In today’s economic climate, executives are focused on regaining their post-recession footing, keeping employees engaged, and enhancing customer relationships. Although all of these issues are critical, in order to address them, there is really only one question that warrants attention: Did the company effectively execute its plans and initiatives?
If an organization can’t get things done, nothing else matters—not the smartest strategy, not the most innovative business model, not even game-changing technology. This assertion is backed by hard evidence. My company, OnPoint Consulting—which specializes in helping clients close the gap between strategy and execution and create a culture of getting things done—conducted a study of over 400 companies. We found that 49 percent of the leaders surveyed in the study reported a gap between their organization’s ability to formulate and communicate a vision and strategy and its ability to deliver results.
This wasn’t the surprising part, though. What was really shocking was that only 36 percent of leaders who thought their company had an execution gap had confidence in their organization’s ability to close the gap between strategy and execution. That means a staggering 64 percent of leaders who saw an execution problem didn’t believe their company could fix it. But what contributes to this lack of confidence?
OnPoint’s Annual Pulse Survey, which asked 935 leaders what they viewed as the greatest challenges to executing strategic initiatives, has shed some light on that question. OnPoint’s survey results found that although senior managers were confident in their ability to create a clear and inspiring vision, they indicated that “employees at all levels delivering top performance” was the biggest challenge to executing plans and initiatives. The second biggest challenge was facilitating and managing change. This was followed by “translating strategy into action” and “developing a realistic strategy.”
OnPoint’s research also examined the extent to which perception of business challenges varied at different management levels (see Table 1). The greatest alignment of top challenges at all levels was on employees delivering top performance, which was considered a significant challenge to strategy execution by all management levels.
What were leaders consistently more confident in? Leaders at all levels generally agreed that creating a clear and inspiring vision and maintaining high levels of quality and customer service were not significant challenges. Mid-level and front line leaders were predominantly concerned with “involving the right people in decision making” and “holding people accountable”, which were not perceived to be top challenges by senior executives.
In the past, the chasm between what’s proudly proclaimed on your company website and reality might have been seen (and written off) as the standard “mission, vision, and values” statement that all companies feel obligated to produce.
But we’re living in unforgiving times. The combination of frozen commercial credit, tight-fisted customers, and general economic malaise has serious implications for businesses. They must be able to keep their promises to customers/shareholders and meet their goals. Execution has always been important, but when margins (and the margin for error) are paper thin, it’s everything.
Table 1.Rankings of challenges to strategy execution across levels
|
Challenge to Strategy Execution |
CEOs, Presidents, Business Owners |
Senior Leaders |
Mid-Level Leaders |
Front Line Leaders |
|
Employees at all levels delivering top performance |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
|
Facilitating and managing change |
2 |
8 |
7 |
5 |
|
Translating strategy into action |
3 |
6 |
10 |
9 |
|
Developing a realistic strategy |
4 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
|
Holding people accountable |
5 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
|
Ensuring high levels of employee commitment |
6 |
3 |
4 |
7 |
|
Involving the right people in the right decisions |
7 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
Encouraging and sustaining cooperation and coordination |
8 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
|
Ensuring that employees have the appropriate skills and experience to do their jobs effectively |
9 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
|
Maintaining high levels of quality and customer service |
10 |
10 |
8 |
8 |
|
Creating a clear and inspiring vision |
11 |
11 |
11 |
11 |
