Communicate constantly for buy-in. As you’re developing a strategic plan, you’re constantly thinking: How are my employees going to react to this? Because you want employees to buy in to this, too. The communication of the strategic plan is always done by the P&L manager for a particular area of the business. As they’re developing the strategic plan, you’ll hear them say, ‘That might work in this area, but it won’t work in my area unless we do this.’ By the time we have the strategic plan done, there might even be some initial discussions with some of the employees that we think might object.
There’s communication of what the plan is, all the time knowing that buy-in is important. You spread it out over time. In other words, you don’t [say,] ‘OK, here’s our PowerPoint strategic process. I’ll send it to you in the mail.’ The strategic process takes about eight to 10 weeks every year, and in between those meetings, that’s when you’re talking to your subordinates. There needs to be a soak time because the strategic plan is dealing at the cultural level. You’ve got to bring it up and bring it up.
All of our P&L managers see all of our employees on a weekly basis. It’s already been dialogued: ‘What do you think of this? Do you think we can get these machines moved over here so we can make a sale here to improve the delivery?’ So by the time you do a formal presentation, employees are already 80 percent up to speed because they’re going to be involved in implementation.
Gauge buy-in. [Some employees] have the results and also are in line with the [strategy.] Those are your superstars. Those are the ones you just guard and you nurture. They’re high performers. [Other employees] are not quite getting results but they believe in the company. Those are very good employees and you can usually coach them to get the results.
When you have someone that believes in your [strategy], they’re excited. They’re literally bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. They come to see you and say, ‘I didn’t get the results this time, but here’s why and I’m going to really work hard. Maybe we need to tweak this a bit, but I believe we can get there.’ It’s your responsibility now, but I might suggest you work on this. Then, of course, measure it.
[Other employees] are not getting results and they don’t believe in your company. Those are going to have to say bye-bye. That’s usually pretty clear. Usually they’re pretty sour people. It’s the ones that kind of hang away from everybody else. It’s not just being unsocial; it’s more maybe a snappy, caustic remark. There’s no sense of working together.
How to reach: The Long-Stanton Group, (513) 849-3959 or www.longstanton.com
