Trust Your Employees with Your Strategic Plan

Businesses know that it is important to have a strategic plan – a set of identified goals that support the bigger vision and mission of the company. Typically, strategic plans are created in conference rooms with the top executives in the company. Unfortunately, that is also where they typically stay. If this sounds familiar to you, consider changing how you use and view your company’s strategic plan. Instead of holding it close to the vest and only sharing it with a few “key” employees, consider sharing it with all employees, so that each employee is as invested in achieving that strategic plan as you are. No, you don’t have to share every minute detail, but sharing the top 2-3 strategic goals for the next year (or the next 3-5 years) could create opportunities for your business to reach those goals more easily and quickly than ever anticipated.

Here are some tips for sharing your strategic plan with your employees in a way that incentivizes them to make it their mission to help you achieve yours:

• Share the top 2-3 strategic goals that you believe employees can have the most direct impact on helping the company achieve (i.e., increasing revenue, expanding sales territory, adding new product lines, etc.)
• Have each department develop its own strategic plan that supports those 2-3 strategic goals
• You could actually implement this down to the individual level, having each employee develop individual goals for how they will support the departmental and company goals
• Consider having non-management level employees on a strategic planning or oversight committee, so that different perspectives are presented
• Consider offering incentives to employees who come up with innovative ideas to reach the strategic goals
• Adjust and modify the strategic plans at all levels as necessary
• Provide regular progress updates, so employees know where things stand; and
• Celebrate achievements and the hard work invested.

Trust your employees. Give them something bigger to work towards. You just might be surprised how much you achieve when you do.

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