Achieving Results with Dynamic Plans and Adaptable Employees

• Published in: Employment Relations Today Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 51 - 55
• Main Author: Trammell, Joel
• Format: Journal Article Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA Wiley Periodicals, Inc 01.01.2015; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: Contingency planning; Employees; Guidelines; Human resource management; United States > US
• ISSN: 0745-7790; 1520-6459
• DOI: 10.1002/ert.21474

What is the plan? People look to their leaders to help them understand what they should do and when they should do it. Unfortunately, most modern businesses don't lend themselves to being planned out step-by-step in intricate detail. Can Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, write an exacting plan for creating the next revolutionary device? Did Alan Mulally save Ford by creating a detailed plan describing every car the company would build, how many it would sell, the exact nature of every agreement with every vendor, and so on? Of course not. Much of the work done in modern corporations requires employees to creatively adapt to different customers and ever-changing business conditions. So what are leaders to do? Should they throw out the entire planning process and just wing it? That certainly doesn't seem like a professional approach to management. The answer lies in communicating intent and monitoring reality. Employees at every level need to understand the "why" of what they are doing and then transmit the reality on the ground back to the top. The problem in many organizations is that employees are not aligned with the high-level goals of the company. Most businesses operate in a highly competitive environment. Constantly changing conditions make most detailed strategic plans out of date before the planning process is complete.