1. The Alignment Factor, Leveraging Total Stakeholder
Support, Routlege, 2012
Prof.dr Cees B.M. van Riel RSM/Erasmus University Rotterdam

2. Alignment:
“A mutual rewarding relationship between a company
and its key stakeholders, which enables the firm to
meet its objectives and realize its purpose.”
This book focuses on internal and external alignment

3. Key Points Illustrated in THE ALIGNMENT FACTOR
• 1 Alignment is the process of building and maintaining a mutually rewarding
relationship (MRR) with stakeholders, resulting in a better reputation as a stepping stone
in increasing (financial) performance: 10% increase in employee alignment, evokes, 2%
higher financial performance!
• 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 implies implementing four
managerial efforts:
• Gather relevant intelligence before launching the strategy
• Reveal support and/or resistance among key stakeholders
• Implement the strategy by balancing hard and soft wired intitiatives, incl. communications
• Track progress by KPI’s assessing progress in building MRR with key stakeholders
Phase I: Phase II: Phase IV:
Revealing Phase III:
Know Before You Go Action Plan Tracking Progress
Support & Resistance

4. Phase II: Phase III: Phase IV:
Phase I:
Building aligned Organization
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
behavior
Who needs to be aligned?
Introducing KPIs targets
Inventory of bottlenecks
and opportunities in
Communication support
achieving aligned
Desired behavior? behavior
Linking Alignment KPI’s to
performance
Benefits employees?
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 and Employee Perspective
What does FedEx want couriers to do? What drives a courier?
• What does the Access strategy mean for them?
• Making every FedEx experience outstanding • I receive respect for what I am doing
• How many packages a day? The purple promise from my firm
• 10 instead of 12 if you have to spent • Customers love FedEx and that
extra time“I justified by service FedEx experience outstanding” too
will make every increases respect for me
• What is acceptable when delivering extra service? • I have career opportunties within
• Explaining mistakes, solving problems caused FedEx if I encourage customer
by the firm, etc. satisfaction
• What is not acceptable?
• Reducing the amount of deliveries and still
not providing added value in service

8. Desired behavior at a Utility company?
• What are employees supposed to do? Be specific as a firm.
• Plus, do take into consideration what will be beneficial for the employee.
• The more you stress the added value of the new strategy for the
employee in internal messaging, the more aligned they will be.
A non-aligned mechanic: An aligned mechanic
- Considers sustainability to be just - Believes in the Sustainability
another catch phrase strategy
- Is not willing to take any extra - Acknowledges that (s)he needs
training training to keep up-to-date with the
- Continuous working based on latest technologies and ensures
demanded output by his manager his/her own future by doing so
(e.g. number of customer visits per - Explains sustainable energy to
day) customers
- Is motivated by customer
satisfaction

9. Step 1: Know Before You Go
How to assess
Alignment with Alignment with
desired
what? whom?
behavior?

10. Step 2 Revealing Support & Resistance
In general…. employees will show 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
1
- Intranet-based survey among a
stratified sample in the firm.
- Aimed at (1) revealing the degree of
2 employee support for the strategy.
- Aimed at (2) showcasing what works
and what doesn’t work regarding
informing, motivating and capability
development.
3

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

13. 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 Adds to persuade internal
Council(s) audiences
• Allocating Coaches to key managers aimed at
adjusting role behavior
Consensus Power Play
• Town Hall meetings • New organizational structures and decision
• Management Meetings making procedures
• Jam Sessions • Appointing new managers in key roles
• Capability development in Internal Training
Programs
• New appraisal rules

14. Step 3: Who does what?
Sell their vision it to the rest of the
Top Management
organization
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

15. 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 KPI EMPLOYEE ALIGNMENT
Goal 2012 Goal 2013 Goal 2014
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

16. Wrap up
• Aligned employees increase performance substantially
• Building and maintaining an aligned workforce requires a four
step approach:
Phase I: Phase II: Phase III: Phase IV:
Know Before You Go Revealing Action Plan Tracking Progress
Support & Resistance