Why do I need a Baseline?

Get the facts (and stop guessing)
You have a perspective on what’s working and what’s not.  You have an opinion whether the organization is spending time and money on the right things or if more critical objectives are  underfunded.  Is your view the same as your peers?  The staff as a whole?

Does it sometimes feel different groups are pulling and driving in different directions – perhaps not with any ill-intent but from single-minded focus? You’re among the majority, if your organization is perceived differently by department stakeholders – Senior Leadership,
Management, Field Staff, Marketing, Product Management, Production, Customer Service,
Finance and Administration – and if these titles don’t fit, no worries – we have ministry and association specific applications!

Setting the Baseline
A baseline provides a common understanding of where you are presently, aids you in setting your direction and measuring your progress. Depending on the specific baseline you choose, you will assess issues around strategy and execution, defining what additional infrastructure or processes are required to achieve your strategy and where your culture is helping you…and potentially limiting your success.

The baseline process also enables “the things people don’t want to talk about” to bubble up. Good news always has a way of finding us; it is awareness of troubling issues that eliminate problematic surprises. If you’ve ever said “If only I had known” or “What in the world were they thinking!” we can tell you! Our on-line process collects your staff’s perspectives in an unbiased and immediate fashion (20 – 30 minutes).

Benchmark against the best run companies in the world!
Our products have been used for over 15 years and have been used by clients such as Disney, Caterpillar, Cargill and many other recognizable names.  All benchmarks scores are kept anonymously and allow a median benchmark comparison of your organization against the thousands of other baselines.  You’ll see objectively where you fall compared to the top, median and lower scores. Your baseline score is also stored for year-over-year internal comparisons..

Fighting Against Mediocrity Takes Courage
Its natural and it takes initiative to pull everyone up to a higher view. Take the initiative to get people talking about what they are seeing and thinking about your strategy, resources and culture. Afraid of opening a can of worms? That’s why it takes the courage of a leader. Besides, you can’t catch fish if you are fearful of opening a can of worms! Our unique process of working with executives allows the view of each stakeholder to be heard and thus results in a clear and cohesive understanding of where you are organizationally and where you are heading. We use that understanding to clear away obstacles, recalibrate the heading (when necessary) and expedite your arrival.

Tapping Into Co-workers and Staff
As executives, moving fast and decisively, we are sometimes prone to making assumptions about what is going on within our industry and within our organization. Tapping into the knowledge and perspective of our employees unleashes ideas and awareness we otherwise cannot leverage. The reality is we can’t know everything that is happening and we do need some type of regular process to collect critical data, in constructive methods, to keep the team moving forward together.

Are you Aligned? Know for Sure!
When asked “How aligned is your team?” we receive one of two responses, “I’m not sure” or “Absolutely we are aligned!”. To the latter, the question is “How do you know”? And after a period of silence the answer is typically “it’s a feeling”. We provide objective data. Our methodology identifies where people see the priorities and you will clearly see how closely your teams are aligned on your critical initiatives.

Time is of the essence in many organizations and it should not be wasted by people working really hard but in different directions.

New Energy and Behavior’s
Perhaps the single greatest result of going through an arm’s length diagnostic with a team is the dialogue that is created. People begin applying Covey’s Habit of “first seek to understand and then be understood”. The conversations that derive from these results can truly be life-changing and transforming for the organization and people. Suddenly there is a new spirit, a new cohesiveness unlike anyone has previously experienced and which unresolved could frustrate people to the point of turnover. We like the analogy of the blind men investigating an elephant as it so often applies to the pace of business today.

To view a sample report just click here.  This example highlights our Sales Baseline.  All baselines are structurally the same i.e. the reports, benchmark graphs, spider grams and quadrant analysis.