In the previous article we touched on the fourth S Skills and proven strategies for successful alignment, effective onboarding and reducing the impacts of ‘premature evacuation’.
Today we are looking at the fifth S Strategy and applying unique strengths to roles and minimising weaknesses for placement and career success. It’s crucial to recognise that starting in a new role isn’t only about focusing within the function, as many mistakenly believe. It’s about figuring out how to provide value in the context of the overall business strategy.
Understanding the organisation’s strategy
When you understand the business strategy, you can make individual choices that reinforce values, thus aligning behaviour with the business for ultimate effectiveness. Understanding the business strategy of the employer, or at least the business unit, using this framework:
- Objective: this is not the business’s overall mission, but rather, the specific objective they hope to achieve. In other words, it is the ‘ends’.
- Scope: this provides boundaries for the customer or the offering, geographic location and vertical integration, often defining where the strategy will not go. It is the ‘domains’.
- Advantage: differentiating the company’s competitive advantage is the most critical aspect of the strategy statement. It is the ‘means’.
So, I’ve mentioned that strategy has ties to a business’s priorities and according to Tom Bartman, a researcher for Harvard Business School, understanding an organisation’s priorities is more important than understanding its capabilities.
Why is that? Well, priorities impose limits on the business, while simultaneously directing the business’ focus. No matter the capabilities of an organisation (resources, staff and processes), success only comes from pursuing activities that are consistent with priorities and therefore, strategy. You see, if the business activities require additional capabilities to meet an opportunity, the organisation will simply invest in that capability. It does not work both ways.
My practical, proven strategies for successful alignment, effective onboarding and reducing the impacts of ‘premature evacuation’ is based on the famed McKinsey 7-S alignment framework.
In our next post we will be looking at some of the main points of the Sixth S Staff and in our final post for the series we will be looking at the remaining S Systems, for effective onboarding and how recruiters can reduce impact of ‘premature evacuation’.
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Greg Weiss is Australia’s leading career coach. He is the author of “So You Got the Job! WTF Is Next?”. The book prescribes a proven, practical 7-step guideline for new employees, so they succeed, rather than fail their probation periods and beyond. Find out more about the book at https://www.wtfisnext.wtf
He is the Founder and Director of Onboff an online training and coaching platform that helps HR specialists, coaches and recruiters to deliver exceptional onboarding and offboarding experiences for employees.
He also hosts The Keep: The Employee Experience podcast and runs CareerSupport365
