“Strategy is not aspirations, objectives or wishful thinking. Most companies communicate strategy as a set of aspirations or good-sounding platitudes”
This article Don’t Confuse Strategy with Lofty Goals highlighted some key research worth noting…
In recent research completed in Europe on how well employees understood their organisation’s strategy:
- Only 35% of the employees claimed to know their company’s strategy.
- Fewer than 20% said that they understood why they were following the strategy that had been communicated to them
A recent study by University of Technology in Sydney reported that:
- Even in high-performing companies with clearly articulated strategies, only 29% of their employees knew what their company’s strategy was.
Imagine, only 20-30% of employees understanding your organisations strategy.
Now, imagine the number of employees within that 20-30% that haven’t been involved in strategy at all or have any real buy-in or ownership.
That leaves us with a small fraction of employees who understand, let alone are committed to the strategy.
That’s not a great position to be in.
That’s why Open Strategy is getting traction.
If employees are not involved in the organisation’s strategy in some way, it’s unlikely they’ll understand it.
Even if it is explained to them after decisions have been made.
Open Strategy involves the perspectives of various levels of staff, customers, partners and suppliers.
This inherently increases buy-in within the organisation and beyond.
When employees are part of the strategy process in some way, not only do they understand the strategy, but they are naturally committed to executing it.
There are practical and simple ways to start getting the benefits of Open Strategy.
You don’t have to start with a big bang, all-out approach.
Start small and prove the outcomes for yourself.
Check out our article about Open Strategy to learn more: What is Open Strategy?