LEVERAGING YOUR ORGANIZATION’S MOST POWERFUL ASSET

If you ask senior leaders: “What is the most important resource in your company?” 99 times out of 100 you will hear them say “It’s our people”. After all, that IS the right answer. Not to mention the countless business books and articles that validate this as a fact, coupled with a corporate culture that reinforces it. You might say it is a truism. Yet if you take a close look into many companies, it is often difficult to tell that the leaders really know just how powerful engaging their employees can be. Perhaps even more ironic, it sometimes seems like the company’s plan is to keep their key people in the dark and try to “sneak” the strategy by without “disturbing the work” or getting employees involved in a meaningful way.

It seems that knowing the value of engaging employees as a concept and putting it into action are two very different things.

Much of the work of our firm is focused on strategic implementation in large organizations. We place a high premium on our clients leveraging their employees’ talents, skills and involvement to ensure successful implementation. Y et, when entering a new client system, it is rare to see leaders who instinctively or naturally engage the employees in the implementation of their strategy. It seems like gaining buy-in is the obvious thing to achieve, but instead we find that many leaders assume it, which can be a fatal error. On the other hand, when leaders are able to do this effectively — it results in inspired employees who have clarity and ownership for where the company is going. This usually leads to unprecedented business success, added value and employee satisfaction. BINGO!