One of the main concerns business owners have when first introduced to open-book management is related to what information will be shared. They fear that revealing details of the company’s financial picture will create stress and tension within the organization. For example, owners are often concerned about whether employee salary information is to be revealed. They even worry about the competition gaining access to their financials.
The goal of the open-book management strategy is to create accountability and responsibility in staff members by showing them their impact on numbers that are important to your organization. Financial information such as salary and bonuses paid to individuals is not relevant to that goal, nor to the financial literacy training, and consequently is not shared with employees.
The GGOB approach isn’t about finger pointing. Instead, it’s about reflecting on past failures and successes, as well as present-day challenges. This helps staff members understand what they can do to improve results in the future. The focus of The Game is squarely on the “why” and the “how” rather than the “what.”
If a competitor gets access to a scorecard it really has nothing more than raw data. Without knowledge of the processes and procedures behind the numbers, there is no way for an organization to capitalize on those stats.
The focus of The Great Game® is the data that matters most to your organization. We refer to these as your Critical Number™. We help you use those metrics to teach your staff about your business from the perspective of a manager or owner. They become intimately familiar with this data and aware of how their efforts impact the company’s results. Numbers that can’t be used to help achieve this goal aren’t shared.
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