News Release Details

SALT LAKE CITY, Mar 15, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- FranklinCovey, (NYSE: FC) which has surveyed more than 2.5 million people about productivity and effectiveness issues, today released the findings of its latest Execution Quotient (xQ(TM)) study of 12,182 U.S. workers, FranklinCovey commissioned Harris Interactive(R) to field the xQ Questionnaire, from which the study is based, which measures employee and workgroup perspectives on how sharply they focus and execute on their organization's key strategic objectives.

The findings confirm that most organizations suffer from major "execution gaps," which undermine the achievement of their most critical, strategic goals. The Execution gaps result from a combination of factors and the degree to which workers understand and apply six, key principles of execution at the individual, team and organizational level-clarity, commitment, translation into action, enabling, synergy, and accountability.

Clarity: The majority of workers don't know their organization's most important goals

     -- Only 48% of workers say their organization has a clear strategic
        direction and only 37% say they understand the reason for that
        strategic direction
     -- Only 44% of workers say their organization has clearly communicated
        its most important goals
     -- Only 54% of workers say they clearly understand what they are supposed
        to do to help achieve their organization's goals

Additionally, in a separate study conducted by FranklinCovey of 26,500 xQ respondents in more than 150 companies, only 15% of workers could actually identify their organization's top three goals.

Commitment: The majority of workers are not committed to their organization's most important goals

     -- Only 22% of workers are enthusiastic about the goals they set with
        their work teams
     -- Only 39% of workers say they are highly energized and committed to the
        direction of their work team
     -- Only 41% of workers say their job taps into the best of their talents
        and passion

Translation Into Action: The majority of workers do not translate organizational goals into action

     -- Only 48% of workers say the goals of their work team are translated
        into their individual work goals
     -- Only 32% of workers say they take time each week to identify and
        schedule the activities around their work team's most important goals
     -- Only 38% of workers say their work team planning results in clear
        assignments for individuals

Enabling: The majority of workers think there are significant barriers to execution of organizational goals

     -- Only 38% of workers say that their work team systems and processes are
        aligned to help the team achieve its goals
     -- Only 15% of workers say their upper management actively supports the
        goals of their work team
     -- When asked the most significant barriers that make it difficult for
        them to achieve their most important work goals, the most frequently
        mentioned responses over 25% of the time were:
        -- Overwhelming workload (e.g., too much to do, can't get to all my
           key priorities) (31%)
        -- Lack of resources (e.g., insufficient budgets, people, tools,
           support) (30%)
        -- Unclear or shifting work priorities (e.g., other people's urgencies
           and emergencies, conflicting demands, surprise projects) (27%)
        -- Political issues (e.g., turf battles, rivalries, favoritism,
           personality clashes) (26%)
        -- Lack of recognition or reward (e.g., credit not shared, unfair pay,
           rewards not tied to performance) (26%)

Synergy: The majority of workers don't work well together to achieve their organization's goals

     -- Only 31% of workers say their team regularly achieves better results
        because of how well they work together with other work teams
     -- Only 28% of workers say that work teams within their organization
        actively help each other to achieve their respective goals
     -- Only 37% of workers say they do not undermine each other on their work
        team

Accountability: The majority of workers don't hold each other accountable for achieving their organization's goals

     -- Only 41% of workers say their work team reports to each other on their
        progress toward goals
     -- Only 26% of workers say they meet at least monthly with their manager
        to review progress on their goals
     -- Only 30% of workers say work team rewards and consequences are clearly
        based on performance

Dr. Stephen R. Covey, vice chairman of FranklinCovey and author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People said, "The most fundamental business issue facing organizations today is execution -- whether or not an organization achieves its goals. There is serious misalignment between the daily activities of the front line worker and the organizational strategy. The top priority of every executive and team leader should be to clarify, communicate and assist workers in achieving their organization's critical goals."

To review the complete report of the FranklinCovey xQ survey, visit www.franklincovey.com/about/press/2004/xq_report.pdf . For a summary of the report, visit www.franklincovey.com/about/press/2004/xq_summary.pdf . For more information about the xQ service, the FranklinCovey Execution Solution, or to register for a FranklinCovey workshop, visit www.franklincovey.com/forbusiness/solutions or call 1-800-868-1776.

Methodology

FranklinCovey commissioned Harris Interactive to field the xQ Questionnaire to poll 12,182 U.S. workers, representing executives, managers, and front-line workers across 18 industries, including banking and finance, retail trade, healthcare, public administration and government, military, technology services, telecommunications, education, automotive, and others. This survey was conducted online within the United States in November 2003 among a nationwide cross section of adults (18+) employed full time. Figures for employment, industry, gender, education, income, race/ethnicity, and region were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. "Propensity score" weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. The poll holds a 95 percent confidence level with results accurate to within +/-1 percentage point of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled. This online survey is not a probability sample.

The FranklinCovey Execution Solution

The FranklinCovey Execution Solution emphasizes individual, team and organizational effectiveness and alignment of goals throughout an organization. Effectively assessing how sharply employees focus and execute on their organization's key objectives, and then inspiring and engaging them to achieve those critical goals together, is vital to the success of every organization. These important business practices can be achieved through proper training, tools and measurement. The process includes the xQ Questionnaire, which measures how well individuals, teams and organizations focus on and execute their organization's key objectives. Core elements of the solution include: xQ Measurement, FOCUS: Achieving Your Highest Priorities workshop, The 4 Disciplines of Execution workshop, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People workshop, The 4 Roles of Leadership Workshop, and the FranklinCovey Planning System.

The FranklinCovey xQ Measurement Process

The FranklinCovey xQ Measurement process is an assessment and management tool that helps leaders measure their organization's Execution Quotient by gathering employee and workgroup perspectives on how sharply they focus and execute on the organization's key objectives. xQ reports are provided to every manager and work team in the organization. An xQ debrief enables managers and work teams to pinpoint areas of concern in their own units. Leaders can then take specific steps to improve focus and execution at any organizational level.

About FranklinCovey

FranklinCovey (NYSE: FC) is the global leader in effectiveness training, productivity tools, and assessment services for organizations, teams and individuals. FranklinCovey helps companies succeed by unleashing the power of their workforce to focus and execute on top business priorities. Clients include 90 percent of the Fortune 100, more than 75 percent of the Fortune 500, thousands of small and mid-sized businesses, as well as numerous government entities and educational institutions. Organizations and individuals access FranklinCovey products and services through corporate training, licensed client facilitators, one-on-one coaching, public workshops, catalogs, more than 140 retail stores and www.franklincovey.com . FranklinCovey has 2,000 associates providing professional services and products in 39 offices and in 95 countries.

SOURCE FranklinCovey

Debra Lund, +1-801-817-6440, debra.lund@franklincovey.com, or
Nick Paulenich, +1-801-817-5276, nick.paulenich@franklincovey.com, both of
FranklinCovey

http://www.franklincovey.com