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Seven success factors of strategy communication

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The "next generation business is attained in the minds and hearts of the employees. In the end, it is always they who make things happen, inspire customers and shape progress. Especially in today's world, where transformation is becoming the norm, the orientation, inspiration and motivation of employees are gaining in importance.

Employees do not know the strategy of the company

The potential of a company is limitless. If it succeeds in taking its employees with it on the path to the future. If they pursue a clear goal together. If they become the flag bearers of the company's ambitions. Practice shows, however, that this is precisely where the problem lies. Few companies succeed in communicating their strategy to their employees.

A study by Kaplan & Norton, published in the "Harvard Business Review" in 2005, showed that, on average, 95% of employees do not know or understand their company's strategy. But if your employees don't know or understand your strategy, how are they supposed to act in line with your corporate ambitions? There is a great risk that your company will not move an inch forward and visionary strategies will remain toothless paper tigers. There are many studies on the topic of "strategy implementation".

And all of them show that 60 to 80% of corporate strategies fail in implementation. 60 to 80%! And for many, failure is programmed in from the start. Because communication of the strategy to the employees did not work. And because the culture of the company was hardly taken into account. Peter Drucker said many years ago: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast" - how true.

95% of employees do not know or understand their company's strategy!

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Successfully shaping the next generation of business often fails because of how it is communicated. When too little attention is paid to the corporate culture. When the gap between the strategy of the company and the employees cannot be bridged.

The strategy implementation problem is therefore to a large extent a strategy communication problem! How can this be solved?

Success factors of strategy mediation

In the context of strategy mediation, it has proven successful in practice to consider the following points:

Success factor 1: Communicate the meaning behind the strategy.

In the beginning there is the why! Convey the sense behind all changes and measures. Show a target image of what your company wants to achieve in the world. Get to the heart of this target image in the form of an inspiring idea, preferably in such a way that it is easy to remember and even easier to pass on. A good example of this is Roche. With "doing now what patients need next", Roche has managed to clearly express the meaning behind the company's strategic direction.

Success factor 2: Use emotional storytelling.

Create this target image in an emotional way. Use all communicative possibilities, from an attractive target image branding to catchy key visuals for core contents of your strategy to a professional and target group-oriented storytelling.

Success factor 3: Proceed intelligently and step by step

Take a step-by-step, top-down approach to communication. First win over top management as the top sales force for the strategic development of the company. They should stand united behind the new orientation and act accordingly within the company. Next, involve the informal opinion leaders. These exist at all levels and in all departments. If you gain their understanding for the new strategy, they will be an important driver for communicating it to all employees. Only then, in a third step, should you go to the internal public on a large scale and address all employees.

Success factor 4: Targeted strengthening of middle management

Strengthen middle management. It is the most important hinge between top management and employees. Its representatives have direct access to both sides, sense what is happening on the front lines and know what the strategy currently demands. In order to effectively perform their hinge function, however, they need concrete support, for example in the form of communication and behavioural training, multimedia mediation tools instead of boring PPT presentations, and convincing examples of success from individual departments in the company.

Success factor 5: Staging the kick-off

Stage the kick-off in the form of an impressive event. Every strategy communication needs an initial spark. A strong prelude that makes it clear that a new era in the company's development is now beginning. An event that creates a spirit of optimism in the company and is still present years later in the form of vivid memories for the employees. Such an event can be loud and should be completely different from anything in the past.

Success factor 6: Involve employees personally

Ensure that employees are intensely and personally involved and that they actively engage with the content and consequences of the new strategy. Avoid purely frontal lectures and use interactive communication techniques that are fun and stimulate exchange between employees. There is an inexhaustible arsenal of possibilities here, from games to discussion and workshop formats to electronic live voting.

Success factor 7: Be doggedly persistent

Take the issue of strategy communication seriously in the long term and persevere. Communicating a new direction does not happen overnight and cannot be achieved in one go. The energy quickly fizzles out and is again overshadowed by everyday issues and problems. Think of strategy communication as a continuous process. People are creatures of habit and only internalise new perspectives over time. Once the atmosphere of change has been created, it should be consistently carried forward through internal communication channels. The new strategy must be made perceptible to the employees again and again. This requires a long-term internal communication concept. In most cases, new instruments must be created for this purpose. Digital media in particular offer enormous potential that is not yet being used by most companies.

Conclusion

Those who take the seven success factors into account significantly increase their chances of a successful strategy transfer. They reach their employees and open the way to the next generation of business in their company. With the employees on board, anything is possible for the company in the future?

Author: Bastian Schneider