Praxis Speaks

Any smart business operator, from the highest corporate executive to the small business entrepreneur, understands that to be successful, one has to plan for success.  Often these plans manifest in the form of company mission statements and succinctly articulate to the public the goals and priorities of a company or organization.  It is vital to understand that a mission statement is much more than a catchy phrase; it is the collective vision of the company.  It is the reason a company exists.  Within the scope of strategic planning, heads of companies often issue directives down the command chain that will help achieve objectives and to ensure its future solvency and growth.  Unfortunately, companies often forget that it is the employees, the everyday worker on the front lines, who often determine ultimate success or failure of a company and spread the corporate culture to the customer.  Without the acceptance and adherence of company mission statements from the management down to the line staff, an organization cannot hope to achieve long term success.  Acceptance and adherence is in no small part contingent upon whether employees embrace initiatives handed down from on high or simply disregard them as yet one more ring through which they have to jump.   How these directives are conveyed to the employees can mean the difference between acceptance, disinterest, or even contempt. 

According to the latest research study from the Institute for Corporate Productivity (I4CP), less than 20% of corporations report that the majority of their employees can recite their mission statements.  In other words, the vast majority (over 80%) of employees out there in Corporate America cannot articulate their company’s mission statement.  This is obviously problematic on many fronts.  First, an employee who does not know where his or her company is heading cannot be an integral team player.  This may lead to poor performance reviews and consequently loss of employee motivation over the long term.  Consequently, even one unsatisfied or unhappy employee will generally spread his or her displeasure through both overt and subtle ways such as publically denigrating management and the company, purposefully performing less than optimal work, and at times intentionally sabotaging operations.  This behavior tends to spread through the ranks and across departmental lines.  It can become a systemic attitude that can threaten to undermine a company’s initiatives.  It’s important to understand that employee dissatisfaction does not occur overnight; rather it is a complex manifestation of multiple causal factors.  Once it is firmly implanted however, it becomes incredibly difficult to overcome.  Often, the solution takes the form of massive labor restructuring in order to bring in new and “untainted” talent, so to speak.  Obviously, this is an intensive reactive measure, incurring heavy costs both in terms of time and money.

Secondly, and more importantly, employees who don’t understand the company’s mission statement are symptomatic of a much larger problem; primarily a lack of understanding from the executive ranks of motivating associate incentives.  This condition often becomes evident far too late.   It is likely that the high levels of attrition so common today in Corporate America are in part due to a perceived disconnect between employees and management.  To use a popular phrase, “People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  It can also be said that employees won’t care about learning company goals and initiatives until they understand that there is an incentive associated with knowing this information.   As studies have shown, threat of disciplinary action will have only a minimal effect in terms of increasing compliance in the short term.  Over the long term, it only serves to create an “us against them” mentality.  It is far better to find positive ways to increase compliance and interest in company objectives.  Here are some of the easiest:

1.       Involve employees in decisions.  Without a doubt, one of the most common complaints I’ve experienced as a manager and as a trainer of other managers is that employees often feel unheard.  Face it; no one likes to think of themselves as an automaton, merely plodding along day in and day out with no clear sense of direction.  We all want to have some basic sense that we are to some degree in control of our work environment.  This can be achieved as easily as keeping employees abreast of important information BEFORE it becomes mandated.  Hold focus groups, informal meetings, and discussion boards to give employees a sense of input about the direction of the company.  Besides, don’t you want to know how a new initiative will be embraced?  Often the front line employees know customer preferences best and can give valuable input as to the viability of a new company mandate or policy.

2.      Focus on rewards as opposed to punishments.  As mentioned earlier, negative consequences will only ensure that employees aren’t caught acting in counterproductive ways.  It’s incredibly easy for an employee to go into a status quo mode of working whereby they escape the immediate notice of management, often engaging in passive-aggressive methods of disrupting operations.  Obviously, this does little to promote the company’s objectives.  Consider adopting an incentive or rewards program to increase productive behavior.  An employee who is rewarded rather than punished is much more likely to show an interest in company goals and may seek to become an advocate for these goals to the customers and other employees.  Your front line employees are your best source of word of mouth marketing!

3.       Develop your talent.  What better way to increase knowledge of the company mission statement and objectives throughout the ranks than to promote exceptional people up the chain?  In this way, the communication flow becomes multi-directional; from the top down as well as from the bottom up.  They can “infect” the culture in a truly positive way.  Consider this scenario: a line employee who shows the ability and desire to embrace his or her company’s culture is promoted, over time, to the ranks of Vice-President, COO, CEO, President, etc. Over the 15 years or so that it took to accomplish this, he or she has vehemently spread the company mission statement and culture to multiple employees and managers up the chain.  Think of the weight that carries to other employees.   Promote your good people internally before looking outside the company.  There is plenty of raw talent just waiting to be developed.

Brooks Barton