5 reasons for poor execution and how to solve them

When communicating with CEOs of foreign companies, the most discussed issues are strategy and tactics; while when discussing with domestic entrepreneurs, the most discussed issue is execution.

Some entrepreneurs often feel that their good ideas cannot be realized. At this time, most entrepreneurs believe that the company's poor execution is a problem of employee ability and attitude. Poor execution is a phenomenon, poor management is the essence. The strong execution ability of foreign companies is a phenomenon, but the essence is to have a mechanism to improve employees' execution ability. In fact, it can be thought of like this:

Poor execution of individual employees is a problem of ability; poor execution of the company as a whole is a problem of management!

5 reasons for poor execution

Employees don't know what to do

The company does not have a clear strategic plan that can be implemented, nor a clear marketing strategy, and employees do not receive clear instructions. In some other companies, policies change frequently, strategies are revised repeatedly, and information communication is poor, which makes employees confused and they have to rely on inertia and their own understanding to do things.

This causes the employee's work focus to be out of sync with the company, and the company's important work cannot be executed or completed.

I don't know how to do it

Employees of foreign companies generally undergo rigorous training after joining the company, but this is not the case with domestic companies. Either they go straight to work without any training, or the training is not targeted and practical, or they only receive motivational training and expansion training for employees. Employees are enthusiastic but still don't know how to do their jobs. Some companies only provide employees with some training on industry trends and macro strategies, but still do not teach them methods.

There is also a more common and deeper reason here, which is that middle and senior leaders themselves don’t know how to do it, so they can’t explain it clearly to the people below them. The directors can’t explain it clearly, and the managers can’t explain it clearly either. In the end, the people at the bottom who actually execute the work don’t know how to do it, and can’t express their grievances.

It doesn't work smoothly

If soldiers are fighting on the front lines and the logistics supply is insufficient, if they request support but the command does not respond, and if they are injured they cannot get quick medical treatment, then the morale of the soldiers will obviously be greatly affected.

The same is true for the company. Slowly, the enthusiasm is exhausted and gradually, people become less proactive in doing things.

I don't know what good it would do.

In ancient warfare, if a city could not be conquered for a long time, the attacking general would usually issue an order: within three days after the city was captured, the soldiers could burn, kill and loot at will. As a result, morale was boosted and the city was captured in one day.

Sales people always focus on the present, which is determined by the nature of the job. When there are no immediate benefits, there will naturally be little interest in doing it.

There's no harm in knowing that you can't do it well.

If there is only a promise that "soldiers can burn, kill and loot at will within three days after the city is captured" but no rule that "deserters will be executed immediately", some soldiers will definitely look for opportunities to escape, thus shaking the morale of the army. Knowing that there is no harm in doing badly comes from three aspects:

First, there is no evaluation; second, the assessment indicators are unreasonable; third, the punishment is not severe or there is no punishment.

The work results of many departments are not suitable for assessment using rigid indicators. The work of these departments requires executives who understand the business to evaluate based on experience. If executives are unable to make fair evaluations, employees with weak intrinsic motivation may slack off at work.

5 ways to solve poor execution

Solution

Once the reasons for poor execution are clear, the solution also becomes clear, which is to achieve "clear goals, feasible methods, reasonable processes, adequate incentives, and effective assessments."

Clear goals

For the sales business line, clear goals mean implementing indicators. Setting accurate and implementable indicators is the basis for budgeting, setting policies, and conducting incentive assessments, and is the most important thing in sales management.

The method is feasible

Yue Fei invented the hook-and-sickle spear and taught his soldiers how to hook the horses' legs, thus defeating Jin Wushu's crooked horses. Without this feasible method, no matter how brave Yue's army was, they might not be able to win. Since the task of the executive layer is execution, managers should provide them with specific operating methods.

Developing a feasible approach requires effective coordination of decision-making, support, and feedback.

First of all, decisions cannot be made on a whim based on the leader’s wishes, but must be fully demonstrated in combination with market conditions; support can be business guidance from senior employees to subordinates, or professional internal or external training. It should be noted that for the executive level, imparting tools and methods is far more important than conveying ideas. Inspirational training will not bring much business growth, and solving problems depends more on methods rather than enthusiasm;

Any method always has its shortcomings, and feedback during implementation can help to further improve it.

Reasonable process

In most companies, the process is not problematic in form, but is irrational in execution. There are two reasons why this is unreasonable: (1) laymen are in charge of professionals; (2) responsibilities and rights are not equal.

Incentives in place

The so-called adequate incentives have three meanings: adequate intensity, adequate description and adequate fulfillment.

The incentives must be competitive in the market, attractive to employees, and sustainable within the company.

The description of the motivation should be concise and easy to understand, and it is best to be figurative.

Fully delivering means that what the company says must be counted, because mid-term policy changes caused by the company cannot affect the annual bonuses of sales personnel.

Effective assessment

There are three things that must be done for an effective assessment: first, the assessment must truly play a guiding role; second, interference from human factors must be avoided; and third, punishment measures must be strictly enforced and cannot be underestimated.

Domestic enterprises that have experienced a period of rapid development do not yet have the awareness and energy to improve their company management, resulting in a serious mismatch between company management level and enterprise scale. When the industry was growing rapidly, this mismatch was masked by high profits; after the industry entered a period of stable integration, the disadvantages of insufficient management capabilities began to emerge, and poor execution was one of the most typical manifestations.