"Wishing and Hoping" ... or Strategic Leadership?"

Strategic Planning, Part II:

“Wishing and Hoping” …

or Strategic Leadership?

If you read my July 17 post you know that I’m a fan of strategic planning. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate: I’m a fan of results.

As HR has evolved from a traditional role of recordkeeping and administrative functions HR leadership has found itself pressed for results, on challenges as diverse as how to regenerate a declining job applicant pool, to more esoteric questions – how, for example, to recast a mature hospitality company’s image so that it is attractive to employees in the Millennium Generation.

Not surprisingly both of these issues represent ongoing conundrums for HR chiefs in many hospitality firms, particularly those with mature brands. In the last 5-10 years as new, hot companies -- in the hotel industry, boutique brands such as “W” Hotels, for example -- snapped up twenty-somethings eager to associate with hipper brands, it became increasingly clear, to the consternation of the older, legacy brands, and worse, companies who had never paid much attention to their employees, that issues such as turnover, applicant attraction and retention were now entrenched, defying traditional cures.

HR and CEOs alike witnessed with consternation that time-tested solutions and the metrics by which their success had historically been measured, were no longer applicable – at least not without changes in how the organization viewed itself, and its human capital.

These global issues, and their spreading impact on shaping the organizations of tomorrow, are the subject of many strategic planning sessions.

Surprisingly bringing management to the strategic planning table still takes convincing effort. Equally surprising is that the reticence to commit to a formalized planning process can stem from, as a former boss of mine used to say, “wishing and hoping”, the ill-advised belief that when an organization “keeps the faith,” eventually its strategies will pay off.

This is a gamble that competitive companies refuse to take. In their view planning must occur regularly, much as one schedules annual checkups with his physician. How else are we to know whether what we are doing is the right thing, can be finessed or even, God forbid, replaced with something better?

Rigorous strategic planning forces us to re-examine why we favor certain strategies, even when they are meeting expectations, but particularly when they aren’t. Whereas the “wishing and hoping” crowd expects tomorrow will be better competitors, armed with the results of their strategic planning, have already seen tomorrow – and are busy executing strategies to welcome the changes they already know it will bring.

Latecomers to strategic planning sometimes arrive battered and bruised, willing to give planning a try if only because nothing else has worked. For the non-believers and latecomers I offer these precepts:

I. The crossroad where your vulnerability meets your will to survive is a defining moment.

II. When you realize that challenges are both global and viral, that they are key to your future success, let alone your company’s viability, you’d better act – quickly!

III. No well-planned offense can succeed unless purposefully communicated to your employees, the people whose exertion and support is required to execute your strategy.

And several other observations:

I. Weak leadership finds itself confounded by inexplicable periods of “bad luck”, while strategically-focused competitors fiendishly dissect the obstacle, determined to demolish it.

II. Hand-wringing or “wishing and hoping” serve only to prolong the pain. Delay can be an enemy, pointless and insidiously damaging.

III. Our 24-hour news cycle, aided by the Internet, can turn little problems into viral campaigns nearly without warning.

Even if immediate action seems unnecessary planning for what may be required can’t begin soon enough.

Global issues are super-sized in their effect. If we accept this premise, then by definition, left untreated, global issues will at some point turn viral as well, meaning that they will chew inexorably through all of the company’s worn strategies, exposing them for what they will, barring decisive action, no doubt become – old, tired and ignored.

So much for “wishing and hoping.”

Be honest and be well. -Chuck

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Copyright 2008, Charles A. Conine and Hospitality HR Solutions

www.hospitalityhrsolutions.com