Kathryn Fialkowski: Future Forward

Organization Needs to Change? Conduct a Readiness Assessment First

There are many other scenarios: businesses may be undergoing technology deployments, globalization, product-to-service transformation, turnaround, new market entry, cost reduction, etc. Regardless of the objective, a clear understanding of your organization’s change capability and resiliency will help you set and achieve short term and long term goals. It is not a question of “IF” an organization can change but rather “HOW” the organization is prepared to change.

Readiness assessments can help you understand the capacity and capability of the organization to change. As a result, it helps you build a plan, aligned to the organization and culture, to close the gap. Readiness assessments are the first step in risk mitigation for any major business change.

Download Readiness Assessment Marketing Sheet

Accelerated Changes: Accelerated Results

As one of my clients put it: “We can deal with individual changes, big regulatory changes that have plenty of lead time, and quality improvement. But, everything seems to be coming at us all at once. Big changes, expensive changes, and they seem to be coming at us at lightening speed.” The market faces accelerating change in the most fundamental parts of its businesses: movement in supply chain and energy pricing, the overall environmental regulations and “green” movement, employee compensation, benefits, technology, and cash tightening. All of these are hitting businesses simultaneously and often there’s less than 12 months to deal with the requirements. Let’s face it, the rate of change has been accelerating and it’s getting more difficult to deal with it.

Keeping up with the rate of change is integral to survival. Sometimes we do this with continuous improvement programs. Sometimes its necessary to take a larger view and bite off a bigger change. Either way, those who can make strategic moves and keep up with the rate of change emerge victorious.

Continuous improvement programs are terrific, necessary, and when lead by the employees they provide a lot of value. Continuous change, like Lean, helps organizations identify wastes in their processes: things like inventory sitting, waiting time like waiting for signatures/approvals, and unnecessary back-ups and lack of flow in a process. The improvement process is more analytical than strategic in nature. Often these programs break down – stop producing results – once the “low hanging fruit” has been picked.

Transformational change is strategic in nature. Processes, structures, assets, culture are considered at a strategic level based on a view of where the markets are moving and what it will take to be competitive in the future. Transformational change always starts with a view that you are here but need to be there (which may be far away) and the question is how to close the gap rapidly while managing the consequences. In doing so, you dramatically expand your business capability and capacity. Business Transformation enables you to weather the externals, turn them into tailwinds, and ultimately realize accelerated returns.

The attached article walks you through transformational change. Consider how it might apply to your situation or company. Need a partner to help you through the process? Collaborate with Kate.

 

Download Business Transformation Article

Collaborate with Kate: A Video Short Take

Turbulent times accelerate the speed of change and people/companies get caught in the whirlwind. Business Transformation helps you keep up with the speed of change, and not only survive these turbulent times but thrive as a result of them. Click to play this short video on business transformation...

 

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