Many business leaders are amazed to learn …
7 out of 10 employees are misaligned with their company’s strategic direction (Forbes).
55 percent of middle managers can name just one of their company’s top five priorities (Harvard Business Review).
And …
90 percent of front-line employees don’t know what their company stands for and what makes it different from the competition (Gallup).
In the chaotic world we operate in today, organizational clarity and alignment is no longer a luxury. It is an absolute necessity if you want to compete and win in the market.
Executive teams that run high-performing organizations recognize this. They understand the critical role clarity and alignment play in business performance.
They realize that for the company to achieve optimal business performance, the organization must be fully aligned behind a shared strategy and story.
To make this happen, smart C-suite executives are rallying their organizations around a clearly defined and documented corporate strategy and story. And (most importantly) they are infusing that strategy and story into the fabric of their employee and customer experience.
How is clarity and alignment lost? Sometimes, it happens simply because time passes and organizations change. Sometimes it’s lost because the leadership team simply doesn’t make it a priority. Usually it is a combination of the two.
Does your organization have the clarity it needs to be successful in 2019?
Are your teams fully aligned behind your go-to-market strategy and story?
Here are a few questions that may tell you if greater clarity and alignment is required for your business to perform at its best in the new year…
- Has your vision evolved since the early years of the business?
- Has your organizational structure changed dramatically?
- Is your business model more complex?
- Have you launched several new products or services in recent years?
- Do you have new leaders and managers in place across the company?
- Has your sales organization grown in size or experienced turnover?
- Have you recently completed a merger or acquisition?
- Has your leadership team grown or changed dramatically?
- Are more than 30 percent of your employees new to the company in the last 3-5 years?
- Are you losing top talent because they lack connectivity to your company’s purpose?
If you answered yes to even one of these questions, there is a good chance that “lack of clarity and alignment” exists within your organization … and that is a problem.
Why? According to an article that recently appeared in Harvard Business Review …
“Just imagine, if 70% of your company doesn’t know what they are striving toward and operating on false assumptions, your team will move slowly and defensively rather than swiftly and proactively. Worst of all, they might be off and running, applying valuable energy in the wrong direction.”
Is lack of clarity and alignment negatively impacting your business?
Make 2019 the year your organization regains clarity and alignment behind a unified strategy and corporate story. It is the only way you’ll truly reach your full potential.