1. A new book from the Reputation Institute
Dr. Cees B.M. van Riel, Co-founder & Vice Chairman Reputation Institute

2. Key Points Illustrated in THE ALIGNMENT FACTOR
1. What is Alignment?
2. This implies a shift in attitude for most companies, respecting the necessity to balance
its own interests with the demands of stakeholders that they depend upon
3. Getting employees aligned and involved around strategy requires implementing four
managerial efforts:
Phase II:
Phase I: Phase III: Phase IV:
Revealing
Know Before You Go Action Plan Tracking Progress
Support & Resistance

3. Four Steps in Building
Aligned Organisations

4. Phase II: Phase III: Phase IV:
Phase I:
Building aligned Organisation
Revealing Action Plan Tracking Progress
Know Before You Go
Support & Resistance
Alignment with what?
Tracking progress in
supportive employee
behavior
Tracking progress in
Hard wired and soft wired
supportive employee
initiatives
Who needs to be behaviour
aligned?
Introducing KPIs targets
Inventory of bottlenecks
and opportunities in
Communication support
achieving aligned
Desired behaviour? behaviour
Linking Alignment KPI’s to
performance
Benefits employees?
Increase performance
Increase performance

5. Alignment with what?
• What is the core of the corporate strategy?
• Which four building blocks matter most?
• For Telefonica this implies:

6. Who needs to be aligned?
• Who has to be aligned first? Everybody? Only the Top? One division
specifically?
• To be determined based on nature business problem: which employees
matter most in solving the business challenge?

7. What is the desired behavior?
Firm Perspective versus Employee Perspective
What does FedEx want couriers to do? What drives a courier?
•What does the Access strategy mean for them? •I receive respect for what I am doing from my
• Making every FedEx experience outstanding firm
•How many packages a day? The purple promise
•Customers love FedEx and that increases
“I will make every FedEx experienceme too
• 10 instead of 12 if you have to spent respect for outstanding”
extra time justified by service •I have career opportunties within FedEx if I
•What is acceptable when delivering extra service? encourage customer satisfaction
• Explaining mistakes, solving problems caused
by the firm, etc.
•What is not acceptable?
• Reducing the amount of deliveries and still
not providing added value in service

8. Desired behaviour at a Utility company (example)
A non-aligned mechanic: An aligned mechanic
-Considers sustainability to be just -Believes in the Sustainability strategy
another catch phrase -Acknowledges that (s)he needs
-Is not willing to take any extra training training to keep up-to-date with the
-Continuous working based on latest technologies and ensures
demanded output by his manager (e.g. his/her own future by doing so
number of customer visits per day) -Explains sustainable energy to
customers
-Is motivated by customer satisfaction

9. Step 1: Know before you go

10. Step 2: Revealing Support & Resistance
In general…. employees will have three types of
reactions towards a new strategy…
10% has a positive 20% has a negative
70% is indecisive whether
perception of the strategy, perception of the strategy,
to support the strategy,
they fully support the they will never support the
they need to be persuaded
strategy strategy

11. ... however, you have to know who is in which group.
So, measure the facts by using the RepTrak™ Alignment Monitor
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- Intranet-based survey among a
stratified sample in the firm.
- Aimed at (1) revealing the degree of
22 employee support for the strategy.
- Aimed at (2) showcasing what works
and what doesn’t work regarding
informing, motivating and capability
development.
33

12. Aligned Behaviour can be expressed on a scale from 0 to 100.
Firms scoring above 65 are already winners,
while companies that score below 50 are in serious problems
12

13. The alignment number is impacted by three communication
efforts: informing, motivating and capability development
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Are the strategy and/or core values sufficiently communicated by internal media? There
should be consistency in the content of messages (themed messages).
Are the strategy and/or core values sufficiently cascaded through all hierarchical layers?
Core messages should be trickled down using hierarchical layers, e.g. through cascade
meetings.
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Does management engage in dialogue about the strategy and/or the values? There should
be explicit attention for cross-division dialogue.
Are employees recognized for contributing to the strategy and/or living up to the values? The
strategy should be integrated into individual appraisal & reward systems.
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Are employees provided with the right capabilities for contributing to the strategy and/or living
up to the values? Employees should be empowered to do what they need to do.

14. Results Overall (an example)
• Familiarity of the Business Priorities is high.
• Alignment is highest for Increasing Sales, while employees are the least aligned to Individual Empowerment.
• Media & Messaging and Recognition & Reward are both drivers that receive the lowest scores across all three
Business Priorities.
• Overall attitude is lowest towards Individual Empowerment.
Increase sales
Delivering Growth 2011 Trusted Trust
Building Partner 2011 Empowerment
Individual Empowerment 2011
Familiarity 95.8% Familiarity 86.6% Familiarity 90.6%
Drivers of alignment Drivers of alignment Drivers of alignment
Media & Messaging 49.9 Media & Messaging 42.2 Media & Messaging 39.7
Cascading 66.7 Cascading 55.9 Cascading 61.9
Dialogue 61.0 Dialogue 44.1 Dialogue 52.5
Capability Development 52.8 Capability Development 47.6 Capability Development 49.2
Recognition & Reward 43.2 Recognition & Reward 33.7 Recognition & Reward 38.0
Strategic alignment Strategic alignment Strategic alignment
Aligned behavior Delivering growth 62.7 Aligned behavior Building Trust 58.2 Aligned behavior Individual
52.8
Empowerment
Extra insights: Indicators alignment Extra insights: Indicators alignment
Extra insights: Indicators alignment
Attitude 62.5 Attitude 61.0
Attitude 53.1
Familiarity: Maintain (70)
≥ 70% of employees Room for improvement (50-
≤60% of employees 70)
Immediate action (<50)
Score differences ≥ 2.3 are significant at a 95% confidence level

15. ………this tool will enable you to reveal support & resistance
at a nuanced level
Are employees aligned Which employee groups are How can Philips improve How can Philips reach the
with the major goals? aligned and which are not? alignment? employee groups?
Goals Alignment Employee groups Focus of action Channels
Low alignment Divisions: All low aligned
Goal-specific dialogue
except Corporate Center
Vision 2010 Local manager
Moderate awareness,
Capability development
understanding & attitude Job levels: All low aligned
Division manager
Divisions: Low aligned MS,
Corporate media:
IPS, Design, AT-I-PIC-R and
Moderate alignment - Intranet division
Other. Goal-specific dialogue
Becoming - Intranet global
Market-driven High awareness & - Town meetings
Job levels: Low aligned at Capability development
positive attitude - Internet
Operation and at Professional/
Technical level

16. Step 3: ACTION PLAN
Implementing the right tools at the right moment
Implementing
Soft tools
Implementing
Hard tools
Alignment
Launching the
Strategy
Time

17. Step 3: Balancing hard and soft wired initiatives
Assessing strategic options using the gathered intelligence
Negotiation Confrontation
Consulting Mirroring
•Presentations and negotiations with Unions •Unavoidable exposure by internal messaging
•Presentations and negotiations with Working •Using Corporate Ads to persuade internal
Council(s) audiences
•Allocating Coaches to key managers aimed at
adjusting role behavior
Consensus Power Play
• Town Hall meetings •New organisational structures and decision making
• Management Meetings procedures
• Jam Sessions •Appointing new managers in key roles
•Capability development in Internal Training
Programmes
•New appraisal rules

18. Step 3: Who does what?
Sell their vision it to the rest of the
Senior Management
organisation
Communication & HR Marketing
Who does
Internal communication Expose employees to external
what? campaigns
Accounting Information Technology
Use reporting & appraisals format forcing Facilitate vertical and
alignment horizontal communication

19. Step 4: Key Performance Indicators
Introducing KPI’s using RepTrak™Alignment Monitor
Examination of historical performance,
using RepTrak Alignment Monitor over
1
two to three years (past)
Extrapolating key drivers of Extrapolating KPI’s on aligned
2 alignment for next years (future) 3 behavior for the next years (future)
KPIs INFORMING
Realized
Goal 2012 Goal 2013 Goal 2014
KPI EMPLOYEE ALIGNMENT
2012 2013 2014
2011
Realized
Manager leads by example 55.3 56.9 58.5 60.0 Goal 2012 Goal 2013 Goal 2014
KPIs MOTIVATING 2011
Realized
2011
Goal 2012 Goal 2013 Goal 2014 Alignment 55.2 56.8 58.4 60.0
Regular conversations manager 49.6 51.1 52.6 54.1
KPIs CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT
Realized 2012 2013 2014
Goal 2012 Goal 2013 Goal 2014
2011
Sufficient authorization 51.3 52.9 54.5 56.1
Sufficient recognition 55.3 56.9 58.5 60.1
Sufficient rewarded 47.3 48.9 50.5 52.1

20. In summary
1. These projects are (mostly) led from internal comms/HR
2. Aligned employees increase performance substantially
3. The Alignment process provides ROI to your efforts – tied up to strategy.
4. Building and maintaining an aligned workforce requires a four step approach
Phase II:
Phase I: Phase III: Phase IV:
Revealing
Know Before You Go Action Plan Tracking Progress
Support & Resistance

21. sfox@reputationinstitute.com