failure to appreciate the practical problems of getting the initiative
accepted by all concerned and of embedding it as part of the normal
routines of the organization;
inability to persuade top management actively to support the initiative;
inability to achieve ownership among line managers;
inability to gain the understanding and acceptance of employees;
failure to take into account the need to have established supporting
processes for the initiative (e.g. performance management to support
performance pay);
failure to recognize that the initiative will make new demands on the
commitment and skills of the line managers who may have to play a
major part in implementing it (for example, skills in setting objectives,
providing feedback and helping to prepare and implement personal
development plans in performance management processes);
failure to ensure that the resources (finance, people and time) required
to implement the initiative will be available; these include the HR
resources needed to provide support to line managers, conduct training
programmes and communicate with and involve employees;
failure to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the strategy and
to take swift remedial action if things are not going according to plan.
Overcoming the barriers
To overcome these barriers it is necessary to carry out the following steps:
- Conduct analysis - the initial analysis should cover business needs,
corporate culture and internal and external environmental factors. The
framework could be a SWOT analysis of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats facing the organization, or a PESTLE
analysis (the political, economic, social, technological, legal and
environmental contexts within which the organization operates). The
checklist at the end of this chapter sets out a number of questions that
should be answered at the analysis stage.