Curium’s change consultant, Nick Brown has unravelled organisational design and provided key tips for those looking to implement new structures to achieve their business goals.
Having done [almost] every job in the field of change, with over 25 years’ experience, from retail and operations roles to analyst, architect, Project/Program Manager and Head of function roles across multiple sectors, I’m here to share some insights into organization structures.
When I was asked “Change Consultancy, why are you here?” It’s simple.
I love the variety. I love that I can leverage my experience gained over the years and use it to help others. I’ve been on the receiving end of a poor change project. It felt like change was done to me rather than me being part of the change and it doesn’t feel good. No one explained why it was happening.
Everybody is important, you need to be as close to the staff as you are to the management and engage with everybody. Make sure everyone’s voice is heard.
Different roles play key parts in the project, no role is less or more important than anyone else, pay or position do not equate to somebody’s input being more valuable than somebody else, it makes no difference. Some may struggle with uncertainty during org changes, usually down to a lack of clarity about the new structure and how it will affect them. That can create stress for employees.
One of the key areas that our customers look to us to support them with is creating a new organizational design for their business or function.
This is a lot more than simple tinkering; it is much broader than that and benefits from having an external perspective to support the process. So, what are the options for restructuring your company and what do we mean by organizational design?
Put simply, it is the process of creating and implementing a structure that supports the goals, strategy, and culture of a company. This can be a business that is growing, one that needs to become more efficient, diversifying, or wants to be underpinned by new capabilities such as digital.
Read on to see our 6 key steps to successfully implement a new model.
Restructuring the business can bring about these changes by aligning the company’s resources and processes with its priorities. Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room… the fear of change and how employees react to organizational change.
Inevitably people will have concerns about significant corporate changes, ranging from job security worries to concerns of being micro-managed. But that’s not what happens in a successful restructure.
Lots of people don’t like change at first. Employees may resist change because they prefer familiar, established ways of doing things, even if they are not efficient or effective. Be mindful, your employees may be concerned that the new structure will result in decreased decision-making authority or autonomy.
The impacts could lead to decreased morale and motivation, you may see good people leave, but it’s important for companies to address these fears and provide clear communication and support to help employees successfully transition to the new organizational model.
