3 Ways Management Can Bridge the Alignment Gap and Improve Performance

Alignment has been an important buzzword in management circles for a long time. Intellectually, most managers understand that gaps in the alignment between employees and management create inefficiencies and waste. It keeps organizations from achieving their full potential. Any business that wants to grow and become an industry leader must address any alignment gaps. Here are three ways to bridge these gaps.

 1. Direct Communications

 Often employees are different priorities from management simply because of miscommunication. Too many companies have a diffuse communications system. The message from the top is filtered down to the employees through the chain of command. But, like the childhood game of telephone, the message often mutates as it passes through multiple layers inside of the organization. The management team should communicate directly with the entire organization. Direct communication keeps everyone on the same page and prevents the management team’s goals from being corrupted by misunderstandings and intentional oversights.

 Direct communication should be done through multiple channels. This can include email but should also include things like social media and internal chat apps.

 2. Model Transparency

 Employees often feel like management operates in a black box. They don’t understand how decisions are made and often are unaware of shifts in strategy. Individual teams and departments often also operate with a level of secrecy that keeps management in the dark about what is happening throughout the company.

 Management needs to model transparency. Everyone needs to be able to see how decisions are made and to know what is the vision and strategy of the company. As management becomes more transparent it will also encourage the teams and departments to be more transparent. When an organization is transparent it is easy for everyone to see that they are working towards the same goals.

 3. Make Learning a Core Responsibility

 Alignment gaps occur because employees do not see where they fit into the larger goals of the company. They have regular performance evaluations that seem untethered to the realities of their daily tasks. One way to bridge this gap is to make employee learning a core responsibility.

 This helps employees understand that their skills are essential to the successful operation of the entire company. It shows employees that the organization cares about their growth and development. It also helps employees see where their individual work and skills fit into the bigger picture.

 Employees will realize that their performance affects the success of the company and incentives them to get better at their jobs. When learning becomes a core responsibility for every employee in the company, gaps between the goals of the organization and the individual employees disappear.

 In every industry, the difference between elite, successful companies, and their struggling competitors is the same. Leading companies have achieved tight alignment between management and their employees. Everyone is pulling in the same direction. This synergy allows them to surge ahead while other companies experience infighting that wastes the company’s potential.