Vision? What vision?
By Jan Pallas, Pallas AssociatesPrinted in North East Business July/August 2006
“It's no use asking me mate, I just work here.”
How many CEO's or MD's can put their hand on their heart and say that every member of their workforce knows and understands their vision of where they see the company in five or ten years time and how they are going to get there?
So much excitement and planning at strategic level within the confines of the boardroom but how much of it is cascaded down the chain of command to the shop floor workers or the administration staff in the office?
In any organisation where people are seen to be important, management must make a substantial effort to ensure that communication works within the machinations of the structure. Communication will therefore be an integral part of all management training and a regular flow of information both up and down the structure will be accepted and necessary to the successful operation of the business. The benefit to an organisation where people are kept “in the know” is that their feeling of belonging and being involved will normally lead to loyalty and satisfaction with their jobs. This can often be seen in organizations with a very low labour turnover and which have many long-service employees thus reducing the high costs related to recruitment and selection or even constructive dismissal claims. Good communication ranks high among the items which cause employees to feel well-treated.
Many forward-looking organizations have proved that not only do managers need to be able to communicate, but, where open communication exists in its truest form, information and ideas flow up and down through the organisation. Everyone is able to communicate if given the right opportunity. This is used to best advantage in organizations where proper briefing systems, consultation, employee involvement, suggestion schemes and other such forums are encourages and used as part of the everyday working environment. All levels of management from top executives to team leaders need to be trained to make the most of these structures and to be able to offer the right information at the right time.
“Leadership is the lifting of a man's vision to higher sights, the raising of a man's performance to a higher standard, the building of a man's personality beyond it's normal limitations. Nothing better prepared the ground for such leadership than a spirit of management that confirms in the day-to-day practices of the organization strict principles of conduct and responsibility, high standards of performance, and respect for the individual and his work.” (Peter Drucker, 1955)
An organisation needs a vision, it needs a leader who has the ability to inspire confidence in others and ensure that those followers understand the vision (through open channels of two-way communication) and are able to achieve the vision through a variety of training and development methods). Very simply, leadership is achievement through people.
