Survey finds strategy data gap across U.S. workplaces
The 80/20 Institute says many employees lack access to performance data tied to strategy, raising execution concerns for operators.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
2 min read
The 80/20 Institute has released a national employee survey that points to a gap between corporate strategy and the data workers can see. The findings matter for leaders because strategy depends on employees knowing which performance measures define success.
The survey of 1,000 U.S. employees found that 70% cannot access data linked to their organization’s strategic goals. It also found that 57% lack access to data relevant to their own role or department, while 26% described their organization as highly data-driven, according to the institute.
For management teams, the results add a workplace-level view to a familiar operating problem: priorities set at the top often weaken as they move through departments, teams and front-line roles. In middle-market companies, especially those backed by private equity, weak execution can show up in missed margin targets and slower progress against value-creation plans.
Bill Canady, founder and chief executive of The 80/20 Institute, said executives often misread the issue as a strategy problem when employees cannot see the numbers tied to company goals. “When seven in ten employees can't see the numbers that define success, strategy breaks down at exactly the point where it's supposed to get executed,” Canady said.
The report, titled What 1,000 U.S. Workers Reveal About Execution, argues that alignment requires shared visibility into performance data. Without that visibility, the institute says, employees may struggle to connect daily work with the outcomes leadership is trying to improve.
The issue is practical rather than abstract for operators under pressure to improve EBITDA on a set timeline. Canady said the answer is not more unused dashboards, but a clearer decision about which measures matter and a management process that keeps those measures visible across the organization.
The institute connects the findings to its Profitable Growth Operating System, or PGOS, a framework organized around four phases: Segment, Simplify, Zero-Up and Grow. The system is designed to focus time, talent and capital on a smaller set of profit drivers, according to the institute.
The U.S. employee execution survey also covers employee engagement, leadership credibility and execution risk. The institute says the findings are based on a nationwide survey it commissioned, with the full methodology included in the report.