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Talent - Why Alignment Matters

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A business is a system designed to serve a customer AND produce a profit. This is a very complicated system consisting of hundreds or even thousands of processes all designed to serve the customer and produce a profit. Managing all these processes are people - the talented people that make up your team.

Like an engine all parts have to be properly aligned or you will experience loss loss of horsepower, inefficiencies and possibly failure.

So, what do we mean by alignment - it quite simply means that for every person on your team you should be able to draw a clear line to the operational process they manage, the operational processes that support them, the systems that measure their performance and provide feedback, the customer they are serving and how that customer fits into your strategy.

Sounds simple enough - but in reality is very challenging.

Often compensation and reward systems don't reward the correct behavior.

Financial statements are prepared to meet basic tax requirements, not provide detailed feedback on a specific business process, team or customer.

Internal departments such as accounting, purchasing, equipment or deliveries become inwardly focused and lose sight of how they fit into the system; how to serve the customer and how to produce a profit. Focusing on a budget IS NOT the same as focusing on serving the customer and producing a profit.

How do you get things aligned?

Start by working to define everything your company does as a process. Take one small piece of the company at a time. If you do a few major processes per month you will achieve phenominal results in 1-2 years.

Now describe how every process ties into either serving the customer or producing a profit. Many processes are there for checks and balances - do a quick calculation of what the cost of the process is versus the downside of not checking. You will probably find that you can eliminate some processes all together.

Finally, assign one or more of your team members to manage each process. Set your compensation, reviews and rewards based on how well each employee manages these processes.

"Manage processes and lead people." - Michael Gerber
Posted by David on November 25, 2005 11:19 AM|Permalink

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