Do Employees and Executives Really Need to Be on the Same Page?

Seems almost like a question that answers itself doesn’t it? No so fast my friends, not so fast! A more thought provoking question might be whether we can expect that Employees and Company Executives will ever be on the same page? My answer…it depends on what we are really asking about. If we are talking about what factors play the strongest part in the making of a successful organization I think a strong case can be made for there already being an existing alignment between employees and their leadership.

In a recent posting ‘Company Culture Dilemma: Getting Execs & Employees on the Same Page’ the author Derek Irvine makes the very clear point that employees and leadership both consider a strong culture and an engaging workplace to be of equal and very great importance in the success of any organization. As always Derek does thorough work and in this case he backs his declarations with data recently published by Deloitte in which they offer that in many instances there is considerable agreement between the views of employees and senior leadership in terms of what does contribute to the success of an organization.

So is there a “rub?” Of course there is, why else write this piece. You know how this works; I ask the questions that set up your listening so you can hear what it is that I want to get said. The “rub” is that according to Derek, “Only 19 percent of executives and 15 percent of employees believe strongly that their culture is widely upheld within their own organizations.” Well boo, boo, boo! That’s terrible and Derek goes on to point out that the “rub” is what it is because employees and executives disagree fundamentally on what contributes to both a strong culture and an engaged workplace…

“Factors that most impact culture

  • No. 1 Factor: Executives say financial performance (65 percent), but employees say it’s regular and candid communication (50 percent);
  • No. 2 Factor: Executives say its competitive compensation (62 percent), while employees say it is employee recognition (49 percent) or access to management (47 percent)”



Truthfully, I am not surprised that there is this level of apparent disagreement between employees and executives on these factors. I say “apparent” because I am not certain that this is not an apples and oranges comparison where it is possible that we may be able to accommodate both. And I am not prepared to take the tack that something needs to be done to get these two communities of interest on the same page.

I think we are unfortunately and ignorantly addicted to the one-big-happy-family-image of a company and its culture. There have always been differences between what management wants from the work experience and what employees want; there will always be these differences and they do not need to be problematic. What’s missing I say is this:

• Employees acknowledging and RESPECTING that executives are executives as much for the higher rates of pay as they are for the higher levels of responsibility and power; and…employees being honest about these not being their primary objectives!

• Executives acknowledging and RESPECTING that employees are employees as much for the opportunity to participate in regular candid dialogue, be recognized for their work and have access to their leadership as they are for the opportunity to do meaningful work and their willingness to be directed by others; and…management being honest about these not being their primary objectives!

• Both groups acknowledging and RESPECTING their “need” for an appreciation of each other.

• The willingness of everyone involved to consider all parties getting what’s most important to be what serves as the definition of FAIR and stop worrying about everyone being treated equally when that is not what they want anyway.

I am sure that what I am saying here will be controversial and considered by some to be sacrilegious. So be it.

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Do Employees and Executives Really Need to Be on the Same Page?

Seems almost like a question that answers itself doesn’t it? No so fast my friends, not so fast! A more thought provoking question might be whether we can expect that Employees and Company Executives will ever be on the same page? My answer…it depends on what we are really asking about. If we are talking about what factors play the strongest part in the making of a successful organization I think a strong case can be made for there already being an existing alignment between employees and their leadership.

In a recent posting ‘Company Culture Dilemma: Getting Execs & Employees on the Same Page’ the author Derek Irvine makes the very clear point that employees and leadership both consider a strong culture and an engaging workplace to be of equal and very great importance in the success of any organization. As always Derek does thorough work and in this case he backs his declarations with data recently published by Deloitte in which they offer that in many instances there is considerable agreement between the views of employees and senior leadership in terms of what does contribute to the success of an organization.

So is there a “rub?” Of course there is, why else write this piece. You know how this works; I ask the questions that set up your listening so you can hear what it is that I want to get said. The “rub” is that according to Derek, “Only 19 percent of executives and 15 percent of employees believe strongly that their culture is widely upheld within their own organizations.” Well boo, boo, boo! That’s terrible and Derek goes on to point out that the “rub” is what it is because employees and executives disagree fundamentally on what contributes to both a strong culture and an engaged workplace…

“Factors that most impact culture

  • No. 1 Factor: Executives say financial performance (65 percent), but employees say it’s regular and candid communication (50 percent);
  • No. 2 Factor: Executives say its competitive compensation (62 percent), while employees say it is employee recognition (49 percent) or access to management (47 percent)”



Truthfully, I am not surprised that there is this level of apparent disagreement between employees and executives on these factors. I say “apparent” because I am not certain that this is not an apples and oranges comparison where it is possible that we may be able to accommodate both. And I am not prepared to take the tack that something needs to be done to get these two communities of interest on the same page.

I think we are unfortunately and ignorantly addicted to the one-big-happy-family-image of a company and its culture. There have always been differences between what management wants from the work experience and what employees want; there will always be these differences and they do not need to be problematic. What’s missing I say is this:

• Employees acknowledging and RESPECTING that executives are executives as much for the higher rates of pay as they are for the higher levels of responsibility and power; and…employees being honest about these not being their primary objectives!

• Executives acknowledging and RESPECTING that employees are employees as much for the opportunity to participate in regular candid dialogue, be recognized for their work and have access to their leadership as they are for the opportunity to do meaningful work and their willingness to be directed by others; and…management being honest about these not being their primary objectives!

• Both groups acknowledging and RESPECTING their “need” for an appreciation of each other.

• The willingness of everyone involved to consider all parties getting what’s most important to be what serves as the definition of FAIR and stop worrying about everyone being treated equally when that is not what they want anyway.

I am sure that what I am saying here will be controversial and considered by some to be sacrilegious. So be it.

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