You may as well read tea leaves all year if you leave culture kpi's out of your 2018 business pl
It is business planning season. That stressful time of year when budgets and headcounts for the following year are decided. Leaders work to impossible deadlines to fill in the blanks and submit plans on time. Sleep is lost, nails are chewed and a lot of grumbling about frozen operational spends and unrealistic revenue/sales targets goes on!
Familiar?
The figures drive the game, with kpi’s of course often created around sales and revenue, profit and loss etc etc. etc Where though, does culture and employee engagement fit into all this measurement on the Business Plan each year?
I’m still surprised when I speak with leaders to find that the nearest they go to measuring culture and engagement is to basically include a percentage around anticipated staff turnover.
Or
They absolve all responsibility for truly measuring culture and let HR roll out and manage the ho-hum yearly employee satisfaction survey…giving it a cursory glance and eyebrow raise when results are received.
“It’s all too hard to concretely plan for” I hear sometimes. “Its too difficult to find measures that are valid and smart” they say.
Well here’s the thing….. Leaders who fail to include good meaty culture and engagement kpis in their business plans clearly don’t truly understand the value that culture change creates on the bottom line.
Leaders who fail to make their Managers, HR and training department accountable via their own kpi’s for improving culture are ignoring a vital contributor to business success.
Why?
Firstly, engaged employees working in a positive culture are as much a key a driver of performance as a good product, service, sales and marketing plan is. Research repeatedly shows a positive link between performance and profitability and organisations with more positive cultures.
Secondly, when culture and engagement measures are included in the kpi’s of all leaders and HR and training staff, culture change success is more likely to happen. Accountability breeds action when it is carved into the rock.
Additionally, by identifying, recording ,measuring and discussing culture
change kpi’s, within organisations, it becomes front and centre where it should.be.
Is it easy? No, Is it "do-able" though? Yes very! …And clearly worth the effort (and fun!)
So what sort of measurable culture specific kpi’s can be included in a Business plan?
Here’s a few of many: Changes in: • Employee non forced turnover • Employee net promotor score • Absenteeism rates • Employee productivity rate • Employee development enrolments • Num initiatives created to increase engagement
It really is time to get out from under the boardroom table, roll up your sleeves and take on the challenge of creating a positive and enriched workplace. Leaders be bold enough to hold yourself and others accountable for making change happen.
Need a hand with creating an awesome culture in your organisation? Contact me at lexie@lexiewilkinsconsulting if I can assist you to better engage your employees through leadership development and team building.
https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/focus/human-capital-trends/2015/employee-engagement-culture-human-capital-trends-2015.html#end-notes https://www.business.com/articles/company-culture-metrics-you-need-to-be-tracking/ http://news.gallup.com/reports/199961/state-american-workplace-report-2017.aspx
