The Business World Knows WHAT-to-do but some have missed the How-to-do-It part.
Recently, a study of senior executives identified 65% of executive teams experienced a clash between functional and enterprise accountabilities. The survey found only 18% rated their teams as “very effective” with respect to their executive responsibilities.
All companies deal with disengaged and unengaged employees, silos, secret agenda, internal politics, informal power hierarchies, and other “people” issues from personality to peanut allergies. If they minimise or eradicate these overhead-inefficiencies, productivity and consequent profits grow.
A survey by CCL (the Centre for Creative Leadership) found 97% of leaders agreed that “increased effectiveness of my executive team will have a positive impact on organizational results.” And a recent report by SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) details numerous corporations prioritizing employee engagement as a top-five issue.
Is HR Focus Lost in Tactical hell – and missing out of Strategic Heaven?
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy are the noise before defeat.” – Sun Tzu
Gallup (2018) tells us up to 53% of workers can be “disengaged” category with 17% “actively disengaged”; not only entry-level employees this is from the executive level down, causing inefficiencies in multiple projects, weak morale, high and expensive employee turnover and diminishing brand equity for any business that counts service as part of its “actual” product.
Gallup defines engaged employees as employees who are enthusiastic about and committed to their jobs. They support the innovation, growth, and revenue of their companies.
To battle this, HR is focussing of the symptoms but forgetting the causes, worried about employee issues that are secondary such as whether the employee perceives their qualifications match their job description, whether their employee feels their career is progressing fast enough, whether they are being praised enough.
The key to people is and has always been “purpose”.
If they love their job, If they feel “connected:”, if they feel a sense of ownership” If they feel in control of their destiny. If they feel genuinely appreciated and worthwhile… THAT is when culture fire sup, people works constructively together, they grow a tribal instinct to excel and business booms!
When bosses get lethargic about leadership, the wheels fall off, fast!
Big Returns Come from Discipline in Strategic Leadership & Governance
Another survey found worldwide employees’ disengagement was:
- 49% due to “my boss” (employees not liking their boss),
- 34% “what am I doing here?” (employees not knowing the reason they come to work, why they are doing what they are doing, what reason they are doing it), and
- 17% because they felt unrewarded (underpaid or under recognised?).
These problems can be fixed!
People are human. You are most likely to like your boss if he/she likes you. He /she will like you if you make life (work) easy for them.
You make it easy for them when you do a good job, You do a good job when you use your initiative and common sense. You can only do that if you understand the reason you are doing the function you are doing. So if you don’t know what your MEVPIV (Mission, Ethos, Vision, Purpose, Identity & Values) is, you are effectively set up to FAIL!
BUT, if you do know your MEVPIV, you have a better make all the right decisions; use the best initiative possible, and most likely win the approval of your boss. He/she will congratulate you. Appreciate you. Like you. Reward you. You will enjoy your job. You will then try harder because you get enjoyment from your job. Your boss will like you more.
So the 49% group can be saved by satisfying the needs of the 34% group… because both can be addressed creating AND communicating a common, realistic, genuine MEVPIV array.
The common factor is so many businesses that do extremely well is a great MEVPIV. The common factor is so many businesses struggling to survive is a weak or non-existent MEVPIV.
How do You Make MEVPIV work?
Implementing a MEVPIV is an Internal Marketing activity. It requires strategic marketing science. ANY organisation can build and benefit from a MEVPIV array. The best MEVPIVs come from understanding consumer behaviour and organisational reality. They evolve from a good understanding of your business, your industry, your people, analysed, segmented properly, so you can offer an attractive “product”, utilise appropriate marketing communications, distribute your message and meaning, cost-effectively and efficiently.
