Strange Internal Interview Today

I had a talk with a functional sales manager today that has been with me for about 5 years.  When he started with the company he had to go through training, then periodic retraining as our focus shifted when we found new opportunities.  As a part of his position he has to follow a checklist for daily activitiy and although he was supposed to do this checklist, he wasn't and through poor management that fell through the cracks.  I saw this as a learning opportunity for me, so I can strenghten my leadership within the company.

I tried something new that I had never done before, I decided ahead of time I'm going ask every single question that comes to mind no matter how "dumb" it sounds and for how ever long the whole process takes.  I asked questions about the strategic vision of the company, his part in the over all picture of the company, why were in existance, what his company description to customers was and how his position fits into the overall company.  The talk was completed in two hours.  Here are the results:

1)  He completely got the strategic goal of the company wrong.  Not by a little, he was appearantly working for another company that he created inside of his head but he was on my payroll

2)  He completely misunderstood his job function, he was so far off the mark that 50% of the activity he was performing didn't even make sense to the ficticious company he made up nor the company that he is actually employed at.

3)  He didn't know why we were in business, he had a vague idea but he was really off the mark.

4)  His comany description was very much in tune with what we were doing when he was hired but 5 years is a long time in business and his ideas weren't updated with the company.

5)  He didn't have an answer on how his position fit into the company other than that he is in charge of sales.

What did I learn?  Between me and my other owners, we need to communicate strategic vision with our employees better, more often and on a one on one basis.  I think the only way we can get this across is by asking questions first trying to figure out what our managers think we are doing then readjust that into what we are currently doing.  The good news is that after I fix this guy's opinions I'm expecting a 20-30% jump in sales within 60 days, which is huge.