Make Your Vision a Reality for All Employees
In 2014, Fortune reported that nine out of 10 startups fail, which is a cold and disheartening statistic when you think about it. The team at Gallup reported that about half of new U.S. companies fail in their first five years. So, what can an organization — and its leadership team — do to buck the statistics and survive?
Let’s imagine two organizations. The first is a place where employees come to work because they have to. They coast blindly through the day, disengaged and believing that what they do hardly matters. Soon enough, they find other jobs that are more meaningful to them.
The second organization is one where employees get an early start to the day because great things are happening. They smile often and talk with one other in the hallways. They go home each night and return the next day energized and ready to connect and share ideas.
Which company is going to be around in five years?
[cta]The “seven times rule”
People need to hear something about seven times before it fully resonates. The rule of seven times applies to your vision as well. Employees will need to hear and engage with the vision many times before they embrace it.[/cta]
Look past the five-year mark
If you’ve been following our blog series over the past few months, you have started working with your leadership team to develop a vision for your company. Once you have your vision, it’s important to share it with every single person in the company.
A Harris Interactive/FranklinCovey poll of more than 23,000 employees shed a bright light on a simple fact:
37% of employees don’t understand the priorities of the organizations for which they work.
Further, only one in five was enthusiastic about the organization’s goals. A similar one in five failed to see a clear connection between everyday tasks and the organization’s goals.
What does that mean for your organization?
- It means that your team is disengaged (read: checked out).
- It means they are not working toward the success you’ve outlined.
- It means they are doing a lot of busy work that will have no impact in the end.
[cta]In our Traction blog series, we’re exploring how to create a clear vision for your business. Inspired and guided by the concepts in the book Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, by Gino Wickman, these blogs will walk you through essential steps that will enable you to get traction, grow, and thrive.[/cta]
Steps to share the vision
Start the new year off right: Share your vision with your employees and set the stage for success.
The following are steps to communicate the company vision:
- Hold a kickoff meeting and unveil the vision; this is your opportunity to showcase it to everyone who wasn’t involved in the process of creating it.
- Be prepared for some resistance.
- Don’t be afraid to be challenged.
- Be open to questions, and answer them clearly and honestly.
- Be firm and enthusiastic as you respond to alternative viewpoints.
- Every 90 days, have a short (no more than 45 minute) state-of-the-company presentation and share it with all employees.
- Share the progress.
- Review the vision.
- Celebrate successes — even small ones.
- Communicate newly established Quarterly Rocks.
Before each quarterly meeting, each department head should review the progress with his or her team and answer questions to clarify the vision for everyone.
Get creative about culture
After the kickoff meeting, you can get really creative about making the vision part of the organization’s culture. Here are some ideas from other companies; use them as a springboard to begin thinking about how you can bring inspiration to your vision communication.
- Re/Max taught its vision to every employee one-on-one and gave each person a quiz about the company’s Three Uniques.
- The Professional Group conducted spot checks; whenever an employee could name all the Core Values, he or she received cash on the spot.
These ideas may not resonate with your team, but you know your employees and what works for them, so feel free to get creative!
It can take time, but when everyone — not just your leadership team — is on board, your organization is poised to make your vision a reality.
[cta]Get help: Contact Financial Gravity at (469) 342-9100, by email, or through our contact page.[/cta]
