An ever-increasing body of research is showing that if employees don’t buy-in to an organisation’s purpose, values and vision then it is unlikely that the organisation will ever realise its full potential. When I researched Good Boss™ employers I discovered what smart companies already know – that you make more money if you treat people right. Respect and trust are oxygen to any good business. If you read the Good Boss ~ Bad Boss™ white paper you start to understand some of the issues.
    

One way to improve results is to start to understand where you currently are before you attempt to improve.

Our new Strategic Alignment Survey®, measures four key areas that have an impact on employee alignment and engagement and provides feedback by division, business unit, location and work teams across an organisation. It creates an opportunity to “take the pulse” of a company with a low-cost diagnostic tool. It is an on-line product with instantaneous reporting.

The data produced is an ideal starting point to begin talking about the culture and leadership effectiveness within your organisation.

My experience over 10 years has shown that you can’t build a values-based organisation without high levels of trust, and that the leaders of organisations need to earn that trust rather than attempting to demand it. Those who involve their employees in the process of establishing their purpose, values and vision are more likely to encourage greater levels of engagement, commitment and self-directed behaviour.

The Strategic Alignment Survey® gives a snapshot of the extent to which people are in sync with where the organisation is heading and the level of trust within that organisation. This matters, because the more in sync and the better the trust, the better the bottom line results.

With high levels of trust expectations are clear, disagreements are resolved and individual performance is agreed without a formal process. Information is freely exchanged. Feelings and opinions are openly discussed. There are no hidden agendas and differences are valued making employees feel respected so that they enjoy the input they provide to make the organisation more successful. They are committed, strive for excellence and support their colleagues. Everyone enjoys coming to work.

Research using over 700 responses ensures that the Strategic Alignment Survey® has validity and that it is reliable.

Respondents who perceived that their team or organisation was displaying a commitment to the values that build trust such as:

• Honesty
• Receptivity
• Disclousure
• Respect
• Keeping Commitments

were likely to report higher levels of self-directed behaviour.

The message is that if your people aren’t behind you, you’re just not going to get where you could because they just won’t have the self direction to make it happen.

For more information contact Kerry Larkan.