Strategy Alignment
The Issue
Many companies find that formulating a winning business strategy is easier than getting their organization to implement it effectively. Gaps exist in all organizations between intended outcomes and actual results. While there are many reasons for these gaps, the biggest factor in creating them is usually the lack of alignment of work and people with strategy across the organization.
Our Point of View
- The foundation for aligning work and people with strategy is a shared understanding of the ultimate indicator(s) of value creation, followed by the identification of the factors that drive value if executed with excellence.
- Organizations need to orient their processes and resource deployment decisions around these drivers of value creation rather than around functions or measures.
- While all value drivers contribute to the success of the organization, there are a small number that rise above all others in importance to creating value and implementing strategy. The greatest focus and discipline within the organization should be on gaining clarity in what excellence looks like for these high-priority areas.
- Increasingly, critical work and processes require involvement across functions and departments and, therefore, should be viewed in an organization-wide context. A value tree will help accomplish this integration across the organization.
Our Approach
- Build a ValueTree: We work with the leadership team to identify the ultimate indicator(s) of value and the drivers of value creation. The value tree forms the foundation for enhancing strategy execution, and the process of developing the value tree is in itself effective in aligning the leadership team. We then work with the leadership team to prioritize the value drivers, identify what excellence looks like for the key drivers, and assess the effectiveness of the most critical drivers.
- Value Tree Mapping™: Once the value tree has been created, we work with the leadership team to assess organizational initiatives, time allocation, processes, and resourcing against the value tree to determine the degree of alignment with the critical value drivers. This leads to a determination of the nature, magnitude and implications of the strategy alignment gaps.
- Roadmap for Alignment: We then help to identify the actions needed to close the most important gaps between current and desired state in order to align with the most critical value drivers.
Typical Benefits
- Improved performance in areas that matter most to creating value for the organization.
- High level of focus and discipline.
- Integration and alignment across the organization.
- Objective foundation for clearer accountability and leadership alignment.
To learn more, contact us by phone at (312) 523-2123 or by email.