – it takes a long time to set them back up.


About: Scott Span, MSOD is President of Tolero Solutions - an Organizational Improvement & Strategy firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more effective, productive, and profitable.


Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog | Facebook


________________________________________________________________________________

*All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, publication, and all other use of  any and all of this content is prohibited without authorized consent of Tolero Solutions and the author.

 

 

Monday, August 20, 2012

How to be a Boss: Are You a Good Boss or a Bad Boss?

Sounds a little bit like the Wizard of Oz, we know.  Similar to that classic story - what type of boss you are can determine if your people respond to you more like Munchkins or Monkey Soldiers. While we were writing this blog with our marketing partner, Preactive Marketing, we found something interesting while we researched this topic, and it made us raise an eyebrow.  How to be a boss generates roughly 20 million monthly global hits – yet how to be a good boss generates only 33,000 monthly global hits.

A good boss makes his men realize they have more ability than they think they have so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could.


- Charles Erwin Wilson


So why is that?

  • We realize it is probably because of many different factors – however we were intrigued that people are not more interested in how to be a good or even great boss. Is mediocrity taking over? Perhaps the reason is people are more focused on searching for the topic based more on the particular role than they are from the perspective of how to excel in that given role. Or maybe it’s because of the uptick in entrepreneurship. Regardless, building a successful business requires more than being a boss, it requires being a good boss – one who can create followership, build trust and maintain engagement.


So what makes a good boss or a bad boss?

High level -  we’ll offer a few qualities that make a good boss and a bad boss.
















































Good Boss



Bad Boss




  • Vision




  • Tunnel vision




  • Transparency




  • Secrecy




  • Inspiration




  • Pessimism




  • Authenticity




  • Disingenuous




  • Honesty




  • Dishonesty




  • Trust




  • Mistrust




  • Socialized power




  • Personalized power




  • Values equality




  • Practices oppression




  • Recognition for a job well done




  • Ignoring a job well done




  • Helps other succeed




  • Only helps themselves succeed



 

So how do you become a good boss?

Short answer – develop and excel in the “good boss” qualities listed above – you can get started in 3 steps.

Feedback: The first step in being a good boss is feedback – soliciting input from those you lead regarding your actions and behaviors and how those behaviors positively and negatively impact them.

Awareness: The next step in being a good boss is having self awareness – taking the feedback on those actions and behaviors that may negatively impact those you lead and making a conscious effort to be aware of when they are occurring and why.

Action: The third step in being a good boss is action – take action to increase your positive behaviors and decrease those with a potential negative impact. Training, coaching, and mentoring are all great ways to increase and develop new skills that can have a positive impact on those you lead.

When the best leader's work is done the people say, "We did it ourselves." - Lao Tzu


Here’s hoping that most of you desire to be good – even great – bosses!  So what qualities or strategies do you think make the difference between a boss, and a good boss?

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions - an Organizational Improvement & Strategy firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more effective, productive, and profitable.

Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog | Facebook

________________________________________________________________________________

*All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, publication, and all other use of  any and all of this content is prohibited without authorized consent of Tolero Solutions and the author.

 

Friday, August 3, 2012

You're Fired…But Help Us Anyway! GSK Acquisition Sends Executive Team Packing

GlaxoSmithKline, (GSK) a British drug maker, recently purchased the Human Genome Sciences (HGS) based in Rockville, MD.

Their first order of business - fire the executive team and most of the board of directors - seems they chose the often too typical and sometimes detrimental approach - we bought them so let’s get rid of their people and processes and do it our way. Why wouldn’t GSK take - what I think to be - the smart approach to an acquisition – let’s try and retain the intellectual capital (you know, the people who know stuff) of the company we purchased and explore how to best transition knowledge and merge our cultures and strategy?

Now to be fair, it’s not uncommon in M&A situations for the acquiring company to oust some high level executives and to begin consolidation of certain functions – though there is a way to approach it which can yield a higher rate of long term success.

“Leadership that's reliant on mergers and acquisitions is dangerous leadership.” - John Varley


For one thing, if you’re the acquiring company, don’t replace the entire executive team with your own people – this not only sends the wrong message to employees (which can have a direct negative impact on engagement and retention and thus performance), but you also risk losing leadership with a deep understanding of the culture and politics of the organization. For GSK to purchase HGS - I am sure there had to have been a lot of great work being accomplished by the staff employed by HGS.  These are folks who helped to shape the organizations success, which contributed to why GSK acquired the organization to begin with.

This type of action usually contributes to employee concern - most of the staff is probably hanging by the water cooler gossiping about what took place, updating their resume, or looking at new jobs fearing they'll be next.

It's a common result from something that could have been solved by a little thing called "communication and transition management."

The investment made by GSK (3.6 billion is no chump change) could very well endure months, if not years of work to recoup their investment.  Those executives who were fired couldn't possibly share all of the insider knowledge they possess in 1 month.  When September begins - there will be people, process, and strategy issues to deal with – some that could have been lessened or prevented.

Here is how you can avoid losing money in your acquisition and get the most out of your investment:

  • Leadership…leadership of the acquiring organization needs to take time to build relationships with the leadership of the organization they’re purchasing. Those leaders know the culture, the politics, the unspoken rules and processes to get things done. They have built important trusted relationships with employees and stakeholders. Acquiring this knowledge takes more than a 30 day “stay on board and help” plan. If the new organization just swoops in and fires them all then they lose this important knowledge and those relationships.  Lack of knowledge transfer and relationship building can have a negative impact on the ease of transition and the overall success of the acquisition



  • Communicationcommunication is imperative for a successful acquisition.  Clear communication strategies must be implemented inclusive of audience specific messaging. Content, vehicles, and frequencies must be identified for disseminating the right info to the right people at the right time. Leaders, employees, stakeholders and even vendors need to be made aware of what the acquisition means to them and how it impacts their jobs and roles and responsibilities. Once people start assuming the worst and making up their own versions of what is happening, it becomes very hard to reverse the trend. Without clear and targeted communication the rumor mill begins, and this impacts performance and profitability.



  • Change and Transition…change is an inevitable part of a merger or acquisition – so is transition. You must have a plan – an actionable plan – in place to address both. Change is never easy. Change is a bumpy process. But why is change so hard? Change is hard because it is an emotional experience for most. An emotional experience, particularly an experience one often has little choice in being part of, creates resistance. Resistance is a natural emotion, though an emotion that can make change even harder.  However, resistance must be managed to harness that energy for positive change. Managing resistance requires focusing on not just change, but also transition. People go through the phases of transition at their own pace, not necessarily at the pace of others or the pace of an organization. People need to be supported in each phase. To ease the difficulties of the change process a focus on transition must run in parallel to a focus on change.


For an acquisition to be successful the organizations must truly merge and become high performing and enable meaningful change to improve their programs, services, products, and processes, to create new value for the organization's stakeholders.

"Plans are nothing; planning is everything." -Dwight D. Eisenhower


Moral of the story – when an acquisition is taking place – don’t take a “my way or the highway”  a “we’re bigger and better” or “thanks now get lost” approach. Take the time needed for leadership (old and new) to build relationships and understanding and create a smooth transition strategy for all involved.  This helps alleviate anxiety – allowing the staff to focus on what they do best and helping to create a new combined success.

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog | Facebook

________________________________________________________________________________

*All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, publication, and all other use of any and all of this content is prohibited without authorized consent of Tolero Solutions and the author.

 

Friday, July 27, 2012

Culture is...



Part Three in a Summer Series on Creating a High Performing Organization: 

According to our marketing partner –Preactive Marketing – the phrase “culture is…” generates roughly 20 million global hits. This indicates it is quite a popular topic and that people are interested in what culture is - and why having a high performance one is important.

We’ll share our thoughts, though we also prefer to hear from you, so share your opinion!

Culture has different meanings to different people – so how would you finish the sentence – Culture is…

I would finish it something like this:

The shared assumptions, values and beliefs of a group of people. The way in which a group of people solves problems. - Geert Hofstede


Wise words from good ol Geert. The term culture has many meanings.  Whether written as a mission statement, spoken, or just understood, organizational culture describes and governs the ways a company’s leaders, employees, customers and stakeholders think, feel and act. Culture may be based on beliefs or spelled out in your mission statement.

Simply put - culture can be defined as, “the way work gets done around here. Organizations can’t excel for the long term if they don’t have a high performance culture – for more on the aspects of creating and maintaining a high performing culture - check out our whitepaper - What is a High Performance Culture? Creating a culture that supports long term growth and sustainability.

So…

Why is your organizational culture so important?

  • Culture has a direct impact on employee performance, engagement and retention, and thus also a direct impact on innovation, customer satisfaction, and bottom line revenue.  For example, a culture of poor communication, lack of transparent and authentic leadership, abuse of power, and inflexible structures and processes is most likely a culture that would not be categorized as high performance or sustainable for the long term ; As this type of environment wouldn't make employees want to give their best and thus negatively impact the bottom line. 



  • On the flip side, however, a positive culture can drive high performance and to create an environment of innovation and sustainability.  Organizations that have flexible processes and structures which help facilitate cross communication; encouraging people to share ideas and concerns with leadership usually excel. If people enjoy working for your organization then in most cases they give 100% engagement toward helping the company succeed.



  • Culture is the identity of a company, and because of that, in some ways it becomes an identity of those who work there, as well. The people end up affecting the culture as much as the culture is affecting them. So while there are many definitions of organizational culture, all of them focus on the same points: collective experience, structures, beliefs, values, norms, and systems. These are learned and re-learned, passed on to new employees, and continues on as part of a company’s core identity.


A company’s culture says a lot about an organization and the direction they are headed - success or failure can hinge on culture. In the words of another organizational culture guru:

The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture. If you do not manage culture, it manages you, and you may not even be aware of the extent to which this is happening.”  - Edgar Schein


So – culture is how “work gets done around here.”  To get work done well a  positive culture is needed for organizational, employee, and customer satisfaction and success. And who doesn't want to be success!


About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog | Facebook

________________________________________________________________________________

*All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, publication, and all other use of  any and all of this content is prohibited without authorized consent of Tolero Solutions and the author.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Strategy is...



Part Two in a Summer Series on Creating a High Performing Organization: 

According to our marketing partner – Preactive Marketing – the phrase “strategy is…” generates roughly 13.6 million global hits. This indicates it is quite a popular topic and that people are interested in what a strategy should contain and why having one is important.

We’ll share our thoughts, though we also prefer to hear from you, so share your opinion!

Strategy has different meanings to different people – so how would you finish the sentence – Strategy is…

I would finish it something like this:

A strategy delineates a territory in which a company seeks to be unique.- Michael Porter


Wise words from Mr. Porter. Based on how most define strategy, the main reason for the existence of strategy is to achieve end goals. Organizations can’t succeed at getting where they want to go if they don’t have a plan of how to get there.

So…

Why is having a strategy important – why conduct strategic planning?

  • A solid strategy is the cement and mortar in the foundation of any successful organization (that’s just one reason we offer our clients consulting services and training on this topic). You’ve got to have a plan – actionable processes.


A plan and process for how to:

  • Handle change

  • Manage for results

  • Provide customer support

  • Increase adaptability

  • Promote communication

  • Guide management decisions

  • Remain future-oriented


The strategy is a supporting document that should contain actionable processes to help you answer important questions and achieve success – it should also outline what success looks like for your organization and how you measure that success. The strategy should assist in defining target markets, processes, structures, roles and responsibilities, and key customers and stakeholders.

  • How does an organization develop a strategy?


Carefully – this shouldn’t be a rush job. The strategy is like the compass for your organization, it provides direction. Developing a strategy should include several components. A solid strategy should include a focus and analysis on both internal (history, politics, culture, structure) and external factors (competitors, customers, environment, laws and policy).  The organization should also include the development of the mission and vision of developing a strategy as well as targets, goals and initiatives, and measures of success.

So, in short, the strategic planning process should ask and answer the following questions (here is your cheat sheet!):

Where are we now?

  • Internal/external  environmental assessment

  • Customer and stakeholder identification


Where do we want to be?

  • Mission

  • Vision

  • Targets

  • Initiatives

  • Objectives


How do we measure our progress?

  • Performance measures and KPIs


How do we get there?

  • Supporting strategies and initiatives

  • Action plans

  • Tracking system


You see…strategy is a facet of business that is imperative to succeeding.

“He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”  -Winston Churchill 


If you don’t know where you are going - how will you ever get there!


About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog | Facebook

________________________________________________________________________________

*All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, publication, and all other use of  any and all of this content is prohibited without authorized consent of Tolero Solutions and the author.