This post is the seventh in a series that will identify 10 different obstacles that have emerged from my analysis of customer satisfaction data. Maybe you will have encountered one or more of these obstacles in your own business? The seventh obstacle is a lack of clarity of purpose.
A lack of clarity of purpose exists whenever employees know WHAT to do and HOW to do it but do not know WHY they are doing it. This is most often the case.
When I ask five employees with the same job title WHAT they do and HOW they do it, 80 percent of the responses are similar. This is no surprise since these employees are simply describing their job functions (duties and tasks associated with a job role).
However, when I ask the same five employees WHY (from the organization’s perspective*) they do it, 80 percent of the responses differ.
* Human motivation theory is beyond the scope of this post. Simply recognize that each employee’s personal WHY (motivation for his/her individual work commitment or performance) is unique and, though it may be complimentary, likely differs from the organization’s WHY.
Most of the time, an organization’s WHY is unknown to employees. Or, this WHY is known but is misunderstood or misinterpreted by employees. There are a variety of reasons for this variance: lack of communication, awareness, understanding, credibility, interest, etc.
Let’s say the organization’s purpose (its WHY) is reflected in the vision statement:
“We will strive to provide exceptional customer service to our coworkers and customers, vendors, and other stakeholders in order to create promoters of our company.”
That may be the organization’s stated purpose—you know, the one that’s framed in the executive offices and perhaps is referenced during the company’s new-hire orientation—but it cannot inspire people without being reflected in the culture, policies, and practices of the company and without being brought to life daily in the words and actions of company leaders.
I recently read the book, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek. In it, he affirms:
“To inspire starts with the clarity of WHY… When a WHY is clear, those who share that belief will be drawn to it and maybe want to take part in bringing it to life… Average companies give their people something to work on… (The best) organizations give their people something to work toward.”
What are your people working toward?
