Why Employees Become Unproductive: And How to Fix It Fast
Strategic Alignment: Why Every Employee is Key to Delivering Your Vision
Recently, I was working with a client on a new organizational structure and grading system. During a discussion with the company’s CEO, I asked a simple question:
“How is the strategy and vision of the company communicated to your junior employees?”
The CEO looked surprised.
“Why do my junior employees need to know the company’s strategy?”
I replied:
“Because the role of every employee — even the most junior one — is to deliver your strategy.”
Again, he looked puzzled.
“Why so?”
I continued with a simple example:
Imagine a customer walks into one of your stores and finds it dirty and unpleasant. The cleaner failed to do their job properly. The customer leaves disappointed and never returns.
I asked:
“Have you lost income?”
“Yes!” the CEO replied.
Then I followed up:
“If it were you walking into that store, what would you do?”
Without hesitation, he said:
“I would fire the cleaner and the store manager on the spot!”
The CEO became even more surprised when I responded:
“No employee wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Today I am going to work and be a bad employee.’”
If a cleaner is not doing a good job, it usually means one of several things:
- They have not been trained properly
- They are demotivated because he is not getting paid properly
- They are not treated properly by his superiors
- They are working in a toxic environment
- Their working conditions are bad
- They have no clarity and feels insecure
- They are the wrong hire
For all these, who is to be blamed? The cleaner? Could the management have prevented this?”
The Root Cause of Operational Failure: Management Accountability
The CEO ended up agreeing with me that a problem as simple as a cleaner not doing a good job, is deeply rooted from the senior management. Companies tend to terminate and point the finger to junior employees for losing clients or not generating revenues because it is the easy solution. Fire someone junior and problem is over!
Like in sickness, we have a symptom and we have a disease. If you have a headache, perhaps you are dehydrated. Headache is the symptom and dehydration is the root cause of the problem. If the cleaner is not doing a good job, this is only the symptom. The ‘disease’ needs investigation and evaluation.
Summary: Addressing the Root Causes of Organizational Performance
Effective leadership requires moving beyond surface-level symptoms to address the systemic "diseases" within an organization. When junior staff fail to execute, it is often a reflection of a breakdown in communication, training, or culture stemming from the top. By treating every role as a vital link in the strategic chain, companies can move from a culture of blame to one of shared vision and operational excellence.
