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Without getting into too many details here, the NPS goes way beyond measuring customer satisfaction, and with its scoring, companies can segment their customer base into categories aptly-named titles as promoters, passively satisfied or detractors.

We have clients currently using a system we built around this concept that includes asking driving component questions to help give further insight to what the NPS is revealing.   Based on the company’s value proposition, these questions give management keen insight provided straight from the consumer.

From our reports, we think using NPS and identifying key drivers accomplishes some key objectives that companies should be embracing:

1.  Gives companies a way to connect to their customers.

2.  Offers insight on how programs can be tailored to the needs and expectations of customers according to that customer’s potential impact to the business.

3.  Consistently gives insight that can be applied to business processes and service levels to improve the company’s offering.

4.  Provides data to update an organization’s SWOT, which can be used as a key for keeping any plan relevant throughout strategy execution.

Much has been said about the need to make sure Strategic Plans stay agile.  Well, we think NPS offers best practices insight for effective strategy execution and upkeep.  After all, who would discount the strategic value of consistent organizational insight according to the most vital stakeholder:  the Customer?

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The new year brings a fresh start, new resolutions, and new beginnings.  Lately on Twitter people have been buzzing about what their personal strategic plan means to them.  We all do some type of planning in our lives and at work, but how do we take it to the next level of a real, tangible personal strategic plan?

Strategic planning expert, Erica Olsen, uses this balance goal spreadsheet to aid in the execution of her own personal strategic plan.  It’s a great way to divide up certain aspects of one’s life and essentially create your own personal strategic plan.  So if you are one of those people that is eager to start their personal strategic plan, but do not know where to begin, here is the perfect aid to begin.

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Leadership’s role is to go beyond task delegation and get out of the habit of seeing results as an after-the-fact element of any given objective.   Before any task gets delegated, leaders need to recognize the culture in which the company operates as a factor.  If the task were a boat, what kind of cultural currents would it need to navigate through in order to get from the point of origin to the destination port?

Analogies aside, the point is that leaders need to recognize and correct for the conditions that typically stray tasks off course.  Regular progress reports geared toward the attaining results can give leaders the insight they need to make these corrections as well.  If the corrections are vexing, then you look at the source of the tasks, the larger objective, and assess if the expectations of the objective are not in line with the conditions an organization might find itself facing, like extreme economic fluctuations.

It is within this function of effective strategy execution that a plan stays relevant and responsive to the storms that will undoubtedly arise with the passage of time.   Strategic plan implementation is not complete without this process defined.

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Finishing up this first week of February marks a time when most companies are just tying up their corporate retreats and strategic planning for the upcoming years.   These last few weeks on Twitter it seems as if everyone is coming or going from their organization’s retreat where they have mapped out their company’s strategic plan.  However, it is apparent that there is a gap between the retreat and the actual execution of the strategic plan.  So, what exactly can your organization do to keep their planning momentum going after their retreat?

Strategic Planning expert, Erica Olsen, tackled this issue in last month’s Strategy Huddle.

How Do We Lose Momentum?

• No progress
• Not relevant
• No WIIFM (what’s in it for me?)
• Canceling meetings
• Feels like busy work

How To Keep Your Momentum:

• Someone needs to own the process of strategic management in the organization
• Need specific tasks & deliverables
• Schedule you strategic update meeting right away (Making it from the retreat to the first update is where most people get lost)
• Energy & focus
• Need to motivate & inspire

Taking some of these thoughts/recommendations will help your organization execute your strategy and keep the planning momentum going after your retreat.

For more information on the latest Strategy Buzz and Other Resources, please visit us at our Resources Page.

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Being Strategic is a process, not rigid set of parameters that hamstring organizations. Contrary to the article, no plan can pretend to “predict the future”, and any decent consultant knows assigning rigidity to a strategic plan is a death blow. However, there are trappings that traditional strategic plans suffer: they aren’t incorporated into regular management reviews, they undergo versioning that does not get properly distributed, or they are not tied into budgetary decisions that must take place… therefore becoming quickly irrelevant.

Strategic plans that have molted away from the trappings of being shelved more than referenced. Success with Strategic Plans comes though a better managed process that is reviewed timely to the specific needs of industry realities. Those that have no direction will never know where they are going.

Leaders should be driving the right strategy with equal effort on execution. Not thinking about strategic planning as a deliverable or an event. Strategy and execution needs to be an agile and adaptive business process. Otherwise this highly valued management tool is irrelevant.

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As I have been sitting and watching Twitter this week it was almost impossible not to notice all the buzz about the Wall Street Journal Article, “Strategic Plans Lose Favor.”   Some very interesting articles & discussions have sprouted out of this article.

LinkedIn Responded in a Tweet: “WSJ says ’strategic plans lose favor’ as companies respond to recession with more speed. So, what do…? #in http://bit.ly/9yJnyc

Another interesting article Tweeted about is “Strategic Planning Changed During the Recession” by Tom Werner.  He quickly highlights some strategic changes & the recession that coincide with the WSJ article here:  http://ow.ly/1nCYpS

So, what do you think?  Have strategic plans lost favor during this economic downturn, or do companies just need to become more agile & responsive?

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A fellow strategic planning consultant, Holly Green, wrote a great article that talks about not forgetting about the “how” by breaking down the process of getting from where we are to where we want to go into manageable steps. Below is the cliff notes version (Full Text).

Today to Six Months: Look at the gaps between your current reality and your future state. Determine what incremental steps you must take in operations, people (skills and capabilities), systems and process.

Six to Twelve Months: After you have succeeded in incremental changes, consider what new, substantial actions you need to take to reach your vision. Ideally your substantial actions are lined up to be implemented after your incremental changes have taken place and settled in. Again, consider the substantial actions in the areas of customer, operations, people and process.

Twelve to Eighteen Months and Beyond: Now you are ready to move into transformational change – maybe business model shifts or larger strategy adjustments that seemed impossible 12 months ago.

By thinking about your strategic plan in timed phases, it prevents you and your team from being totally overwhelmed. It also helps you put feet on the ideas from your retreat without thinking you have to perfectly action out the next 3+ years. Obviously the time phased items listed above are fluid and iterative. In my experience as a strategic planning consultant, no one organization will adapt the timed phases the same, but what they all do have in common, and I know you do too,  is the strong will to change happen. So, don’t forget about the “how”.

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Harvard Business Publishing recently posted the results of an employee survey to their Daily Stat blog, claiming that employees are more appreciative and enthusiastic about their jobs than a year ago. From 2008 to 2009:

• Employees who take pride in their jobs rose from 71% to 79%
• Those who recommend their employer rose from 53% to 58%

Since MyStrategicPlan is frequently used as an employee engagement tool or performance management software, we take a close look at the general level of engagement found across the US. But just like the writers at the Be Excellent blog, I question whether these findings truly indicate a more engaged workforce.

During the recession, with jobs being scarce, it stands to reason that employees would take pride in their jobs; they actually have jobs, unlike many of their unlucky neighbors.

…And about whether they’d recommend their employer, with so many people out of jobs, almost everyone has a friend who has asked for help looking for employment. If a job opens up at someone’s place of business, they’re far more incentivized to tell their friends about it than they were when jobs were plentiful.

With other recent reports and pundits warning that a recession recovery will present challenges in employee retention, I don’t believe Harvard’s rosy take on their daily stat should be a signal to employers that their people will stay put.

More than ever, it’s time to make sure that your people are engaged, that they see where they fit in your organization and they know how you plan to get where you’re going- together.

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