7 Ways to help your employees understand and become involved in your company strategy - The Globe and Mail, Toronto

If your strategy is sensible but isn't working, it's because you have failed in implementation. Toronto-based consultant Morry Patoka, of iQuest Inc., says there are seven choke points to strategy implementation that we unfortunately create ourselves before we even reach the implementation stage. On his blog, CreateTheConditions.com, he notes if the strategy isn't being effectively implemented, it's likely because of one these problems:

Employees don't know about it

This occurs when there is little or no employee engagement through the process of developing strategy, and weak communication. All too often, strategy is created by a small group, in isolation. While some secrecy in strategy formulation may be required for competitive reasons, it's still vital that the fundamentals be well communicated to staff so they can do their part.

They don't understand it

You can't rely on a memo to explain your strategy properly - no matter how brilliantly crafted - or leave it to be serendipitously communicated by managers through the layers of the company. Develop a formal plan that outlines who needs to know what, when, and how they should be told, much as with any marketing plan. Speak about your strategy in a way that makes sense to your audiences.

They don't agree with it

Not everyone will agree with your strategy. That's fine, as long as you discover the concerns before you launch. Make sure you are talking to your board, key employees, close suppliers, and trusted customers so they can act as an early warning system. Listen to their comments, and listen to your answers.

"If you're coming up short, have the team return to the insights you used to formulate the strategy and examine their validity," Mr. Patoka writes. "If any decisions are based on weak insights, put your heads together to conceive of quick, efficient ways to gather and test new insights that strengthen the foundation of your strategic decisions."

They don't feel attached to it

Involve as many people in the strategic development process as possible so you create wide ownership of the ultimate plan. Get the opinion leaders who command attention from co-workers (Mr. Patoka calls them the "sparks") on board as early as possible. Take the time to help staff understand the reasons for the strategy, and keep in close contact as you implement.

They have no way to improve it

Far removed from your boardroom, your employees will readily spot things that can interfere with the strategy's implementation. Rather than having staff complain or shrug off the failure of management to understand their street-level challenges, give them a mechanism to help your company learn and adapt; help them share their insights with managers who have the authority to take appropriate action.

They don't have a framework

Great strategies can fail if they aren't translated into tactics. Explain to managers and employees how the new strategy affects what they do on a day-to-day basis.

They don't have benchmarks

You need a set of measures that sets out milestones that must be met, so you can chart your progress against expectations. A key metric is adoption - it's not a hard number, but more a sense, positive or negative, of whether your strategy is being taken up.

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MANAGEMENT / FEEDBACK

Many strong-willed managers turn to Jell-O when they have to give feedback. In Canadian HR Reporter, Eileen Chadnick, of Big Cheese Coaching in Toronto, says you can improve by reframing your thinking about feedback.

Instead of seeing the giving of feedback to your staff as a necessary evil, something you must do as quickly as possible, view it as an opportunity to invest in them and support their development. Treat feedback as an opportunity, not a trap.