5 Enable Empower Engage E3 People

Introduction

It is a truism to say, “People are our most valuable asset,” but it is also inaccurate.

First, people are not “assets” owned by the company, and talented people won’t work for leaders who treat them as chattel. Organization members (employees, volunteers, etc.) are sovereign human beings and stakeholders. As Drucker (2006) points out, we as leaders often need them more than they need us.

Second, all too often leader decisions, policies, and behaviors tell a very different story. Instead of valuable assets, leader actions often paint employees as an expense to be minimized and leveraged for maximum profit. Treating employees as an expense to be minimized is like killing the “goose that laid the golden egg.”

People bridge strategy development and strategy deployment. While we often present strategy process activities in sequence, in reality, assessing the workforce's capability and capacity also informs strategy development. Leaders of high-performing organizations view workforce members as whole people, not cogs in a machine.

Read Chapter 5, Enable, Empower, Engage, in the [Re]Create Book.

Objective – Understand the Enable, Empower, and Engage (E3) People concepts, components, and relationships and how they contribute to leadership and organization [re]design for sustainable excellence.

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How many people with what knowledge, skills, and abilities do you need to support your strategy? In this lesson, you will apply the key E3 people concepts to your organization. Specifically, you will identify workforce capabilities and capacity for each strategic goal, and you will develop a communication plan for the critical messages essential to achieving the strategy.

Workforce Capability and Capacity 

Video 0:42

Objective – Identify the workforce capabilities and capacity for each strategic goal.

We start with the workforce capability and capacity. Goals are dreams without the people to make them a reality. Do we have enough of the right kind of people to accomplish our strategy?

Strategic Goal

Identify the strategic goals from the previous lab. For example, one goal might be to increase top-line revenue through more repeat and referral business by improving customer service.

Workforce Capability

Identify the workforce capabilities needed to accomplish each goal. For example, customer service representatives with superior interpersonal and problem-solving skills under stressful conditions. Do we currently have people like this? Do we have the “in-house” ability to train people?

Workforce Capacity

Identify the workforce capacity requirements for each capability identified. For example, you may need a total of 450 customer representatives at two different locations (countries). You may currently only have 327 such people combined between the two locations.

Repeat the process for each strategic goal. What are the workforce capability and capacity requirements, and where do you stand on those requirements?

Communication Plan 

Video 3:14

Objective – Develop a communication plan for the major messages essential to achieving the strategy.

Once you have the right people, the next step is to get everyone working toward the strategy. A good communication strategy helps get people “on the same page” by communicating where we are going and what is expected of them. A communication plan includes five key components – message, medium, sender, audience, and frequency.

Message

Identify the message or type of message. Include purpose and key content elements in the expanded description. Examples – Strategy, Strategy Update, Operations Plan, Work Plan, Employee Benefits Update.

Medium

Identify the medium or media and whether it is a one-way or two-way medium or forum. Examples – All-hands face-to-face meetings, teleconference, small group face-to-face meetings, email, webinars.

Sender

Identify the sender by position – which person or persons will deliver this message. Describe the rationale for choosing these particular people in the expanded description. Examples: CEO, COO, Supervisor, SVP of Human Resources.

Audience

Identify the audience, including a profile of the typical audience member. You may have several types of audience members, and you may need to create a separate line for each. Examples – All employees, Direct Reports, Topic-specific employees, Leaders.

Frequency

Identify how often this type of message is delivered. Some messages may be regularly scheduled, continuous via 24×7 accessible media, or ad hoc, such as a one-time occurrence. Examples – Annual, Quarterly, Weekly, Daily, Ad hoc.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, when faced with short-sighted decisions about employees, you often hear the excuse, “well, it is a business.” Yes, and all too often, a BAD business. When leaders use “business” to justify short-term decisions that reduce longer-term performance and profitability, they again show a lack of understanding of the organization as a system and reduce the firm's long-term value. They may know it is the wrong decision, but they lack the courage to advocate for or do what is best for long-term performance. We need leaders who can produce short-term results without sacrificing long-term performance: leaders who understand systems and can [re]design the organization to create value for all the stakeholders.