“Without a genuine buy-in from the workforce, the vision statement is nothing more than words on a page”

This is a response to Jessica’s HC1 Leader Post 7.1 found here:

HC 1 Leader Post 7.1

Jessica mentioned in her blog post on some of her personal experience working for her organization, Fraser Health, and how staff members experienced resistance and opposition to the corporate mission, vision, and values.  While Fraser Health’s vision is an inspiring one, “better health best in care” (Fraser Health, 2018), I propose there are three reasons on why the mission statement is not resonating with the staff: 1) corporate vision was from the top-down so there is no buy-in; 2) corporate vision is missing key components; and 3) corporate vision is not meaningful to staff members.

The need for a vision statement will always be a “top-down” directive, but its development needs to come from the “bottom-up” (Chaneski, W. S., 2011).  When the vision is created and handed down by top executives and management,  it is often difficult for frontline staff to appreciate the reasons and explanations behind the corporate vision.  When there is no understanding and no ownership to the process of developing the vision collectively, it leads to very little buy-in.  I have also mentioned this in one of my previous blog posts as well (https://create.twu.ca/chiefanalyzerofthings/2018/10/24/strategic-renewal-in-health/):

Corporate vision is just as mentioned, belongs to corporate.  There is no buy-in from staff members to the corporately developed vision.  As a strategic leader, we must be visioning collectively to allow staff members from all levels to participate in the vision-setting process.  This provides the opportunity for people to share personal versions of aspirations for the organization to create ownership of the organization’s vision (Hughes et al., 2014, p. 76).  The vision must also be meaningful to the entire organization and not just for the leadership team in order to reinforce the greater purpose of the organization.

The second reason that could explain the lack of acceptance by staff to the corporate vision is key components are missing from the corporate vision.  As mentioned in Hughes et al. (2014), there are a few guidelines when crafting an organizational vision (pg. 77):

1. Express ideals and values
2. Affirm the human dimension
3. Put the organization’s story in a meaningful context that connects members to its core identity
4. Clarify expectations about the kind and amount of desired growth
5. Describe key drivers of change

While I can see how Fraser Health’s corporate vision included some of the components as indicated by Hughes et at. (2014), it has failed to clarify expectations about desired growth as well as describing key drivers of change.  When components are missing, employees of the organization are confused as to what they can do to achieve the corporate vision or what success looks like.  When there are confusion and misunderstanding, staff members will immediately be disinterested and disengaged, resulting again to no buy-in to the corporate vision.

Finally, the third reason that could explain the lack of acceptance is that the vision is not meaningful to employees.  Chaneski (2011) states “the vision statement must be something to which everyone can relate [to]”.  When reviewing Fraser Health’s vision statement, the goal of “better health best in health care” is inspirational and even motivational.  However, for employees who work for Fraser Health, I believe it may be difficult for some to find meaning to the vision statement because the scope is too broad and for some department staff, it may not be relatable.  How well does the janitorial staff employed by Fraser Health relate to this vision?  An example of a clearer vision statement is found at the Cleveland Clinic: “Striving to be the world’s leader in patient experience, clinical outcomes, research and education” (Cleveland Clinic, 2018).

“Without a genuine buy-in from the workforce, the vision statement is nothing more than words on a page” (Chaneski, 2011).

References:

Chaneski, W. S. (2011). Creating a Meaningful Vision Statement. Modern Machine Shop, 83(11), 34–36.

Hughes, R. L., Beatty, K., & Dinwoodie, D. L. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader: Your role in your organization’s enduring success.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Mission, Vision, Values. Cleveland Clinic.  Retrieved November 15, 2018 from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/about/overview/who-we-are/mission-vision-values

Our Vision (November 15, 2018). About Fraser Health.  Retrieved November 15, 2018 from https://www.fraserhealth.ca/about-us/about-fraser-health#.W-5bFRNKhV8