Aligning your company culture and strategic objectives for the New Year can be a challenging task. We review the current year; analyze our strengths, weaknesses, failures and success in order to formulate a roadmap supporting increased profitability and sustained growth.
“The stakes are high” says Karl Schaphorst, President of Sandler Training in Omaha, Nebraska. “There are so many factors that go into building annual objectives. We typically find that for every definable milestone there are three to four situations or tasks that need to be addressed but aren’t. Not addressing these situations can be dangerous as it can negatively affect a company’s ability to hit needed milestones and that directly impacts profitability.”
The Sandler Management System has been successfully helping companies of all sizes meet growth and operational challenges for more than 30 years. Within the program is an operational design strategy called “The Success Triangle.” Utilized by management personnel worldwide, its simple, systematic approach takes the guesswork out of planning and replaces it with precision.
Company Attitude – Found at the top of the triangle. How an organization and its people think sets the overall roadmap for success. Attitude is both internal and external. Internally, review the culture of the organization making sure it aligns with company objectives. Externally, review how the company is perceived in the marketplace. What’s being said and why.
Company Techniques – Found at the bottom right corner of the triangle and commonly referred to as the operators manual. Do you have the appropriate tools in place to achieve objectives? How well does your operational and process flow support personnel. How strong is the personnel skillset and what is being done to ensure continued growth and development.
Company Behavior – Found at the bottom left corner of the triangle. This corner addresses the behaviors which foster success: Accountability, Responsibility, Proactive, Resourceful, Commitment.
“As a company works through each point in the triangle”, says Schaphorst, “situations, process improvements and opportunities for growth begin to surface. It’s as if a light bulb switches on; the ideas begin to flow with nothing holding them back.” However, despite the workflow of ideas the true testament of developing a successful, strategic objective lies within how well and how consistently techniques and behavior intertwine. According to Schaphorst, continual reinforcement activities between the two determine the “successibility” factor. The two are dependent on one another and without continued growth and nurturing, attitude is affected. Unfortunately, this is where many companies fall short. Failure to meet defined objectives is rarely a result of the company’s product or service. Rather, it’s a systemic breakdown between techniques and behavior. This breakdown has a direct impact on attitude which has a negative impact on results.
The difference between Sandler and other training organizations is we recognize and focus attention on the overall well-being of the people within the company. In order to do this it is critical to understand the psychology behind why people do what they do. It may not be the most “popular” training school of thought nor is it the easiest to implement but it is the best way to approach the marketplace.
For more information on Sandler Training or to schedule a meeting with Karl Schaphorst, please contact the Sandler Training Center in Omaha at 402-218-2144.
by Lynda C-L Allen
402-218-2144
www.davearch.sandler.com
Sandler Training is a global training organization with over three decades of experience and proven results. Sandler provides sales and management training and consulting services for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as well as corporate training for Fortune 1000 companies. For more information, please contact Karl Schaphorst at (402) 218-2144 or by email at kschaphorst@sandler.com. You can also follow his blog at kschapselling.wordpress.com.