Are your employees fogged in?
The city was socked in with a heavy layer of fog and had been for weeks when I decided to drive up the hill to an area of town that I hadn’t been before. As I climbed through the layers of cloud towards my destination, I became curious about where I was going and why people would live up on such a steep hillside. However I had to wonder no longer, because as I neared the summit of the hill and beheld the expansive farmlands, I was overwhelmed with wonder. There were no clouds on the hilltop, no fog and only bright blue skies and the dazzling radiance of the sun.
Shortly thereafter I bought land on the top of the hill.
As a business coach, I work with the employees of many different companies and in a variety of industries. More often than not, the employees of these businesses are in a fog. They have no idea where the company is going and what they are going to find after their uphill grind. Unfortunately, the leaders of those companies don’t have a clear idea of where they are going, either. They have lost their direction in the fog and dark clouds that may have covered their business during troubled times.
In order to have productive employees who are moving us quickly to the blue skies and bright sunshine, we need to provide clarity about where we are going and why we want to get there. When employees understand the purpose of what they are doing, how they are contributing and are recognized for their contributions to the goals of the organization, they become so much more productive, more effective and happier. Happy employees tend to stay longer in our companies resulting in the reduction of the significant cost of recruiting and onboarding, which is estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars per new hire.
Great companies not only have clarity on where they are going, but they involve their employees in forming that vision. If we, as leaders, think that we have the best ideas for how our company should be run, we are sadly mistaken. Almost all the best ideas I ever had for my businesses came from listening to my employees. They were so much more in touch with customer requests and market trends, which resulted in a greater understanding of the future needs of the society they were serving than I ever was.
It’s November and by this time of year, larger companies have been working for months on their annual plans for the coming year. They have been gathering data, looking at trends, talking to their employees and management teams and making projections for the coming year. Unfortunately, most small businesses don’t operate on a plan, and as a result leave their employees in the fog. As small business leaders we tend to be just drifting along, doing the same things hoping that the wind will continue to blow us in the right direction.
It’s not that having a plan will ensure that you are going to be successful, however when we take the time to look at our performance in the past year, while implementing strategies for increasing success, the fog starts to clear. When we determine some achievable goals, and develop workable plans to achieve those goals, our teams start to get clarity. With clarity comes productivity and focus in moving towards our goals.
Annual plans with realistic measurable targets are tools that drive organizations forward. Repeated studies show that having a plan increases success in achieving goals, while giving employees a higher sense of motivation and job satisfaction. It is no wonder that as business leaders we underestimate our employees’ abilities to fulfil our expectations. In most cases it’s because we haven’t been clear about our goals and expectations and have failed to lead them out of the fog and into a brighter future.