Getting staff to pull in the same direction for the good of the organisation

In today's economic environment, where reducing costs and improving productivity of employees is top of the agenda, how can we get staff to pull in the same direction in every aspect of the business to achieve the business goals?

Individual behaviour, attitude and motivation, team working and alignment to objectives and values - and compliance - may need to be addressed. And all at low cost.

The task can at first appear to be daunting. SMEs may think it's out of reach financially or resource-wise, while larger operations may outsource the job at high cost but notice a falling off of improvements after the consultants have departed, unless knowledge transfer has been part of the deal.

In particular, execution of a vision, or strategy, can suffer [if not fail] if close attention isn't paid to staff behaviours, attitudes and alignment.