Align in time Make sure staff know role in making business a success

Enlarge Image

MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE NWS SERVICE Training programs are one measure to take to keep your business goals in alignment. (TRIBUNE MEDIA MCT)

We've all heard the word alignment. It's a concept that is quite common we think about sports or dance. In this case, alignment refers to the synchronized movement of our body so that we are fast or graceful. If there is misalignment, people will try new strategies and practise, practise, practise. On the other hand, if the concept of alignment is applied to a car, it generally refers to the importance of the wheels and the suspension angles. If this is out of alignment it creates a safety issue that needs to be rectified right away.

Another application of the concept of alignment is that of someone with a bad back. An individual can be suffering pain and discomfort from some sort of dislocation and while it can be tolerated for awhile, most will head to a professional to fix the problem.

But how do alignment and/or misalignment apply to organizations? What are the types of issues that can arise and can these be overcome? And equally as important, does timing play a role in rectifying the situation?

Alignment within an organizational context means that everyone, right from senior leadership to the front-line worker knows and understands what is required to make the business successful and they carry out their duties to make this happen. In other words, all employees deliberately and systematically align their behaviour, actions and activities in order to implement the corporate priorities. The result is a highly productive and profitable business.

Yet, organizational alignment doesn't just happen; it must be planned, executed, monitored and nurtured. It requires creating an effective alignment and interdependence between the leadership, the organizational structure, the job designs and the people. When this alignment of strategy and organizational culture is just right, everyone will have a common understanding and a common focus on the corporate goals. Not only that, you can actually feel the synergy among the employees and you can see productivity rising.

However, misalignment is a lot more common that one might think and it is relatively easy to slip into this situation and stay caught in a low productivity cycle. Some of the issues that arise when there is misalignment include the following:

Lack of common understanding of mission, vision and purpose -- there are typically two problems that arise in this area. First, leaders may create a great strategy but fail to implement it well and eventually they may find they are way off target. Secondly, and more frequently, leaders do not communicate their message effectively to all levels of the organization. In other words, there is little consensus among senior managers about where and why they are going in a certain direction and even less clarity or consensus among front-line workers. As a result, even though employees might be well-meaning and well-intentioned, they will not be as productive as they could be.

Lack of creativity and teamwork -- when employees do not understand their role in making the organization successful, they develop a "head down" focus. In other words, they become self-protective and focus only on their specific task. They often adopt a "not my job" syndrome and will not reach out to help others. Their feeling of success, and their job security for that matter, is simply doing their task well without thinking about how their results impact on the organization.

Blaming culture -- poor understanding of goals and objectives and employees who are self-absorbed as part of their own survival strategy creates divides or "silos" between departments and functions. As a result, each department will be blaming the other for poor execution. Both the organization structure and the culture are now contributing to the problem.

Authoritative leadership -- when things are not working well and misalignment occurs, you will often find the leaders adopt a more authoritative, top-down style as they struggle to make their employees more productive. This creates micromanagement, negativity, fear, anxiety and general malaise within the workplace. Productivity will fall while turnover will rise.

These problems are very serious and are not only difficult to overcome but also take time and energy. Some of the key strategies to bring an organization back into alignment include the following:

Hire the right people -- no matter what the job duties, the best employee is one who thinks like the owner. They can see how their work dovetails with the corporate goals and they can see the big picture and can think strategically. High productivity employees take the initiative, manage change well, are creative problem solvers and are persistent in completing their work.

Spread the word more frequently -- organizations must make every effort to increase business awareness among their employees. Employees must be shown and led to understand how their work plays into the operations of the organization and how their work contributes overall to the bottom-line financial results. This is frequently done by town hall meetings, published planning documents as well as monthly and weekly management meetings accompanied by progress charts and metrics.

Develop formal training programs -- most employees truly want to know how their work impacts the organization. One success strategy is to develop formal training programs that educate employees on how value is created for their organization. This will help employees understand various departmental priorities and how all of the priorities are woven together to create the overall goals. The key teachings of these training programs can then be translated into charts and graphs that can be posted in the workplace as a reminder of the path the organization is taking.

Define your performance metrics -- identifying and applying performance metrics help to keep employees at all levels focused on results. It needs to be a cascading process where the goals for senior leaders as well as front-line workers are directly linked to their performance measures.

On the matter of timing, I can say that from my experience that if misalignment is not addressed in a timely manner, it will lead to problems that can eventually destroy an organization. Yes, it may take 10 or 15 years, but it will indeed happen. To overcome this issue, organizational alignment should be viewed as a business discipline that is ongoing and dynamic. This means that someone, typically the senior leader needs to keep their eye on all the elements of alignment: the strategy, the culture, the job design, the people, the leadership, and organizational systems.

Source: Chronic Misalignment: Why leadership's calls for better organizational work and how a simple value language can remove common barriers; gregory dickinson > michael puleo, Deloitte, nd.

Barbara J. Bowes, FCHRP, CMC, is president of Legacy Bowes Group and is vice-president of Waterhouse Executive Search. She can be reached at barb@legacybowes.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 4, 2012 H1