Closing the Gap - Going from Strategy to Performance in Five Steps - Article Example

Download file to see previous pages Different steps have been laid out to assist in the achievement of organizational performance, which means that they need to be followed and monitored closely to allow organizations better their operations. Practices in the organization need to be in line with the formulated strategy to allow proper flow of operations.

The five-step program is aimed at ensuring organizations have a fundamental way of reaching their employees. This is through relaying the ultimate goals which the organization is aiming for, which need better decision-making skills and communication channels. A strategic pilot is what the five-step program is identified as and brings to focus the anticipated performance that organizations aim for in their repertoire. Different leadership practices are also addressed in the five-step process, which might allow managers to bring proper cohesion to frontline employees. Managers claim the performance loss between strategy formulation and strategy implementation can be solved through communication and strategy execution practices (Knowles, 2011). The article summarizes the five-step program, otherwise known as the strategic pilot.

CRITIQUE
Closing the Gap: Going from Strategy to Performance in Five Steps
The article is written by Brett Knowles that aims to help management in translating strategy into performance. In the article, this has been described as the biggest challenge facing most organizations. In the first step of the strategic pilot, the author indicates that organizations need to make their strategies accessible. Communicating the formulated strategy in a manner that stakeholders can understand makes it possible for them to examine the correlation between strategy and the organization’s success. Indicating that the strategy is aimed at more than the financial capability and standing of the organization is crucial in helping the implementation of strategies in the organization. The next step involves selecting the right amount of information that may be useful as compared to handling large amounts of data. This step assists in selecting the highest priority in the organization, and dealing with it (Knowles, 2011).

The third step involves listing strategic objectives to determine the impact and core of each process. The higher weighted objectives can be placed in higher levels in the listing while the lighter objectives can be placed in lower listings. These listings assist in translating strategy into performance as the highest priorities get the recognition they deserve. In the fourth step, strategies are placed at the center of the management practices. The reason behind this is that leadership in the organization is engaged, and the strategic governance process grows. The performance results point the organization toward process improvement, which may guarantee organizational success. The approach works to deploy strategies from the top down, and solutions are built only where they can add value to the organization (Knowles, 2011).

Finally, the fifth step/approach focuses on assisting businesses to become strategy-based organizations. This is through evaluating all the above approaches and properly implementing their use. Simply stating the intentions behind such approaches is not enough to guarantee the organization’s success. This means that all approaches have to be evaluated and their efficacious nature determined. Deploying the use of the strategic pilot may guarantee a high success rate (Knowles, 2011). In my opinion, the article brings out some of the fundamental approaches that might be considered obvious, but are not often employed in organizations to their benefit. It is the belief of countless individuals that the incorporation of such approaches may lead to time wastage, which organizations cannot contend with due to the competition and aggression organizations are facing.

This should not be the case with an organization that strives to be at the top of the business chain. Taking time to evaluate approaches that determine the direction the organization will take may be the difference between success, staying afloat, and collapsing. Strategy formulation should be based on feasible targets, and the strategic pilot may assist in making strategy formulation and strategy implementation a reality. The loss experienced in performance can be reduced significantly through these steps/approaches. Frontline employees and management can reduce this gap and improve the relationship that exists between the formulation and implementation of strategies in the organization, therefore; realizing their targets. ...Download file to see next pages Read More