Business Mentor: Sharing vision is the key to excellence

I'm a business owner who has previously been bogged down in the day-to-day running of my business, but I'm now ready to start delegating some of my daily tasks and focus on being more of a leader than a doer. I want a build a quality company that can operate on excellent systems and procedures rather than a reliance on me. Do you have some food for thought?

Small business sector specialist Sarah Trotman replies:

Leaders who effectively share the vision they have for their business engage the hearts and minds of employees and increase performance across all levels.

Businesses with a passion for excellence lead with a clear vision, creating a unique value chain that cannot be replicated.

Know what you aspire to

For companies such as Vero Insurance - award-winning insurer and holder of the silver level achievement award from the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation - the internationally recognised Performance Excellence Framework defines their aspirations.

This rigorous and competitive standard is reviewed annually against a set of exacting worldwide benchmarks and sets out levels of performance required across seven categories.

Vero chief executive Roger Bell says: "The criteria is challenging because it is so exhaustive in describing the levels of performance to aspire to but importantly it is not prescriptive - every organisation must determine its own roadmap to include the right kinds of activity to reach the various levels of achievement."

Excellence from inside out

Whatever the definition, organisations of any size can distil the spirit of excellence to a desire to aim high, achieve and continually improve.

From Roger Bell's perspective as leader of a large company with a clear, world-class vision, it all starts with a well-articulated vision and values to wrap the concept of excellence around everything.

This is all-encompassing - from the way you treat your customers as individuals and exceed their expectations to sharing and seeking knowledge across the company, being innovative, showing initiative, and being open and honest in all of your day-to-day dealings.

Many companies aspire to be world-class but hardly any have a real sense of what is world-class practice. This is where the performance excellence criteria can be a guide.

Defining vision and values

Know what you stand for, have a definition of excellence in all levels of your business activity and clearly articulate this to staff. Sometimes, this is as much what you are not about than what you are about.

Take time to think about the great qualities and behaviours that are common to your business and reinforce those that support your vision.

Gaining staff input into your business vision and getting feedback on ways to continually improve is an essential part of a regular and varied communication programme.

Building momentum

Generating a sense of excitement and ownership of the company's vision is strongly linked to your staff's belief that they work for a successful organisation.

Celebrate success at every opportunity and instil in staff a strong belief all roles contribute to your unique value chain. Provide regular progress reports on key company goals.

* Mike Watson, chief executive of the NZ Business Excellence Foundation, is speaking at the Small Business Expo next Wednesday on driving performance through business excellence. Entry is $20 at the gate or pre-register at www.businessexpo.co.nz