Engage the Entire Company
When implementing strategy, the entire company must be working together seamlessly. Everybody must believe in the strategy and know what it means for their work and activities. All the goals and processes of the different parts of the company must be aligned. This is the principle of concerted action. Alexander’s army was known for being a united fighting force, the soldiers always ready to support each other in battle.
In contrast, the army of Darius was made up of many disparate sources, in terms of customs, languages, military traditions, levels of training, and officers—some of whom did not speak the languages of the others around them. When the army started to come apart, there was no team cohesion or unity of command to hold them together as a single fighting force. The result was disastrous.
The same unity on behalf of the whole must be found in your company. Everyone must be dedicated to making the strategy work—and that means all of your employees must be dedicated to helping each other in achieving their goals.
Because they so readily support each other and are completely dedicated and loyal to the company, employees in a united company form a “fighting force” that gives them a tremendous advantage over competitors in their markets. Along with high levels of teamwork, they are fully engaged in their work. As a result, they are more creative and innovative. They have higher morale and they get along better with each other. They have a greater esprit de corps.
Business Units Working Together
More than likely, you have different business units, business divisions, or even subsidiaries in your company. A corporate strategy can get tripped up if there is poor integration among the different parts of your structure. In the book Making Strategy Work, Wharton professor Lawrence G. Hrebiniak describes three tasks or decisions that you want to make concerning integration.
First, what kind of interdependence should you have among units? There are three kinds of interdependence. Pooled interdependence is the lowest level of interdependence. There’s little coordination. Units are self-contained and self-directed. Sequential interdependence requires a little more coordination and cooperation because what happens in one unit then affects another unit. Reciprocal interdependence is the highest level of connection and cooperation. Every unit interacts and depends on other units.
Second, how are you making sure units are sharing information and transferring knowledge? It’s hard to overstress the importance of communication. Know whom you’re talking to and make sure that they understand and appreciate the knowledge that they are receiving. Sometimes, technical issues are not fully explained. Other times, it can be a cultural problem.
Third, have you clarified responsibility and accountability? If people don’t know what they’re responsible for, don’t expect them to do their jobs. Coordination and cooperation are not possible without responsibility and accountability.
Motivate Employees
To engage all of your employees in the company’s strategy, you have to set the right incentives. The keys to good incentives, according to Hrebiniak, are incentives that do not demotivate people (do your incentives spark a need for achievement?); incentives that fuel and guide motivation but don’t try to create it (that doesn’t work); incentives that are tied to strategic objectives; and incentives that reward the right things.
It’s one thing to motivate employees and managers, but you also need to have a system of controls, says Hrebiniak. Controls are going to give you the feedback you need about how well your people are actively supporting the strategy. To make sure controls are working effectively:
Face the brutal facts.
Clarify responsibility and accountability.
Get timely and pertinent information.
Step up to your leadership responsibilities, modeling the right behaviors and establishing an honest relationship with your subordinates.
Conduct a strategy review, which clarifies the strategy and sets execution-related objectives.
Embedding the Strategy Throughout the Company
Your goal is to embed the strategy in the company. This means that most of your employees fully understand, accept, and support the strategy.
Some business leaders try to embed the strategy by “cascading” the message about strategy down the organizational chart. CEOs talk directly to their team of top managers, who in turn talk to mid-level managers, who talk to their lower-level direct reports, who talk to supervisors, and on down the line until you get to the frontline employees.
To get buy-in from employees, do more than cascade the message down to your people. Talk to them directly. Research by professor Charles Galunic, based on 60,000 responses to a survey sent to more than 350 companies, shows that employees don’t really believe or buy into strategy that’s communicated by their supervisors. They want to hear the strategy directly from top management. They also want to know that their feedback and thoughts are being heard by top managers.
Professor Galunic gives two reasons direct communication from senior managers is important. First, strategic goals and direction aren’t always easy to communicate, and as the strategy gets passed from one person to another, it is likely to become more confused and garbled. Remember: Clarity is essential. Don’t muddle the message by having it go through a string of managers.
Second, people are going to take the talk from top managers more seriously. If the CEO is taking the time to speak with frontline employees directly, those employees know that the subject is important.