Businesses are built on Strategy – a long term plan, created for the company to reach a desired future state, envisioned as business goals and objectives.
Hours and days of brainstorming sessions are absorbed into developing a strategic roadmap or a visioning storyline. The first victory is tasted when people inside the boardroom succeed in clarifying the objectives and formulating the business ambitions in a comprehensive and structured way. But the real challenge is waiting just outside that door, where your real people busy creating value for the customer and facing them day in and day out, are to be given the same message. To seed the thoughts of strategy implementation and motivate and inspire them to execute that masterplan you have put together as a business strategy. And that’s when we truly realize that “rallying the troops” is will become that enviable line to cross between a strategic paper and a competitive advantage.
Human Dynamics is an important foundation that enables organizations to create a shared dynamic amongst the population towards the strategic goal. The application of the appropriate methodologies and techniques linked to the human factor can make or break corporate initiatives and programs. At EFESO, we have continuously used our experience of working in tandem with our clients, to develop a longstanding track record in this domain and we continue to strengthen our Human Dynamics offerings.
A Human Dynamics Case Illustration in the automotive industry
This recent case illustrates how EFESO used the Human Dynamics techniques to boost the success of a corporate strategy program. We were engaged by a renowned automotive service provider, who has been at a pivotal point in its progression journey. The client aims to expand as a truly international player in the market, whilst securing its core values and work ethics across its footprints. The challenge for the management team is multifold: revise the strategy & value proposition; move towards revenue diversification based on its historical strengths; and ensure that all their employees continue to feel connected.
We took a holistic approach, and instead of having a small leadership group and project teams responsible for the development of the new strategy, we involved all managerial layers as part of the project. Responsibility for each layer in the development of the strategy follows the hierarchy in the organization. The responsibility of building the strategy is bestowed on members of the hierarchical layer in the organization. Their role is not to be mere participants in meetings & workshops, but to actively share ideas and be engaged in the process and development of the content. Each layer in the organization is assumed to be the owner of the strategy and has the responsibility to develop the strategy at their level. The same approach is used in the co-creation and cascading of the company’s strategy story.
We used a series of work sessions supported by Human Dynamics tools and techniques such as work-mats, communication workshops, communication cascades etc. Our engagement worked as an impetus for everyone involved as they felt the sense of belonging and trust to reflect on the strategic framework and translate it into concrete contributions together with the entire team. The result were heartening, as the strategic storyline became a masterpiece of many instead of a story by a few.
About the author:
Wouter Defoort is Senior Manager at EFESO Management Consultants