“The 30,000 mile check-up of organizational excellence”

Good to Great Organizations” that deliver superior customer service, innovative business practices, engaged human resources and exceptional financial performance, all share common themes. Leaders do a few things well in how they: 1) articulate a clearly defined vision, 2) align process and people to this vision, 3) measure this vision and 4) remain passionately obsessive in communicating and rewarding the execution of this vision. If you consider any front line survey, consider asking the following questions of your organization on a yearly basis. These questions serve as a basis for measuring the “rightness of your organizational values” and your execution systems. The answers may surprise you and serve as a basis for making appropriate course corrections to the vision. If you survey the troops, you owe them honest closure. Otherwise, do not employ this survey or create false expectations. Sometimes the soul of an organization is measured in simple narrative surveys and not the plethora of quantitative questions that look statistically cool but fail to capture the essence of the issue. Consider these questions in a simple confidential survey:

1) Would you encourage a friend to work at Organization X—Why? Why not?

2) Does your supervisor care about me as a person and create an environment where you can be successful everyday? If yes, what does he/she do well? If no, where can he/she improve?

3) If you were the CEO or Director for six months, what would your top three priorities be at this time and why are they important for our success?

4) What is your greatest frustration working at Organization X?

5) Do you see any weaknesses in our organization that need to be overcome?

6) Do you see any opportunities for improving the effectiveness of our organization? Ways to increase revenue, decrease cost, improve teamwork, increase customer service and improve productivity? Please list one key area of focus.

7) How does organization X rate in your hierarchy of work experiences?

□ Best □ Worst □ Other If best or worst, why?

8) Is there anything you want senior management to know?

9) What is your commitment to our vision and strategic plan for the organization? Is it working? If not, where is the problem?

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