Making an impact on performance, from the top

One of the great challenges all business leaders face is the question of how to make an impact on the overall performance of the firm they lead. Boards are no exception. Effective boards are comprised of capable people who assess situations, make strategic decisions, and oversee management to ensure goals are achieved.

The challenge of leading well and making an impact on business performance is very real, especially in today's environment of fluid work patterns and declining levels of employee loyalty. Boards are responsible for company performance, yet they do not run companies directly (that is the job of the chief executive). How might boards respond to ensure firm performance goals are actually achieved?

Here are some considerations:

• Boards need to accept that responsibility for overall business performance lies with them, not the chief executive.
• The overall purpose of the business (i.e., its reason for being) must be both clearly defined (board responsibility) and well communicated (chief executive responsbility).
• A carefully crafted strategy (to achieve the purpose) needs to be developed (ideally, by the board and management, together) and implemented.
• Business systems and processes need to be optimised to expedite effective collaboration; teamwork; and, ensure the information that people need to do their job effectively is available when they need it. 

The importance of this last consideration should not be underestimated: if employees cannot collaborate effectively because crucial information is missing or hard to access, overall performance will suffer—period. The impact on employee morale, productivity and the bottom line is likely to be very significant.

The board needs to know how the business is performing relative to the agreed strategy, and the whether expected outcomes and associated benefits are being achieved (or not). Financial reports only tell part of the story. Employee engagement is an important though often overlooked indicator. If your board isn't sure whether employees are fully engaged, it needs ask the chief executive some probing questions; request a staff engagement survey; seek regular updates from senior managers (in addition to the chief executive); or, pursue some combination of these and other options (*). If employee engagement is low or any inconsistencies are discovered, weak information flows or ineffective collaboration within the company and/or with customers are likely to be contributing factors—a starting point for further investigation and subsequent decision-making.
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(*) Boards that lack direct expertise to actively pursue these suggestions themselves should seek independent advice from a seasoned expert, to help them understand what might be possible, establish benchmarks and inform future board decisions. A long-time colleague of mine, Michael Sampson, is one such person. He is an expert in the fields of workforce collaboration, teamwork and new approaches to work. Michael also speaks at conferences around the world and has written several books. ​I commend him to you.