First Blog post - on radio about strategy and engagement

On Wednesday, November 4, I'll be on the Peter McClellan radio show from 5-6 PM on AM 1570, streaming online at business1570.com.

Being there, and posting this, and cross referencing it in Twitter and Facebook, is my foray into the new world of social media marketing.

I've held back from doing this for a while, with the nagging question in my mind "Does the world really need another blog?"

But I've come to believe that there are a few things that are well worth talking about, putting out there for public dialog and interaction, holding up for examination from a critical and maybe unique perspective.

So tomorrow what Peter and I will be talking about will be getting ready for the recovery with strategic planning and alignment. There will be other topics, including sales force development, employee engagement, assessment, and (following the Scottish theme of the show) haggis...

The last season in the economy has been hard on a lot of companies, large and small. Some have shed employees to save costs, some have retrenched, some have gone under; nearly all have struggled.

There's reason for hope - the news today reports some increases in manufacturing, and estimates of when the recovery will start to pick up get closer and closer.

At some point in the future (hopefully the near future), demand for the products and services will start to pick up. The pace of business will accelerate as the economy rebounds.

But there's a real risk at this moment, I think - one that reminds me of those old "Road Runner" cartoons where Wile E. Coyote's gone over the cliff, still spinning his legs, not falling... until he looks down.

For some companies, that have gone through layoffs - with the resulting burnout and changed culture among the "survivors" - there's a potential crisis of confidence among the best performers. If they are not engaged, if they don't know why they're coming to work in the morning, or what difference their own job makes in taking the company where they want to work toward where it needs to go.

People need to know why they come to work - beyond just collecting a paycheck and doing what's required.

They need to understand where the organization is going, feel a part of a worthy endeavor, and see the connection between their contribution of talent and effort and organizational goals that are worth it.

If the strategy hasn't changed in several years, or if it's unknown, or disbelieved, or clearly not working, people won't buy into it, and they won't give their best. Having no strategy, or one that doesn't fit reality, leads to cynicism and lack of faith.

And burnout, cynicism, skepticism about the organization's future may have a very bad (and not widely expected) impact: The best people in the organization will start looking for other work exactly when they're needed most.

What if, instead, organizations can muster the wisdom and focus to re-engage in a systematic strategic planning process? What if it's clear to all that the leadership is planning to take the organization in directions that its people can believe in? What if they take the strategy throughout the organization, so that everybody knows where the organization's going, and wants to go along?

Maybe that will be a key difference between the companies that are able to step up to the coming recovery, with their people engaged and giving their best, and those that get surprised by the loss of key talent at the moment they're needed most.