Sustainable strategy 2: open, participatory and transparent consultations and reviews
This post is the second in a series this month exploring how Sustainable HR is usually supported by particular assumptions and approaches to developing, reviewing and reporting upon corporate and organisational strategy. You can read the first post here which looks at the common assumptions and agreements regarding developing sustainable strategy. Inclusion, diversity and equity often underpin a Sustainable HR approach.
STAGES OF A REVIEW PROCESS
There are usually 7 stages that a strategy review goes through.
1. Data collection and distribution
2. Consultation
3. Prioritisation and articulation
4. Feedback
5. Revision and agreement
6. Action and implementation
7. Maintenance
ADAPTABLE AND RESPONSIVE
For most organisations and businesses, strategy is "alive" and develops as there is often a new piece to be added or slotted in in response to new internal and external factors. Thus, even once it has been created and implemented into the everyday of an organisation, it is not complete. This simply means that strategy is rarely a process or document that you expect to do once and then cement in stone or "get right" forever. Sustainable strategy is ideally adaptive and repsonsive to key internal and external factors. For this reason, sometimes reviews are required.
This need to adapt and change is predictable and, for this reason, strategy often undergoes scheduled reviews. Sustainable strategy can differ from other approaches not only in its development but also in its review processes: who engages in and what has an impact and decision-making role in the review are key questions that this approach attempts to highlight and answer. Often keywords such as: openness, transparency, inclusion and participatory are used when a sustainable approach to strategy review is undertaken.
EXPLANATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Once strategy has been developed, a strategy document is often produced to help inform and guide employees and key stakeholders. This may or may not be private and confidential. If it is, there are usually summarised versions developed for public consumption and other key stakeholders. Often, some element of strategy becomes part of an organisation's branding and marketing (this is what we care about and do well). However, given the importance that most sustainable companies give to inclusion and diversity, this aspect of sharing and educating its employees and key stakeholders about the why, how and what of their strategy is especially important.
Sustainable strategy is often led by a clear mission, vision and values (MVV). A strategy document that outlines how related objectives align with the MVV is commonly used to provide specific detail amd some practical information about how they are expected to be carried out. Strategy documents not only outline objectives, they often direct areas such as resource allocation and deadlines as well. For this reason, strategy is used to not only direct but also explain things such as budgets and organisational design and schedules. This emphasis on explanation and accountability is a key marker of a sustainable strategy review.
SUSTAINABLE DEADLINES AND SCHEDULING
Strategy is often divided into yearly, 5 year and 10 year objectives with certain pre-agreed dates for reports and review. Many sustainable approaches to strategy accept the need for a shared agreement and ownership of scheduling and deadlines. This can translate practically into many different outcomes. For example, departments or affiliates may be empowered to choose their own schedules or deadlines for reviewing relevant strategy rather than only having these determined by HQ.
PARTICIPATORY AND TRANSPARENT
In my last post, I mentioned that sustainable strategy is often based on the concepts of: inclusion, diversity and equity. Sustainable strategy reviews not only usually include those principles, they are also, additionally, participatory and transparent.
Specifically, sustainable strategy reviews usually aim to engage key stakeholders and offer information and processes which support it being: open, inclusive, accessible, participatory and transparent.
COMMON MISTAKES THAT OCCUR DURING STRATEGY REVIEW PROCESSES
There are many different ways that a strategy review process can be made open, inclusive, accessible, participatory and transparent and varies from organisation to organisation. Instead of detailing all the ways that this can be done, I want to list some common examples and feedback that arise during strategy reviews. When these occur, it highlights the fact that there are still improvements to be made to the process to ensure it is not only ideally but also practically open, inclusive, accessible, participatory and transparent.
Here are 7 common issues that can arise in a strategy review:
1. Participants are not given adequate access and time to respond.
2. Reviews are held in ways or locations that make accessibility easier for some and more difficult for others.
3. Feedback and input is sought or carried out in meetings and workshops where some voices are more dominant or "loud" than others and this is not noticed or balanced elsewhere.
4. Employees and key stakeholders have not been adequately educated and engaged with strategy in an on-going manner so that when they are asked for feedback on strategy it feels as if it is the first time they are seeing it.
5. Key data is missing or restricted which makes it difficult for review participants to be able to adequately understand and respond with appropriate feedback.
6. Participants are only engaged superficially as a tickbox exercise but their feedback does not have any place or impact on final strategy development.
7. There is either a conscious or unconscious failure to take critical or poor feedback into account and instead solely positive or simplistic agreement and reinforcement is clearly being sought (whether or not this is actually verbalised).
In order for an approach to strategy review to be sustainable, it needs to invite, enable and embrace a wide range of views as well as having a commitment to accountability, honesty and complexity.
STAGES OF A REVIEW PROCESS
There are usually 7 stages that a strategy review goes through.
1. Data collection and distribution
2. Consultation
3. Prioritisation and articulation
4. Feedback
5. Revision and agreement
6. Action and implementation
7. Maintenance
ADAPTABLE AND RESPONSIVE
For most organisations and businesses, strategy is "alive" and develops as there is often a new piece to be added or slotted in in response to new internal and external factors. Thus, even once it has been created and implemented into the everyday of an organisation, it is not complete. This simply means that strategy is rarely a process or document that you expect to do once and then cement in stone or "get right" forever. Sustainable strategy is ideally adaptive and repsonsive to key internal and external factors. For this reason, sometimes reviews are required.
This need to adapt and change is predictable and, for this reason, strategy often undergoes scheduled reviews. Sustainable strategy can differ from other approaches not only in its development but also in its review processes: who engages in and what has an impact and decision-making role in the review are key questions that this approach attempts to highlight and answer. Often keywords such as: openness, transparency, inclusion and participatory are used when a sustainable approach to strategy review is undertaken.
EXPLANATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Once strategy has been developed, a strategy document is often produced to help inform and guide employees and key stakeholders. This may or may not be private and confidential. If it is, there are usually summarised versions developed for public consumption and other key stakeholders. Often, some element of strategy becomes part of an organisation's branding and marketing (this is what we care about and do well). However, given the importance that most sustainable companies give to inclusion and diversity, this aspect of sharing and educating its employees and key stakeholders about the why, how and what of their strategy is especially important.
Sustainable strategy is often led by a clear mission, vision and values (MVV). A strategy document that outlines how related objectives align with the MVV is commonly used to provide specific detail amd some practical information about how they are expected to be carried out. Strategy documents not only outline objectives, they often direct areas such as resource allocation and deadlines as well. For this reason, strategy is used to not only direct but also explain things such as budgets and organisational design and schedules. This emphasis on explanation and accountability is a key marker of a sustainable strategy review.
SUSTAINABLE DEADLINES AND SCHEDULING
Strategy is often divided into yearly, 5 year and 10 year objectives with certain pre-agreed dates for reports and review. Many sustainable approaches to strategy accept the need for a shared agreement and ownership of scheduling and deadlines. This can translate practically into many different outcomes. For example, departments or affiliates may be empowered to choose their own schedules or deadlines for reviewing relevant strategy rather than only having these determined by HQ.
PARTICIPATORY AND TRANSPARENT
In my last post, I mentioned that sustainable strategy is often based on the concepts of: inclusion, diversity and equity. Sustainable strategy reviews not only usually include those principles, they are also, additionally, participatory and transparent.
Specifically, sustainable strategy reviews usually aim to engage key stakeholders and offer information and processes which support it being: open, inclusive, accessible, participatory and transparent.
COMMON MISTAKES THAT OCCUR DURING STRATEGY REVIEW PROCESSES
There are many different ways that a strategy review process can be made open, inclusive, accessible, participatory and transparent and varies from organisation to organisation. Instead of detailing all the ways that this can be done, I want to list some common examples and feedback that arise during strategy reviews. When these occur, it highlights the fact that there are still improvements to be made to the process to ensure it is not only ideally but also practically open, inclusive, accessible, participatory and transparent.
Here are 7 common issues that can arise in a strategy review:
1. Participants are not given adequate access and time to respond.
2. Reviews are held in ways or locations that make accessibility easier for some and more difficult for others.
3. Feedback and input is sought or carried out in meetings and workshops where some voices are more dominant or "loud" than others and this is not noticed or balanced elsewhere.
4. Employees and key stakeholders have not been adequately educated and engaged with strategy in an on-going manner so that when they are asked for feedback on strategy it feels as if it is the first time they are seeing it.
5. Key data is missing or restricted which makes it difficult for review participants to be able to adequately understand and respond with appropriate feedback.
6. Participants are only engaged superficially as a tickbox exercise but their feedback does not have any place or impact on final strategy development.
7. There is either a conscious or unconscious failure to take critical or poor feedback into account and instead solely positive or simplistic agreement and reinforcement is clearly being sought (whether or not this is actually verbalised).
In order for an approach to strategy review to be sustainable, it needs to invite, enable and embrace a wide range of views as well as having a commitment to accountability, honesty and complexity.
