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July 28, 2009

Power to Your People, Right On

By Raymond Green

Another Modern Reality

Every publicly traded company’s results are well known at the end of each quarter. Analysts, investors, news media, employees—everyone has access to the financial results. With a significantly increased focus on accounting improprieties over the past few years, senior management has become highly conscious of the need to provide accurate and timely financial information. Employees, and their representatives, have become much more likely to wonder about these reports—“Are the numbers telling the whole story?”

CEOs of energy companies must ensure that managers and employees are able to understand the financial numbers and have confidence in them. That means effective business acumen education as well as ongoing and open communication from the top. It also requires accurate and transparent reporting by the company.

Former General Electric chairman and CEO Jack Welch said in his book, Jack: Straight from the Gut, “Getting every employee’s mind into the game is a huge part of what the CEO job is all about. . . . There’s nothing more important.”

Seeing Big

As we have become a nation of specialists, armed with new information technology and enterprise-wide operating systems, it has become easier for managers and employees to become myopically immersed in their own jobs. This immersion can have the effect of obscuring their view of the big picture. They may not consider the cumulative effect of wasted assets. They may have little regard for the objectives and responsibilities of other team members, departments or divisions. They may lack the motivation to invest personal energy in critical project work.

Organizations that engage in developing business acumen provide a clearer vision and an overall context within which employees can work, while creating an environment that is more likely to break down internal barriers. There is less waste and less ambivalence. There is increased innovation. Employees are more engaged, they understand their role and its impact on business results, and they are more likely to believe that their efforts really matter. They are more likely to think like a CEO.