Success is often defined by the talent leaders are able to attract, develop and retain. Companies with the best approach to their craftsmen and their culture produce the highest returns and safest results.
Today, craftsmen have a choice of where they work and under what conditions. They will still move for more dollars, but they increasingly value more from their employers whether it is culture, safety or training. So, you ask, what does that have to do with thinking inside the box? Everything.
The concept of "thinking outside the box" has been the go-to superstar for decades. Our work has found that organizations have a much better chance of success if you understand the parameters you're working within as an organization -- "thinking inside the box." By building your box, you're focusing on establishing your brand's DNA. While the challenges for each company are unique, the framework is consistent across industries.
The four sides of the box are:
1.Direction.
2.Operations.
3.People.
4.Engagement.
By building your box, you are focusing on longevity, endurance and the sustainability of your company -- not just immediate needs or demands.
In this first of a four-part series, we focus on the first side of the box, direction, comprising three dimensions: vision and values, strategy and leadership.
The findings from our research consistently demonstrate that without direction, employees become disengaged and less productive. Direction affects every aspect of the company and its ability to connect with and move its people to a shared vision of where the company is going.
Vision and values
A clearly defined and stated vision is a crucial first step to aligning organizational structure. Vision unites, inspires and sets the tone for higher thinking throughout the organization.
Values set the standards of what is important to your company. While there are values that all companies share, such as integrity, creating profit and building exemplary products, there also need to be clearly articulated values that distinguish your company from others.
Strategy
Your strategy tells the plan of where your company is headed; it is your definition of change. It gives form to a general idea or plan, assigns specific language to what it is you are committing to achieve and details the specific pathways describing how you are to go about it.
Often, we find there is either no clearly communicated strategy in place or one that is too complex to implement, and if there is a clear plan, it isn't clear who is responsible for what or how it collectively fits together. Leadership needs a strategy that all can believe in, rely and act on.
Leadership
Clarity can't exist without leadership. It is the highest and most reliable indicator of success. Otherwise, individuals, teams and departments are operating in silos of their own understanding. The ideas, values and strategies in this quadrant begin to define a purposeful culture that is inextricably linked to overall organizational commitment, reliability and performance.
Outcome
One company in the industrial services field needed help with its culture and retaining craftsmen. Using inside-the-box thinking, they created online platforms for communication, used 100-foot-by-100- foot permanent signs outside their buildings exhibiting the company's core values, and humanized their safety program with down-to-earth, understandable and highly creative collateral and messaging. These efforts helped make the employees feel valued and appreciated and reinforced that they were able to climb the ladder within the company, ultimately lowering turnover rates.
Success starts with building the four sides of your box.
For more information, email Deutser at bdeutser@deutser.com or call (713) 850-2105.
