You probably hear and often times wonder what consultants and strategist’s talk about when they discuss the alignment of an organization. Organizations generally do not have a strategic alignment system or a brand and culture alignment system in place. In fact, I would say that most organizations do not understand how to go about the process of alignment.
There are three key functional areas when it comes to organizational misalignment. Morale, Money, and Motivation.
When an organization is misaligned and does not have any clear focus, purpose or direction, employees are generally not engaged, have no real vision for the organization, and often times do not know where they fit in the organization. When they begin their workday they are often not very engaged in their work and morale eventually suffers.
Many executives look at the alignment of an organization and look at it as a soft skill that does not necessarily coincide with hard financial metrics. We disagree. Our research shows that when employees are engaged in their work and morale increases, productivity increases, therefore, the profitability in the organization rises. Employees are more interested in building a winning organization by working together for a common goal. Money by itself is not a motivator, however, the idea of hitting certain financial goals becomes paramount.
Motivation is a really funny thing when it comes to employees and the workforce. How do you get people motivated? Is it all about pizza Fridays or foosball tables and ping pong tables in the break room? Hardly. It’s really about finding a collective purpose that everyone can buy into and understand. Everyone then seems to pick up and help motivate their fellow employee. There is nothing better than positive motivation in any organization, whether it is sports, business, nonprofits, or families.