Organizational Transformation: How to Achieve Desired Results in Times of Uncertainty
By: Steven D. Carter
Tags: Organizational Change, Change, Business, Organizational Culture, Transformation

“The greatest danger in times of uncertainty is not the uncertainty; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” Peter Drucker

Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash

How does a CEO, a government agency, a for profit or non-profit organization know when it’s time for a change? The best way to look into future needs is to gain a sense of where the environment is moving. The first question you should ask, is your company or organization stagnating or simply maintaining the status quo? If the answer is yes (or you are unsure), focusing on organizational transformation could help your organization move forward and improve its chances of increasing capacity and capability. What is organizational transformation? Organizational Transformation is a strategic method of transitioning your organization from where you are now to where you will need to be in the future. Maintaining the status quo for long periods will not do your organization any favors, especially when it comes to a competitive, ambiguous, complex, or uncertain business environment. If you plan to take your organization where it needs to go to meet the future demands, you should consider making significant changes to your organization by incorporating innovations and new methods. Innovations can be anything from distributed working environments, web-based video meetings, virtual learning environments, virtual fundraising or the like. Research from McKinsey and Company shows that 70 percent of all transformations fail.

If you look at successful businesses and organizations, you will notice that they are always planning for the future by trying to sense how their organization is moving within the business and operational environment. It helps them determine a strategy to reach their targets and objectives, sustaining their business while also ensuring sustainability. These strategies require minor and major changes like making adjustments to work, design, and processes. You can even go as far as changing your organization’s overall direction. Notably, organizations that took a rigorous, action-oriented approach and completed their transformations, those executives reported a 79 percent success rate, which is three times the average for all transformations.

Photo by Nikita Kachanovsky on Unsplash

Does Your Company Require Transformation?

No matter how successful your business is, it will always face regular challenges. You might be wondering what to look for to realize whether your company needs to transform.

Well, there are many key indicators, one of which could be your company’s overall service delivery to your customers. Culture-related issues also tend to be a major problem for many organizations, which is a major reason why they incorporate organizational transformation. There are countless telltale signs that could help you realize whether your organization needs to change to meet existing or future demands.

Why You Should Consider Organizational Transformation

You must consider implementing organizational transformation to remain competitive and relevant in a growing field of new entrants or perceived better customer options. When incorporating this transformation, you must address psychological and operational elements, making sure the transition is manageable.

Are you planning to make changes to your organization and transform it? If the answer is yes, the following tips could come in handy.

Consider three key elements of transformation:

Thinking: How do people understand the organization and their ability to learn? How well are ideas (management concepts) constructed to meet organizational needs, and how well managers communicate them?

Behavior: How do people react to change? How is it conveyed and what attitudes exist related to recommended changes?

Infrastructure: What physical environment does the change take place? The environment may include technology, procedures, organizational structure and the various systems that are relevant to the work.

Setting the Right Tone

The management should be very proactive when implementing organizational transformation. Make sure you set the right tone for your organization by recognizing the greatest hurdle to organization transformation — culture. Incorporating the right behaviors and beliefs will ensure your employees understand how organizational change impacts their duties.

Managing Tension

Transforming an organization can often be complex and messy. Why? Perhaps the most difficult area of transformation is the organizational culture. Challenges like this could take time as people find it hard to adjust to organizational change. Therefore, you should help mitigate employees’ tensions by helping them embrace these changes. You can do this by addressing their questions, pain points etc. Cultivating a culture of transparency is also a great way to encourage candid and open discussions, which could come in handy to understand what the workforce is feeling.

Creating a Transformation Blueprint

Transformations, whether cultural or organizational, can often feel abstract. Providing employees with a vague idea about your company’s new direction or adjustment to “how we do business” is not enough these days. You can offer clarity by providing them with a transformation blueprint or road maps, giving them some sense of direction. Executives must be cautious not to fall prey to old paradigms and antiquated approaches because whatever got you here may prevent you from getting you there.

“Whatever got you here may well prevent you from getting you there.” ~ Marshall Goldsmith

Taking Everything in Account

Transforming an organization is a difficult and time-consuming endeavor. However, you can get started by examining and closely analyzing psychological and operational elements. Doing so will allow you to change your company’s long-term trajectory, significantly improving its profitability and overall capacity to meet future demands.