
Change Management 101 (Part 3): Why You Need a Practical Organization & Performance Redesign Plan
What is it for?
We’re all familiar with the phrase “form follows function” in architectural design, and it holds just as true for organizational design. It refers to the popular principal that form or structure should be determined by function or purpose. When organizations implement change, it often exposes the need to change functions, including tasks, processes, and roles, and this necessitates changes in the organization’s form or structure. That’s where a practical organization and performance redesign plan comes in.
What does it do?
The plan’s primary objective is to support the adoption of your change, by focusing the change team’s work and resources on the levers that deliver 80 per cent of the benefits. The plan:
- Ensures you have the right people in the right roles;
- Focuses employees on the behaviours that drive results; and
- Aligns compensation, rewards and recognition with the two or three results that support your strategic business goal.
How does it work?
1) Start with the tools and strategies in place
Tools within an organization and performance redesign plan focus on HR processes, documents, templates, policies, programs and systems related to:
Role descriptions, reporting and management structure;
- Performance measurement, compensation and recognition; and
- Role profiles, including tasks, responsibilities and skill sets required for roles impacted by system and core work process changes.
Begin your redesign by working with the tools, strategies and processes you already have in place and then move on to customization.
2) Develop custom tools and strategies to deliver results
Major system and core work process changes force organizations to change many aspects of their operations. Avoid falling into the trap of applying the same level of investment to all changes, and instead focus customization efforts in these three areas:
- Staff people in critical leadership and/or thought leader roles who have the skills, aptitude and attitude to lead the change;
- Embed in role descriptions critical behaviours for system operations and work process integrity; and
- Modify compensation and recognition programs to focus employees on the one to three behaviours that drive the two to three results linked to your strategic business goal. For example, if ‘Recommend to a Friend’ (RTF) scores are linked to your organization’s strategic goal to increase its competitiveness, then incenting customer service agents to make deeper customer connections on calls (behaviour) will increase the likelihood of customers awarding high RTF scores (result).
Whatever change your organization is facing, the most difficult component isn’t implementing the change itself – it’s managing how the people in your organization adopt, support and assimilate the change.
We can help you develop a practical organization and performance redesign plan to ensure that your change endures. First, we’ll assess your current organization design, including your culture, structure, tasks and roles, decision-making processes, people and leadership competencies, information flow and rewards systems. Next, we’ll collaborate with you to devise an organization and performance redesign plan to achieve your desired results. Finally, we’ll create an action plan that serves as your roadmap for implementing a new organization design that is sustainable and supports your goals.
Whether your project requires one consultant or ten, we have the proven talent, tools and follow-through practices to achieve the change you want. Learn more in our white paper: Managing Change: Three truths every executive needs to know to deliver superior ERP and technology implementation results.
Implementing change like a top performing company is easier than you think.
See how a travel industry leader used a customized change management plan on a technology project to transform customer service. Download the Business Case: A Customized Change Management Plan Delivers Results Beyond Expectation.