In a previous article, we explored how individual success can be calculated if a Winning Scorecard strategy is utilized. But, what determines if the entire organization is good or great?
Set visible company and department KPIs and goals.
What is the bottom line for your company? What do you need to increase or decrease to succeed?
Whether it is a big picture like increasing revenue, or if it is more departmental like decreasing turnover/increasing retention, the goal is always to improve. It is much harder to improve if you are going about it blindly.
The first step is to make sure you can accurately measure change. Don’t accept measurements that you do not intuitively understand, it is easy for someone that is underperforming to make it look like things are fine by mixing the number of visuals up a bit without technically lying.
After you know you can measure it, think about it. When you begin a new initiative, ask yourself “how does this improve the KPI that we want to improve?” When you have a meeting, make sure it contributes to your goal. Don’t waste time on things that are not improving your determined bottom line.
Then, report on it a minimum of once a month. Make sure you always have a pulse on your progress so that you can make changes if there is no improvement.
(Interested in learning the best KPIs for internal communications? We wrote a blog about it.)
So, we have laid the groundwork for modest gains in your company. We know what we are measuring and working towards. Now, let’s…
Set a BHAG
A Big Hairy Audacious Goal.
At the core, a BHAG is a long-term goal that changes the very nature of a business’ existence. We are talking about a 10-year goal right now.
“A true BHAG is clear and compelling, serves as a unifying focal point of effort, and acts as a clear catalyst for team spirit. It has a clear finish line, so the organization can know when it has achieved the goal; people like to shoot for finish lines.”
Here is a list of some famous BHAGs in history from Wikipedia:
- Microsoft: A computer on every desk and in every home.
- SpaceX: Enable human exploration and settlement of Mars.
- Google: Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
- Volvo: By 2020 no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo
Whatever your first impression of BHAG is, you should probably double it. They aren’t just the big picture though. Establish both corporate BHAG and regional/local BHAGs. The more BHAGs you have, the more likely you hit one of them and change the world. Here is a quick 3 step article on how to get a BHAG started.
Stack Rank
Stacked ranking is an employee evaluation method that slots a certain percentage of employees into each of several levels of performance. Such a model might assume a normal distribution, for example, in which 10% of employees are high achievers, 80% are satisfactory and valuable, and 10% are actually deleterious to the company. More on stack ranking.
Thirty percent of Fortune 500 companies are said to use stacked ranking for employee evaluation.
Usually, fortune 500 companies know what they are doing. Stack rank based on your established KPI and then reward achievers and remove those from management who can’t perform well based on the most important bottom lines.
#TEAMworks empowers every layer of leadership within your organization. Great teams work because they communicate well, are equipped to perform at the highest level, are repeatedly acknowledged for their efforts, and unashamedly measured to achieve peak performance.
#TEAMworks | Talk, Equip, Acknowledge, Measure
