Ideally, you should involve your employees in developing a strategy from the start. Sometimes, however, you have to choose to do that later. Doomed to fail? Certainly not! In this article, Casper Hendriks and Arjen Verwer, management consultants at Summiteers, explain how we helped one of our customers transform from a strategy that came about in “splended isolation” to a vibrant strategy that is widely supported by all employees.

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The conscious choice for strategy development from above

Dolf wrote it before blog: those who want to successfully develop a strategy would do well to involve employees from the start. This way, you create immediate support, and you take into account the feasibility of the strategy from the start and thus improve the quality of the plan. But sometimes the urgency is so great that you can still decide to do things differently. Last year, the new CEO of an organization hired us. One of his observations was that the organization lacked a clear strategy. This was expressed in an organization that was doing everything at the same time without clear direction and priorities. As a result, a lot of time was spent on “putting out fires”, both by the MT and by the employees. In addition, employees indicated that management provided no direction and did not set priorities. The context of this organization increased the need to quickly determine direction. The strategy had to be ready for the coming year's budget process, so there was a need to quickly get management on the same page and get out of fire fighting mode. In addition, there was little room to free up employees in the short term. In consultation with the management team, we therefore made the conscious decision together to initially enter into a strategy process with them (management), i.e. with little involvement from the rest of the organization. In a number of intensive sessions, we developed the mission and vision, clear objectives and strategic plans for how to achieve them. This is how we helped management get a clear strategy on track within one quarter, to give direction and to focus on the activities of their teams.

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No direction, no support

The employees were therefore almost not involved in shaping that strategy. Although the management team had explained the strategy to their teams and collected some input prior to the joint strategy workshops, you are still not creating support. In short: the need to catch up to still create this support base. This was confirmed when, in January, during an employee session, we had a organization scan executed. Employees indicated that they were not sure what the strategy entailed exactly. They felt slightly connected to the new strategic goals and had little insight into the initiatives and how to achieve them. In other words, employees confirmed how crucial it is to pay attention to this support base. After all, employees are essential for the effective implementation of any strategy.

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From dissatisfaction to enthusiasm

That's why, in the second employee session, we focused entirely on the plan. This meant that we thoroughly went through the strategy with all employees, both in the plenary sections and in break-out groups. In the break-outs, everyone had the opportunity to ask questions about the goals and strategic plans, in order to enter into an open dialogue with the makers of those plans, the MT. During these interactions, new insights and enrichments of the strategic plans emerged. So it was really a dialogue, not just one-sided communication from management. In addition to providing answers to the questions, the MT members collected all the feedback and ideas whose summary they shared with everyone at the end of the day. In this way, the strategic plans were further enriched based on input from the employees. With effect. The day ended with a completely different atmosphere than the beginning; the original dissatisfaction turned to enthusiasm. Employees were positive and felt connected, not only to the strategy, but also to each other and management.

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Planning for the future

Now that the strategy is widely supported, the organization naturally wants to maintain and further expand engagement. A strategy cycle has been developed for both the short and long term. Because the strategy has been translated into a multi-year roadmap, an annual plan and quarterly plans at both team and individual levels, each employee knows what his or her contribution is to the bigger picture. During the quarter, during “stand-ups”, bottlenecks are discussed and resolved. The strategy is revised annually to stay alive and relevant and to translate it into the annual plan and budget for the coming year. Employees are encouraged to show leadership in initiatives that support strategic goals, by coming up with their own suggestions or taking on a project leader role. This not only benefits the implementation of the strategy, but also promotes their personal involvement and development.

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Need help with strategy and execution?

We are Summiteers, we create movement, make something that is complex understandable again, something big achievable, a - vague - idea concrete and make something difficult succeed. Can you use help with this? Take contact with us.

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