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Strategic Literacy -
Building the Baseline
One
of the most elusive yet critical goals to achieve
in today's cyberspeed business environment is a high level
of strategic literacy throughout an organization.
When people possess a clear understanding of the strategic
direction, priorities and realities of the business, and
they focus their energies in their day-to-day job
performance on achieving these primary strategic
objectives, the chances of winning in the marketplace are
greatly enhanced.
Internal
communications is responsible for assuring that
everyone in the organization possesses an acceptable level
of strategic literacy; the essential Body of Knowledge (BOK)
about the company, its business, the competitive
environment, the organization's strategic imperatives and
their individual role in contributing to the achievement
of the strategies.
Assuring
Strategic Literacy requires:
- Definition
of the strategic Body of Knowledge (BOK) - Strategic
Literacy
- Assessment
and measurement of the level of understanding of the
BOK and
strategic behavior of everyone in the organization
- Development
and implementation of communications and training
designed to
elevate everyone's BOK and behavior to acceptable
levels
- On-going
assessment, measurement and maintenance of the
organization's strategic BOK and behavior levels.
In today's
competitive environment with flatter organizations and field
people empowered to act independently, strategic literacy
can be a powerful competitive advantage.
The organization with clearly focused people who know what
they need to do will move faster with greater precision and
win out over other organizations with people who are
unclear, uncertain and unable to act quickly.
GuideStar
Strategic Literacy Services -
GuideStar
Communications has pioneered the development of
communications management processes and measurement tools
for achieving strategic literacy and fostering strategic
behavior in large organizations. In brief, we assist our
clients by:
- Helping
define the strategic Body of Knowledge (BOK)
- Measuring
initial baseline strategic literacy, opinions and
behavior levels
- Counseling
on the development of communication vehicles, training
and management practices to improve the organization's
strategic literacy
- Designing
and conducting multi-year tracking measurement and
assessments of the organization's strategic literacy
and behavioral progress over time
- Assessing
the impact of strategic literacy on organizational
behavior and performance
A Client's
First Year - Building the Baseline
Fall - Employee communications
goals are established to drive business growth
- Understanding of key
strategic business information
- Positive opinions
about the business's strategies, objectives and
processes
- Most employees
behaving on-strategy
First year - 1st
Quarter:
- Strategic literacy
goals and objectives are written into the
communications department's communications plan
as well as general descriptions for the strategic Body
of Knowledge (BOK).
First Year - 2nd
Quarter:
- Qualitative research,
focus groups with managers, is conducted to ascertain
responses to the first quarter's Managers Meeting and
print communications as they relate to strategic
business information. Modifications are made in media
content and Managers Meeting content and format.
First Year - 3rd
Quarter:
- Quantitative research,
a Strategic Literacy baseline survey, is conducted
among attendees of the Managers Meetings to determine
their Strategic Literacy levels.
First Year - 4th
Quarter:
- Quantitative research,
a Strategic Literacy baseline survey, is conducted
among all employees of the company to determine their
Strategic Literacy levels.
Strategic Literacy
measurements include:
- Understanding of the
Competitive Environment
- Understanding and
Support of the Business Strategies
- Understanding of
Performance Goals
- Understanding of
Core Processes
- Understanding of the
Company's Business Performance
- Opinions of
Management Support and Individual Strategic
Performance Objectives/Efforts
- Ratings of
Manager-Led Communications, Produced Media and
Managers Meetings
- Levels of Individual
Strategic Behaviors
- Ability to Explain
How What They Do Directly Supports Company Strategic
Objectives
Second Year - 1st
Quarter:
- Correlation of
organizational performance with strategic literacy
scores
- Planning and beginning
of implementation of initiatives to improve strategic
literacy scores in year two
 Copyright
2003, GuideStar
Communications. All rights reserved.
For more
information, contact:
Ira Kerns
Phone: 212-426-2333
Fax: 212-427-7514
e-mail:
info@guidestarco.com
GuideStar Communications,
305 E. 86th. Street, New York, NY 10028
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