【正文】 n lead to lack of clarity. AeroMexico, for example, had worked with a strategy consulting firm that delivered a 249page report listing key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring progress by the enterprise. The good news was that the KPIs gave the top team metrics for measuring success. The bad news was that there were 100 of them, and they weren’t prioritized. “It was clear that execution would suffer unless we identified the most important ones, says AeroMexico CEO Arturo Barahona. “So we discussed which ones connected most directly with our strategic priorities and where we were in the business cycle, and each team member settled on five chief goals.” By gaining clarity on key objectives, the team greatly increased the odds that signals would transmit clearly down the line. Getting buyin at the top Hay research on teams has shown that it’s not unmon for team members to nod their heads in agreement when new strategies are set in meetings, then go back to their division or department and carry on exactly as they had before. In effect, they end up sabotaging the plan. That’s why gaining buyin is essential to effective execution, and dialogue is what makes it happen. Hay Group, Inc. All rights reserved 6 IBM created an executive team consisting of six technical leaders at an applied research unit. Their mission: build strong relationships with top research universities so that IBM could recruit innovative scientists capable of developing breakthrough products. The problem was that the , all worldclass scientists, were used to peting for research dollars and dismissing each other39。d said yes to the VP39。t succeed. How are we going to get it? At first, Ginsberg recalls, she met silence. Finally one team member raised her hand. She was willing to get out there to the universities, and be more visible, go out with the recruiter and the senior human resources people, said Ginsberg. She also agreed to help some upanding scientists learn how to develop relationships with universities. A second team member said he would help her make some calls. The ice was broken and all the team members eventually took on group responsibilities. It was all about dialogue, says Ginsberg. Until the individual leaders embraced the unifying elements of the strategy for the good of the enterprise, they only attended to their own mission. The dialogue helped them buyin, agree to some shared activities, and begin to work more collaboratively. 2. Set up systems and processes to create clarity Why is executing strategy so difficult, even when the plan is clear? Because good execution only happens when employee behavior is aligned with strategy. And many managers can’t, won’t or don’t create the “transmitter opportunities” required to get people to do the right things. Managers: can’t because they don’t know how to talk with their subordinates about change and/or poor performance。 or, simply don’t realize that successful strategy execution will never happen without ongoing performance dialogue. Hay Group, Inc. All rights reserved 7 Part of the solution to this problem is creating systems and processes that force performance dialogue. General Dynamics Defense Systems (GDDS) in Pittsfield, MA, is one pany where creating such systems has contributed to dramatic results. From 1999 to 2022, attrition among its valued software engineers dropped from 20 percent to percent. Union grievances dropped from 57 to zero, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars. And, best of all, earnings and profit margins doubled. What GDDS did In 1999 the $200 million plus defense contractor challenged its employees to improve the pany’s negotiating leverage on bids, and thereby increase margins and profitability. To acplish this goal, senior management directed all departments to chase out costs, and created numerous processes to transmit the costcutting strategy down the managerial ranks right to the shop floor, which is where they felt many of the best costcutting ideas would e from Carmen Simonelli, director of facilities and security, says his department’s goal was to push labor costs 5 percent below budget, with a “stretch” goal of 6 percent. That was ambitious given that direct applied labor costs