As noted by Nanus and Dobbs (1999), there are several fundamentals where individual and organisational visions are linked. First, the organisation needs to verbalise with their employee where they (the organisation) are trying to take them; they must show the employee what they like to see this organisation hopes to become; and why it is important for the employee to move towards making his/her vision fulfil the organisation’s vision. Subsequently, the organisation’s vision and its passion must excite the employee and persuade the employee that by moving in towards the same direction, the employee will make a strong contribution and realise their own deepest needs for a sense of accomplishment, meaning and recognition in their own lives. Finally, if the organisation is willing to do all the above, and the employee find the vision firmly compelling and in accord with their own vision, they will commit to it and make it their own. Then they will see themselves not as the organisation’s followers but as colleagues and allies, working together on the same team with a common cause. Thus, when employees shape the vision of the organisation, it can reflect the personal visions that they have in their hearts and minds about their own futures (David 1998).
Good personal and organisational visions are needed (Hills and Jones 1988), it creates a sense of direction and purpose for the individual as well as the organisation; it helps to drive decision making and resource allocation and finally to assess same significant improvement in the way they run their lives or the organisation. In addition, Nanus and Dobbs (1999) also indicated that personal and organisational visions provide focus, guiding decisions and actions, and enables them to filter the many issues competing for their time and attention. According to Nanus (1996), a shared vision between the individual and the organisation will result towards a long-term goal measurement, gradually accepting some major changes and has a more proactive planning style. In contrast, if the vision is not shared, it will only result in short-term goals with minimal resistance to change.
However, a drawback for having individual and organisational visions linked together is either one of the entities must sacrifice their time or attention. For example, after 15 years of devoting myself working with a firm, I may think of retiring and start my own business within 3 years. However, in order to postpone my retirement and continue to serve the organisational vision, the company will now be required to top up my salary and entice me with all sorts of benefits which in my mind will compensate my desires for having my business.
Having to say all that, many times we have heard some organisations failed to achieve their vision. This is true because a good vision will give a great impact towards the effectiveness of team and individual actions in the workplace. These few major points that I will elaborate later has proven the reasons that sometimes individual and organisational visions cannot be linked. As previously discussed, a vision is like making our dreams become a reality. In order to make it real, we must be prepared to accept changes and sacrifices, but not all are prepared to do that. We know that for organisational vision to be effective, it relies increasingly on employees’ discretion to change and adapt. If they are not willing to accept changes in their life plan, then the end result will not be so great. Employees whose careers connect to their life plans are more effective at work (Gillen 1996). Another reason that makes the organisational vision ineffective is due to the vision’s vagueness. If the vision is so grandiose it becomes clearly unattainable and when the employees know that it is impossible to achieve the vision, they will no longer work towards it. Finally, the biggest challenge of organisational vision to be effective is to understand cultural diversity (Hellriegel, Jackson & Slocum 1999). For example, although diversity can enhance a team’s ability to solve problems creatively because of different ways of looking at a problem and finding a solution; creativity may also heighten conflicts within a team causing more problems instead of providing solutions.
