C-level executives, at corporations of every size, periodically hash out new plans to boost sales workflow and improve employee performance. However, having a simple strategy isn’t always enough. The plan must be inclusive to a majority of a company’s employees, and also must be led by someone who is not only best qualified for that specific undertaking, but also has the time to properly manage the new project at hand.
A plan should be inclusive.
Larger corporations frequently make the mistake of keeping the planning and details of new company strategies at the top, where they were born. While upper management is typically strategizesing for companywide policy, performance improvement strategies will undoubtedly affect those on the lower rungs, especially new hired sales team members.
“The best strategies have carefully chosen management spearheading the program.”
When implementing or altering an organization’s strategy make sure the new strategy is easily understandable, and is communicated to all new employees. Entrepreneur cites Southwest Airline’s low-cost corporate strategy. Southwest’s strategy is centered around low costs and efficiency. Southwest has a standard fleet of 737s and offers free checked bags all in an effort to maximize efficiency and minimize the time and effort that go with the logistics of air travel. Doing so allows Southwest’s employees to make more decisions on the fly, without having to search for answers from their managers. This strategy is easily understandable to all of Southwest’s staff, no matter which level, and creates a simple goal to stand behind.
Good strategies need top talent
The best strategies are spearheaded by carefully-chosen management.
Sales managers must know how to give rousing speeches, but also how to coach sales team members individually. The obvious choice – such as a sales team member now promoted to a management role – may not have the proper coaching experience necessary to implement new core strategies to a large team.
“By far unless the direct supervisor is perceived as owning that coaching, the coaching is likely to have relatively minimal impact,” said Brent Adamson, senior director at the Corporate Executive Board, in an interview with Inc. Magazine. “At the end of the day, people don’t leave bad companies. They leave bad managers.”
Additionally, choosing a manager with the appropriate time to commit to such projects is equally as important. A manager who is focused highly on gaining the company new clients, or on recruitment, may not be the top choice to implement such culture-defining strategies. In some cases, managers will have multiple roles within a company and time is always of the essence. Redefining something so core to a company can become a full-time job, so in order to properly balance management of new strategies with keeping a company’s sales associates happy, compensation management tools are necessary to simplify a manager’s life.
Companies looking to increase efficiency and further improve performance and sales should clearly define their employees’ salary and compensation plans, in addition to new and innovative strategies. Iconixx offers software that can help, no matter your company’s size or goals.
