​In order to stay relevant in a competitive marketplace, companies must rely on strong leaders to motivate their employees.
 
Leaders may primarily engage their workforce with autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire and transformational leadership strategies. Alternatively, they may adopt transactional, task-oriented, situational, servant and charismatic leadership strategies to optimise their organisation’s productivity.

Organisations with concrete corporate strategies will remain competitive in their respective industries. An effective corporate strategy guides an organisation’s activities with a strong mission statement, vision statement, organisational goals and values.

A SWOT analysis is an analytical framework that documents an organisation’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
 
These insights would allow organisations to devise relevant strategies to remain competitive in the marketplace. They may also be used to align a company’s operations with its current strategies.

Internal and external audits provide analytical insights about an organisation's finances, operations and governance.

​Internal audits present an overview of an organisation’s current state of affairs, whilst external audits verify internal reports about an organisation’s financial health to its stakeholders and the government. 

The State of Kansas (2008) defines the Performance Review process as an overall assessment of an employee's annual performance.[1]
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During this process, managers and employees would discuss employees’ ratings, as well as managers’ rationale for their evaluations. In some organizations, managers may also discuss administrative affairs, such as salary allocation and/or promotion decisions, with their employees.

​Once managers have identified and evaluated their employees’ key competencies, managers and employees should exchange feedback on a continuous basis.

​During this process, managers are responsible for providing constructive, honest and relevant feedback. Correspondingly, employees are encouraged to use their supervisors’ feedback to improve their performance. [1]

Once organisational goals are established, supervisors should identify their employees’ key competencies. In order to ensure that performance evaluations are effectively conducted, supervisors also should specify how expectations may differ according to an employee’s position.

​This procedure would inform employees about the responsibilities that are associated with their respective positions, and would establish a set of reasonable expectations for supervisors to assess their employees with. [1]

The State of Kansas (2008) lists the Performance Planning process as the first step in a performance management system. It defines Performance Planning as the establishment of an organisation’s performance objectives for the following year. [1]

​At the beginning of each performance management cycle, managers should establish strategic objectives for their division to achieve. You may refer to our previous article on strategic direction for more tips on establishing relevant objectives. 

An organisation's performance management system should be aligned with its fundamental objectives, as well as its culture and values. [1] In this article, we'll discuss the key characteristics of effective performance management systems.

Once an organisation has defined their corporate objectives, as well as a specific set of KPIs, its managers should establish a performance management system to drive their employees towards strategic goals.

Performance management systems allow organisations to establish a working environment that maximises employee performance. With an emphasis on leadership and development, effective performance management models empower employees to achieve the organisation’s objectives. [1]

Once an organisation has determined its value proposition, it may select KPIs that are aligned with its primary objectives. In this article, we'll introduce key customer, operational and developmental objectives. that an organisation should include in its strategy. 

Once an organisation has determined its value proposition, it may select KPIs that are aligned with its financial objectives. Financial KPIs allow managers to determine if their organisation is generating sufficient revenue and profits. [1]

Key Performance Questions (KPQs) enable managers to generate metrics that are aligned with their organisation’s objectives. KPQs allow managers to identify criteria for information that would address their organisation’s strategic questions. They would also allow managers to apply performance data to an organisation’s present conditions. [1]

Although many organisations attempt to measure their progress with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), selecting relevant metrics may be difficult. In this article, we'll introduce four steps to identifying KPIs that are relevant to a company's specific objectives.

In order to remain competitive, an organisation should analyse its mission, identify its stakeholders, and define its goals. In addition, it needs to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure its corporate progress. In this article, we'll introduce the fundamental characteristics of effective KPIs.

​In order to remain competitive, an organisation should analyse its mission, identify its stakeholders, and define its goals. In addition, it needs to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure its corporate progress.

According to Kaplan and Norton, who have published an article in an issue of the Harvard Business Review, an organisation may use frameworks, systems and processes to devise strategies that would enable them to remain competitive in the marketplace. [1]

Although each leadership style possesses distinctive advantages, the Transformational Leadership framework has risen in popularity. [1]

Transformational leaders, who are able to motivate their subordinates to achieve positive results, [2] emphasise teamwork and cooperation in their organisation. [3] According to a study by Odumeru and Ifeany (2013), studies show that transformational leaders possess both industrial and interpersonal expertise.

Organisations should ensure that they select competent leaders to guide their employees towards their corporate strategies.

Strong leaders give clear and unified directions to the members of their organisation, which must align with the organisation’s overall objective. Their leadership would establish an organisation’s long-term direction and pace, and clearly define the organisation’s mission and vision.