Employee engagement surveys are useful tools to measure the health of an organization. They gather candid, unfiltered feedback from the people who work hard to deliver the organization’s strategic priorities to its stakeholders and customers. The lowest scores we see for the surveys we provide are for the question, “I have a voice regarding the direction of the company.” So, if you involve team members up front, you help to alleviate this issue.
Most credible employee engagement surveys have a comparable question and they usually receive a similarly low score. Even companies that score very well in overall engagement consistently have low scores with the above question. Ironically, they are giving them a voice by conducting the survey!
The answer is both simple and complicated – involve your people in the decisions that affect them.
Management teams and/or boards of directors retreat into a strategy planning session. Then it fails to inspire commitment and people revert to the status quo.
The problem:
- Is not the plan – it could be excellent.
- Might not be the retreat process – it could be the most effective way to involve key people in the planning process.
Involve Team Members
In strategic planning, “giving people a voice,” means asking and answering the following questions:
- Who is affected by the plan?
- Did they have an oppornity to provide ideas and input into the development of this strategic initiative?
- What training and support will they need to execute this strategy?
- Who is the champion for the strategy initiative that will ensure follow through engagement?
Drawing up a good strategic plan document is relatively easy. But, engaging in a comprehensive strategic planning process that involves even the smallest stakeholder in appropriate decision-making is challenging.
This Harvard article speaks to the value of collecting diverse input in organizations. So, it is by making these investments in the micro details of human commitment that the intended objectives of a strategic plan get turned into profitable outcomes, because involvement gives voice and voice inspires commitment.
Latency occurs when people become used to the status quo. Make sure changes are intentional and well communicated, so people will see there is a new way of collaborating is happening.