(Newswire.net — September 9, 2021) — A company’s vision expresses not only where a company aspires to be in the future, but what it aspires to be. It is part of the DNA of a business. It, alongside the mission and strategy, forms the heart of the governing principles of any business. It’s not surprising then that company executives and founders spend so much time crafting their company vision. Yet, after endless hours of finding the right words and searching for the vision that seems truest to the company’s founders, many employees complain that the company either doesn’t have a vision, or they just don’t understand it. Why do so many employees not understand the company vision?
Poor Communication
Communication the company vision goes beyond a line in an email or a mention at a company meeting or corporate get-together. Done in that off-hand way, it doesn’t matter how well-written and heartily-felt a company vision is. It will exist as nothing more than empty words. The company vision must be communicated repetitively and in different settings until and beyond the point where employees automatically associate the company vision with the company. Repetitiveness tells everyone that the company vision is part of the DNA of the company. So long as the company is there, the company vision will be too. It’s also important to show examples of the company’s vision in action. This helps to make it more concrete, more tangible. It allows the employees to imagine h0ow they can use the company vision to guide their work.
Come Down to Earth
Many company visions are far too abstract to be meaningful to employees far down the corporate ladder. To an extent, this is unavoidable. It has to be abstract in order for it to be concise. The company vision must be allied to communication adapted to each level of the organization. Demonstrate and explain to each organizational level, just how their work enables and ties into the company vision. By creating a chain of discourse around how each level is part of the company vision, workers can see how they contribute to achieving the company vision. It is no longer an abstract thing, but something immediate and conceptually tangible.
Actions Must Emanate from the Company Vision
They say that actions speak louder than words. In many organizations, the true vision of the company is different from the stated vision. This is seen in how managerial decisions seem at odds with or just different from the company vision. Employees judge an organization’s vision, not from its words, but from the deeds of its managers.
Managers must have high fidelity to the company vision. At the executive level, decisions must emanate from the company vision, rather than be tagged onto the company vision after they’ve been made. This is the great flaw of many decision-making processes. That disconnect can seem like a betrayal of the company’s vision and lead employees to feel disconnected, apathetic, and even cynical about the business. The fidelity of the managers will communicate the vision of the company and inspire employees to be equally loyal. Management sets the tone.
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