Roll it out
Allen’s task force got on board with his vision to flesh out the strategies that would achieve it. That was the confidence he needed to start rolling it out across the rest of the company. But bringing everyone on board took more effort than he expected.
“I underestimated the amount of time it was going to take to communicate and the effort and preparation that goes into communicating,” he says.
>It took a tiered approach, starting with the firm’s executive committee — which is essentially their board — then the partners, then the board and CEOs of the Horwath International network. He secured buy-in from each group before moving on to the next, and he secured buy-in from all of them before ultimately cascading the vision down to his employees.
At each stop, pull out the elements of the vision that are most relevant to each group.
With the international network, Allen’s focus was on rebranding to Crowe Horwath and Crowe Horwath International to build global recognition. Inside the organization, it was emphasizing how the new vision would create development and leadership opportunities.
But you may not always know what issues top each audience’s concerns, so it’s especially important to make your message two-way by inviting input.
Allen gave response opportunities to the partners and the international network immediately during his presentations. Laptops were set up on tables so people could send in comments as he talked. A group of leaders at one table sorted through the comments and kept the most popular topics flowing to Allen so he could address them right away.
“It was like having 300 people all yelling at you at the same time,” Allen says.
That feedback will help you flesh out your message as you go along by adding their questions to your future presentations.
“It wasn’t only getting the feedback but it was responding to people’s questions, helping them understand and starting to build consensus,” Allen says. “We could start to see where the concerns were [and] address the concerns so that they better understand why we were heading in the direction we were headed.”
But by welcoming input — especially when it’s anonymous — you invite reinforcement as well as criticism. Don’t go in expecting everyone to jump on board right away.
“You will never get 100 percent consensus,” Allen says. “If we get the majority of the people on board with where we’re headed, that’s what we were trying to accomplish. You gain the majority and then what happens is, as you move forward, those outliers come on board.
“My response has always been, ‘I understand your perspective and I appreciate your perspective, but this is where we’re headed.’ Understanding their perspective and respecting that may not change the direction we’re on but may help that individual continue to be successful. You can’t fit everybody’s specific need and concern.”
That broad consensus-building process is preparation for the message you give the people who will carry out the vision — your employees. Only after Allen perfected his vision through the input and support of those other groups did he take it back to his employees.
He worked with his communication team to put the finished version of the vision into a brochure that explained verbally and visually where he was taking the firm. Thanks to feedback from the executive committee and international network, he was able to get a clearer picture of the vision and condense it into a succinct statement that would stick with employees.
Then he traveled to each office with his chief operating officer so he could present that vision and respond to concerns personally.
“It was a process of consensus-building starting at the very top of the organization, taking it all the way down to those in the individual offices,” he says.
Allen rallied his troops to achieve a revenue milestone of $507 million in 2008. Under his leadership, Crowe has opened offices in Los Angeles, New York, Tampa, Atlanta, Dallas and Philadelphia, bringing the total number to 25 U.S. locations. The firm continues to be named a best place to work, making seven lists while Allen has been in charge. According to an annual independent survey, he also led Crowe to a firm-high client satisfaction rating 26 percent higher than its major competitors.
Now, keeping employees in the loop is just as important as it was when he first introduced the vision.
“People need to know what you’re doing and when you’re going to do it and why you’re doing it,” says Allen, who keeps employees updated on the vision with monthly scorecards, periodic webcasts, annual visits to each office, the company intranet and a weekly newswire. “We are tracking our progress and trying to be transparent in regards to that. It also gets everyone involved in achieving the overall result.
“People ask me what’s the biggest challenge I’ve had in the taking over of the firm. I learned very quickly that communication to build consensus was critical to achieving the vision, the strategy and the initiatives that we put forth. Don’t underestimate the skills and time and effort it takes to accomplish that. Communicate, because that’s key to achieving what you want to try to achieve.”
How to reach: Crowe Horwath LLP, (866) 662-7693 or www.crowehorwath.com
