A buzz phrase right now is ‘organizational effectiveness’ and for a good reason. If your organization isn’t effective, profit margins and morale won’t just fail to soar; they’ll crash and burn. And problem-solving experts like Gallup believe the first step in achieving optimal organizational effectiveness is to ask how well every employee understands and embraces their company’s why.
Make Your Purpose & Vision Clear
This concept of understanding the why isn’t new. Even outside the corporate world, understanding the why is considered the first step in the transformation journey. A perfect example is the health arena.
For example, if you decide to lose weight for a wedding, as soon as the wedding passes, the weight often creeps back because the why was an event that arrived and ended on the same day; there was an expiration to the purpose.
However, if that same person decided to lose weight because the why was being able to play with their children more and continue all the hobbies they enjoy, then the why is more meaningful; it’s more than just an event or moment in time. This concept is the same in the business world.
Employees who believe their company’s why is simply providing a place to earn a paycheck won’t be as effective as employees who believe their company’s why is a bigger mission and contribution to the world.
If you’re one of the fortunate people who understand and embrace your company’s why, you may be surprised to learn that 60% of employees do not know what their company stands for; 60% do not know their company’s why.
A Clear Purpose Leads to Employee Loyalty
Companies like Auto-Valve, Inc. (AVI) show you who they are, what they believe in, and their purpose with just a glance at their website. To achieve optimal effectiveness, employees need to understand why the organization exists, its purpose, and why it matters.
If an employee needs to hunt for their company’s why, their sense of loyalty to the company and desire to make that company their professional home, versus using it as a stepping stone, will not be substantial.
Identifying and communicating your company’s why is worth the effort. Positive work cultures thrive when employees see the value in their work beyond their paycheck. So if you want organizational effectiveness at the highest level, start with identifying your company’s why and evaluate whether or not every employee understands that why and works to support and enhance that why.
