Is your company healthy?

Employees long to be part of a healthy organization.  Business owners and executives reduce wasted effort and lost time by creating environments where their employees can perform their best.

There are two aspects to a healthy business:  organizational health and operational health.

Organizational health deals with the environment of the company.  Hallmarks of an organizationally healthy organization include:

• The company values are known and exhibited by employees at all levels of the organization.
• People are hired, fired, and rewarded based on the company values.
• There is open communication in the business – between different departments, teams, and levels.
• Challenges are discussed with transparency and are solved, not allowing them to fester and get worse.
• Employees believe in the company and its mission and values to such an extent that they hold themselves and others accountable.

Operational health focuses on how the company performs the tasks to deliver its products and services.  An operationally healthy organization can make statements like:

• Our processes are documented and understood by everyone.
• All team members know how their roles and the roles of others fit into the big picture.
• Company and departmental goals are published, and everyone knows if they are being met.
• Tasks – and even products and services – that don’t add value to the organization are eliminated.
• The company’s structure supports timely, consistent, and informed decision making.
• Waste and inefficiency is eliminated whenever possible.

For your business to thrive, it must be both organizationally and operationally healthy.  Only then can it effectively execute its strategy.