Lack of Vision . . . .
Businesses that lack clear vision tend to wander aimlessly. Rather than follow a straight and proscribed path leading toward a specific destination, they will opt for the path of zigzagging, scavenging for business and employees who come upon the scene more by chance and luck than by execution.
The organization that operates without a clear vision can be identified by some of the following characteristics:
Ø Employees who spend most of their time putting out "fires” or focusing on past problems
Ø Employees who attend to duties that should have been handled by others
Ø Employees long entrenched unwilling to change with new methods or direction
Ø Few opportunities for upward movement and job enrichment among employees, resulting in low morale
Ø High employee turnover with business leadership regularly working overtime to compensate
Ø No perceivable changes in a company's growth or process improvement
Ø Owners' lack of awareness of or inability to improve the company's financial health
A company's vision is its mission. Without it, there is no sense of purpose or road map to success. But having it inspires creativity and presents an environment against which decisions can be tested, measured and evaluated.
Lack of Goal Setting . . . .
Every organization has some measure of being on the wrong track. The actual time a company spends off-track and the magnitude of its deviation are determining factors in what is referred to as lack of “Goal Setting.” It can be thought of as the amount of time that goes by, after a decision is made, and before a company realizes that the decision has or has not yielded the anticipated improvement. It also takes into account the amount of time that goes by between that recognition and the efforts to correct.
The concept is vital to a company's health and includes several key components:
Ø Clear targets, with agreed-upon parameters spanning from unacceptable to outstanding
Ø Frequent measurement of results against these same targets
Ø Constant and immediate efforts to address discrepancies between targets and results
Ø Bold commitment to correcting it
Other areas where Goal Setting should be applied are:
Ø Budgets and financial reporting
Ø Business objectives
Ø Organizational structures and measurements
Ø Sales and marketing
Ø Employee review systems
Companies who overlook any one of these crucial aspects of Goal Setting will, without question, hinder their effectiveness. Companies who incorporate all of these, however, will see dramatic improvement.
Image . . . .
Perception may not truly be reality, but in the eyes of those who are otherwise unfamiliar with a company, it most certainly is. Simply being good at something is not enough if others do not see it that way. In business, the prize rarely goes to the best company or tradesman, but to the one that outsiders perceive as the best. Companies that are able to manage actively perceptions are the companies that consistently flourish.
A company's image can have influence many areas at little or no cost. Here are some that will create immediate results.
Ø Office space - sends a clear signal to customers that the company is organized and professional
Ø Paperwork - produce contracts, invoices and correspondence, etc. that are well-written and grammatically correct
Ø People - customers will assess a company's professionalism based on employee appearance
Ø Equipment - maintained equipment indicates dependability and attention to detail
Far too many business owners do little or nothing proactive to create or manage the perceptions of their company, products or services. Additionally, many business owners mistakenly believe that they are not responsible for the misperceptions of others. In either case, ignoring perceptions about your company can lead to disastrous results.
Human Capital - Your Most Valuable Asset . .
Given the chance, people who are aware of their deficiencies will tend to self-correct. However, many companies function without adequate communication and guidelines to let employees know where they stand. The employees, consequently, have little or no understanding about how and when they can make corrections.
Accountability is the ability to acknowledge what generates a given result. In most organizations, it is achieved by the use of four (4) primary tools:
Ø Written policies and procedures
Ø Performance driven position guides or job descriptions
Ø Regular employee reviews
Ø Compensation and incentive programs that support employee and organizational performance
An absence of accountability will almost always signify absences of clear organizational structure, solid vision, frequent course correction and tangible targets, ultimately leading toward low morale and confusion. But when incorporated into a company's value system, accountability creates a sense of empowerment among employees, vendors, partners and shareholders, leading toward rapid, positive change and forward motion.
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