I recently had the opportunity to provide strategic management consultancy to a leading multinational organization. The task at hand was to facilitate a strategic plan review session and build strategic management parity among the diverse group of executives and senior project managers present. It was a great opportunity to work with high-level delegates responsible for managing core portfolios of social projects funded in millions of dollars.
As the session began, my preliminary focus was to conduct a situational analysis of both the internal and external components impacting the organization. Primary reasoning was to use the results garnered as a baseline guide for defining future strategic direction of the new five year plan underway.
It was during that experience I got not only to understand but appreciate the critical role that employee loyalty play in influencing the overall strategic performance of an organization. At the end of that session, three fundamental things came out very clear. They can be used by any leader as a yardstick to test the sense of commitment and loyalty an organization enjoys from its human resource.
- Strategic Intent
In strategy parlance, Strategic Intent (SI) means the core purpose for which an organization strives to exist. It epitomizes the starting point to any new venture creation process. SI represents in clear and succinct form the specific destination an organization aspires to reach and core activities it intends to pursue to get there. A clearly defined SI also explains the underlying reasons as to why a business was created in the first place. The ability of organization employees to define its SI is critical. It evidences their sense of understanding on “what” the organization hopes to achieve at the corporate level and simplifies strategizing and execution of the “how” i.e. low level functional tactics. Failure by employees to understand this component results in difficulty of strategy implementation. SI is usually expressed in the form of the company’s vision, mission, values and general philosophy.
- Company Differentiators
Company differentiators summates all the reasons why an organization is different in its strategic group. They embody the unique selling points the organization leverages on inherently to distinctively position itself in the larger market. Ability of employees to clearly articulate a company’s competitive attributes is great sign of their commitment. It is these differentiators that the company uses as tactics to strategically positioning its value.
- Process Loyalty
A good indicator of employee loyalty is the level of enthusiasm, passion or zeal exhibited by them during the “actual process” of executing core organizational functions. some employees usually embrace a lacklustre attitude and wait upon others to deliver with little or no interest of participation. This habit evidences limited engagement. It can manifest itself during meetings, consultative forums, planning sessions etc.
It is very crucial for modern day leaders to devise and roll out simple tactics to boost employee loyalty in their organization. An executive’s task predominantly is to formulate and translate but it is the employees who are responsible for actual execution. Optimum performance can only be realized when they are fully committed to excellence.