Services Banner
Industry insights

Organisational Transformation

Nick Faure 26 Apr 2011
Posted by Nick Faure

In recent years, organisational transformations seem to have been the magic cure for organisational deficiencies. For a transformation to be truly transforming and to obtain the support of employees, managers, leaders, customers, shareholders, etc. the instigator needs to clearly articulate what is going to change and why it has to change. Once the transformation is complete it must be obvious that indeed things have changed.
 
No transformation has the luxury of being delivered in a vacuum, while transforming, organisations will need to continue operating and delivering ‘business as usual’ and as any transformation will one way or another be affecting employees, the design, roll out and monitoring of the application of HR processes and principles is critical.
 
Chaucer has many years experience of providing the ‘glue’ for successful organisational transformations. We have experienced a variety of plans and outcomes. Rich in this experience we can now share some interesting lessons learned as well as common pitfalls and ‘quick wins’ with organisations who truly want to transform.

Comments

24 June 2011 13:25 Mark says

Nick
What are the key differences between Organisational Transformation and Change Management or is Change Management a part of the transformation process?
Mark

27 June 2011 14:16 Nick Faure says

Mark thanks for posting the question. I think you are addressing here a very interesting point about meaning of concepts.
I think that in fact Organisational Transformation is a Change Management vehicle whereby it serves a larger objective. For example, you could argue, that an organisation that wanted to deeply change its culture might choose the Organisational Transformation journey as a way to manage the change.
Equally, any Organisational Transformation will need some more tactical Change Management tools and techniques to be successful.
I encourage you to have a look at the “Chaucer Way – Change Management Process” for more information.
If you, or anyone else, would like a deeper conversation on the subject, do not hesitate to make contact: nick.faure@chaucer.com

21 April 2012 14:34 Ozlem says

Stumbled across the discussion, I would say looking at the current change and transformation agenda- we could say that transformation requires a rather radical change which encourages the organisation to think where they are and where they want to be- which could be a complete opposite strategic positioning as well as radical change of the operations, resources. However, the radical change may be in some cases an effort lasting up to a year and sometimes, could take place in several milestones reportedly lasting to 10 years.

Its great to read there is still interest in the transformation agenda. Its quiet a daunting task for any organisation, but necessary in the long run.

Mark- whats the longest transformation effort that you heard of? By the way have you read that the myth of 70% change efforts fail myth by Hughes - its an academic article but nevertheless a good research.

Would love to hear the practionar perspective.

Best
Ozlem

2 May 2012 17:05 Nick Faure says

Ozlem,

Thank you for your contribution to the conversation and your interest in Organisational Transformation. It is interesting that you use the term “radical” when referring to the change that might be required. I think the “radical” dimension of the change could actually be a question of perception. You could argue that, if badly prepared, change can be perceived as “radical” and as a consequence not fully supported. I agree that depending on the politico-socio-economic environment any organisation will need some degree of change; its radicalism could very well be mitigated by proper and efficient management of change.

With regards to the length of a transformational journey, I certainly have a “radical” view! I do not believe that any transformation that would not deliver its full value within a maximum of 5 year period is worth embarking upon. I firmly believe that Organisational Transformation should lead to an improvement in the organisational performance and ultimately to an improved bottom line. I suspect you will find it difficult for any board to approve an investment (and organisational transformation are costly investments) that would need 10 year to start providing some returns.

Kind Regards

Nick

Leave a Comment

Back to Category