I have never understood the phenomena of executive leadership that do not listen to their employees.  Frequently, I go to a client’s site to perform an operations assessment and discover that the leadership really has no clue as to what is happening in their companies.  I can only make this observation after meeting with the executives to get their ‘story’ of the business and the directives given to the staff.  I then interview several employees across the organization to get the “real scoop” of what is going on in the company.  It is sometimes humorous or even scary to see the disconnect between the vision of the executive team and the people moving the organization.  Sometimes the organization is moving forward and sometimes – well, not so much.

As a business strategy consultant, it is not uncommon for me to see great people in leadership positions and staff level positions without any guidance system in place.  It isn’t enough to have a great plan written at an annual retreat if it isn’t made into an actionable plan to direct the team to a common effort and outcome. The plan is only part of the story.  As the executive leader, you have to communicate the desired outcome.  What does the future look like for your company?  How do the individuals fit into it?  What are the expectations of the employees?

Imagination is a great thing!  It can lead to excitement and motivation.  But sometimes it can also lead to problems when left unattended. If an employee doesn’t understand the purpose of her tasks, it will be easy for her to draw her own conclusions.  Usually those conclusions don’t match the company’s desired outcome.  She wasn’t trying to be malicious or insubordinate. She needs to have a purpose, so she creates one in her mind.  It is not her fault that she wasn’t pointed in the same direction as the executive leadership.  It was never communicated.  It was either held as a secret or put in a drawer hoping to rise to the surface by osmosis.  Executive leadership must communicate the plan for all to execute.

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to see problems that have been ignored for a long time.  The employee asked for help. Sometimes, he even begged for help.  I’ve seen documentation by employees where they reached out to executive leadership but were completely dismissed.  The employees documented the incident so they could address it during the annual performance review. This same executive leader reacted with shock because he didn’t know things had gotten so bad.

An operational assessment is a health checkup for your business.  It is designed as a tool to get an objective look at your business.  It looks at people, processes, and technology.  But it can do more harm than good if you become aware of problems within your organization and still do not respond by taking action. I hope you are noticing a trend by now.  It isn’t the planning or the assessment that is the point–It is what you choose to do with the information and the process that will make a difference. Your strategic plan needs to be communicated so your entire team is moving in the same direction.  An operational assessment is a checkup to make sure that your plan and action are leading to healthy results for your company.  If you continue to ignore symptoms and continue to have a disconnect between your executive leadership and staff, your organization will continue a bumpy, if not fatal, path.  Communication is a two-way dialogue.  Identify the direction your company is going.  Communicate to the staff. Listen to the people that are carrying your company’s torch.  Create an organization that is moving in the same direction toward success.