Align Employee Behaviors with Strategic Goals: How To Guide

How to Align Employee Behaviors with Strategic Goals
We know from organization culture assessment data that high-performing organizations constantly align employee behaviors with strategic priorities.  They are adept at fostering specific behaviors that drive the organization toward its vision in a way that makes sense for the people AND the business. We know from organizational alignment research that the alignment of behaviors and strategies account for 71% of the difference between high and low performance in terms of revenue growth, profitability, leadership effectiveness, customer loyalty, and employee engagement.

The Importance of Behavioral Alignment in Strategy Execution
Culture impacts an organization’s ability to execute its strategy.  Why? Because successfully executing against strategic priorities requires cohesive action, and cohesive actions are influenced by the way people think, behave, spend their time, and work.  When companies invest the time to align employee behaviors with strategic goals, every decision and action helps move the strategy forward.  Strategy and culture misalignment, on the other hand:

• Slows strategic progress and impedes innovation.
• Wastes resources and fails to grasp opportunities.
• Decreases employee engagement and motivation.
• Reduces cultural accountability and creates friction between individuals and teams.
• Creates a palpable disconnect between the company’s strategic aspirations and its day-to-day operations.

5 Steps to Align Employee Behaviors with Strategic Goals
Aligning behaviors with strategy is not without challenges. Common obstacles include resistance to change, lack of clarity around strategic goals, and inconsistencies in leadership.  To address these challenges, consider the following steps to ensure that your employees can translate the WHAT of your strategy into the HOW of their behaviors:

1. Clearly Define and Communicate Strategic Goals
   We know from action learning leadership development projects that leaders must clarify any ambiguities in strategic objectives to ensure all employees have a clear understanding of what matters most at an individual, team, and organizational level. Ensure that everyone has a comprehensive understanding of the role they play in achieving the organization’s goals.  Whenever possible, have each individual and team break down broad organizational goals into specific, actionable objectives for their role and department.

   Can everyone articulate how their work contributes to the bigger picture?

2. Translate Strategic Goals into Observable Behaviors
   Once strategic goals and accountabilities are established, define the specific and observable behaviors required for individual and team success. By clarifying the behaviors that lead to success, leaders provide employees with a clear blueprint for how they can contribute.  Based upon leadership simulation assessment data, have teams answer questions like:

   — What organizational structures, systems, processes, ways of working, or business practices need to change to achieve our team’s goals?
   — How should individual, team, or organizational contexts, conditions, assumptions, beliefs, or values adjust to become more aligned with where our team needs to be?
   — What team norms and individual behaviors need to start, stop, or continue to better align with what we are trying to accomplish?
   — What one or two things need to shift or solidify to best execute the strategy?

   Is everyone clear on the necessary behavior shifts that matter most to best execute the strategy?

3. Foster a Culture of Feedback and Continuous Improvement
   We know from project postmortem data that creating a culture of feedback is essential for aligning behaviors with strategy. Regular feedback sessions, coaching, and peer evaluations allow employees to refine their behaviors continuously. Open and honest feedback also signals to employees that behavioral alignment is an ongoing process rather than a one-time adjustment.  Asking people how they would do their work differently to become more purposefully aligned is a great start.

   Do your teams have the motivation and skills to provide frequent feedback in a way that emphasizes the connection between the desired behaviors and strategic priorities?

4. Incorporate Behavioral Alignment into Performance Metrics
   To reinforce the desired behaviors, integrate specific, measurable, and observable strategy-aligned behaviors into your performance management process. The objective is to ensure that employees focus on the “how” as much as the “what” of their job. Whatever form it takes, it should clearly connect the behavior to the strategy, reinforcing alignment.  You will know you are on the right track when everyone knows where they stand at all times.

   Are you fairly measuring, transparently communicating, and proportionately rewarding the “what” and “how” of each and every employee in a way that aligns with desired strategic outcomes?

5. Lead by Example
   When it comes to behavior change at work, any deviation by formal or informal leaders can undermine alignment efforts. Leaders must set the tone for behavioral change and alignment. When executives, managers, and high performers model the behaviors they wish to see in their teams, they demonstrate a commitment to the strategy that inspires others to follow. Leaders should be fair and intentional in their daily actions and interactions to ensure that they consistently demonstrate and reinforce the desired key behaviors.

   Do your leaders and high performers exhibit consistent leadership actions that reinforce the desired behaviors?

The Bottom Line
Your strategy must go through your culture to be successfully implemented.  A company’s culture can help or hinder strategic progress.  To accelerate strategic priorities, create a purposefully aligned culture that embeds strategic priorities into everyday practices of how work gets done.

To learn more about how to align employee behaviors with strategic goals to reinforce success at every level, download Changing Corporate Culture: 4 Do’s and 3 Don’ts