Stepping Outside The Executive ‘Echo Chamber’
For the Liberal Party, the recent federal election showed the shortcomings of operating within a so called ‘echo chamber’ or, as others might put it, drinking their own cool aid. They failed to listen to the people who would determine their future – the electors. Instead, they seemingly relied on their own interpretation of what they ‘believed’ the electorate expected. As a consequence, the party’s electoral hopes came crashing down.
However, the Liberal Party is not alone in this ‘echo chamber’ approach. It is not uncommon across all tiers of government and all forms of private enterprise where there is mostly minimal effort put into exploring, understanding and responding to stakeholder expectations.
Many organisations apply varying forms of internet-based measurement of stakeholder response and satisfaction, even though this form of research is cursory at best. Others rely on either polling techniques or focus groups testing, or sometimes both. Rarely do organisations seek to critically delve into the views, concerns, attitudes and expectations of individual stakeholders. In most cases, this is because they remain unaware of how such research can be undertaken.
The good news is there is a way to conduct such research. It is known as stakeholder auditing. But to be truly effective there are specific requirements to the auditing process which need to be followed.
First and foremost, the audit must be undertaken by an independent organisation skilled in the art of interviewing. Secondly, the audit needs to involve face-to-face interviews with key stakeholders conducted as a relaxed discussion in which participants are encouraged to speak without inhibition of their relationship with the organisation, including both the good and the bad. Participants need to feel comfortable declaring their views, concerns, issues and expectations which, in some cases, may require a guarantee of non-attribution.
We have undertaken hundreds of these interviews and without a single exception, once the conversation is underway, not a single participant has held back in speaking his or her mind. The insights such research delivers are, in the eyes of those who have commissioned audits, is without equal.
‘The audit results made us change the way we do business.’
‘The inputs it (the audit) made to our strategic planning process were invaluable.’
‘The process was genuinely eye opening and incredibly valuable.’
These are typical of the responses offered by clients who have undertaken stakeholder audits.
Each audit includes the collation, evaluation and analysis of findings consolidated into a comprehensive Audit Report, along with recommendations for responsive action.
A consistent recommendation is to report back to participating stakeholders on how the organisation proposes to respond to the Audit findings on the basis of: ‘This is what you told us’; ‘This is how we intend to respond.’ Like everyone, stakeholders are gratified by knowing they have not only been listened to but that their views have been acted upon.
The challenge is to step outside the executive ‘echo chambers’ and find out what your stakeholders really think and what they expect. It removes the guess work from planning.