Strategy developed – all aboard, the implementation can begin! … Part 5

Post 5:

The company is looking for skills that do not match the presented strategy.

A company is particularly proud of its new strategy. It focuses on innovation and transformation. The company intends to set itself up anew and to reach new shores. To conquer the blue ocean. That is what creative minds, visionaries and thinkers are needed for. So far so good. So they start looking for them internally and externally. But regardless of where you find these personalities: This is where the difference between wish and reality often becomes blatantly clear. For example, when the first extraordinary idea is put forward and is greeted with silence … until reasons are found as to why the extraordinary cannot work and one recognizes that more emphasis is placed on the proven and traditional.

Of course, every process of change can be tedious. But a very clear attitude of the company management must be demonstrated. If the management promotes new ideas and enables their realization, change will prevail. If, however, the decision-makers prefer to stick to well-known paths, the new competencies will quickly disappear. Internal staff will quickly hide them again. And external staff will not stay with the company for all that long. In a best case scenario it will become apparent during the job interview that the advertised position does not have much to do with the requirements that are discussed during the interview. In a worst case scenario the new employee will begin the job full of verve and then well and truly hit a wall. This will always lead to an unpleasant aftertaste so that the employee will probably warn other potential candidates from joining the company.

That is why every company that is planning a change of strategy should make itself fully aware of the possible consequences that might arise from it. To continue a traditional strategy is OK, even if it is no longer state of the art and will probably lead to failure in the medium term. It is more problematic to announce a new strategy and then to disappoint those employees who are looking forward to change and are full of hope. This will lead to a loss of motivation and may result in staff leaving the company. Change is not merely a mood that you can simply pretend to represent. Change is something you really have to want and pursue with commitment.