Achieving your company vision isn’t a one-person show. In addition to a solid strategic plan, business owners need employee buy-in. They need passionate and engaged employees who want to help the company succeed and if you've done your hiring correctly, you have those employees. But are they being properly used to achieve your goals? Determine whether you're using your employee's full potential in achieving your company goals with these four tips.
Set a Clear Goal
Many companies have far reaching vision statements that encompass a variety of employees and job duties but don’t give employees a way to make that vision their own. One of the best ways to harness the power of your employees is to make your company visions into an achievable goal for each employee. Break down your strategic plan and company vision into individualized department and job goals that are achievable by a subset of employees. Focus on that part of the mission statement for those employees. Giving employees a concrete goal rather than a lofty idea can help them visualize and improve the process to reach that goal. By simplifying overarching company goals into understandable and achievable employee goals, you can help your team focus on company goals.
Create Open Discussion With Employees
Nothing stops employee engagement like a non-communicative workplace. Everyone has experienced a job that dampened their spirits and made them a worse employee by ignoring employee concerns and suggestions. Be a collaborative and innovative employer by actively seeking out employee suggestions and concerns. Hold open forums and, if your company size allows, sit down with employees individually to pick their minds about how to adjust and improve current workflows to meet company goals. Then, implement those changes! You should be hiring the smartest people in your industry so use their ideas and suggestions to reach for your dreams.
Use a Facilitator
Once you've passed the start-up stage, putting a focus on company goals can be a challenge. Even with a strategic plan, the day-to-day job duties at every level can make it hard to focus on larger goals. A strategic planning facilitator allows a single person to be dedicated to organizing ideas and finding a path to reach company goals. From having conversations with employees to presenting employee ideas to upper management, a facilitator can provide a valuable service to companies who want to use employee input to reach company goals without sacrificing productivity.
Offer Rewards
Company goals and strategic planning aren’t a purely altruistic endeavors. When implemented correctly, a company goal benefits your customers, your business, and your employees by providing a better service or product. When employees venture outside their normal job duties to help their employer achieve company goals, it should be rewarded. Once you’ve broken down your company vision into manageable goals and plans for individual departments or employees, attach a reward system to reaching those goals. Whether it’s an afternoon off or a small bonus, acknowledging your employees commitment to the company’s goals is essential in engaging employees.
When implementing a strategic plan to meet company goals, you want to involve your best resources - your employees. Too many companies overlook the talented people they’ve hired and suffer the consequences of slow growth because of it. To get the most out of your employees, truly listen to and utilize employee input. Then, create a clear path for the company to achieve those goals using laser focused goals for each employee or department. Once you’ve achieved employee buy-in, you can start meeting your goals sooner.
