Riding the Wave of Organizational Transformation

An organizational transformation is a costly endeavor. It requires time, money and commitment. Productivity will most likely take a hit in the short term as people adapt and process new learnings. If unsuccessful, it can have a serious negative impact on your organization. Considering this, should you be thinking of transforming your company?

Let’s quickly look at what transformation is and how it differs from change. Most people will recognize the more essential nature of transformation. While change usually impacts what we do and how we do it, transformation impacts what we are, our essence. So ask yourself the following question: is there something fundamental about who you are today as a company that is stopping you? 

Though not without its challenges, it is far easier to change some of the processes that you’re doing today, to improve them, than to change yourself (who you are, what you stand for, what you desire for your company). But this could be the wrong move, and lead to change initiative after change initiative without any results. It’s important to recognize when transformation is needed. Here are some examples that could indicate such a need:

You work harder, but results are the same (or lower)

This is a classic one. In the pursuit of certain goals or targets, sometimes companies attempt different strategies to achieve them but fall short. The level of effort is increased, but the results remain the same. There might be something impeding the company in its current form to deliver the results. This can be due to the organizational structure, the way of working, or even the company culture. It’s key that all three of these work as enablers and provide support in the delivery of the company ambition. In addition, it could be that the external market environment (customers, competitors & regulatory) has changed or is changing.

You have difficulty attracting people to join your company

Attracting the right people for your company can often be experienced as challenging. Often managers blame or excuse these difficulties on external factors. Some of the reasons given include being in the wrong location, high competition for high talent potential, not enough applicants for certain positions, etc. The fact is there are companies out there that don’t have trouble attracting the right people, and they often require highly trained, highly experienced and highly specialized employees. If your company has trouble attracting people, think about what the (internal) reasons might be.

You don’t have the resources to achieve your goals

If you don’t have the resources to achieve your ambition, it probably means that you are either unrealistic, or that your priorities are the wrong ones. This would require the company and all individuals in it to align their work and capital to the achievement of the goals.

Customer complaints are going up

Delivering to the customer and doing it better than the competition is key to a company performing well. When customer complaints start going up it should raise a red flag. Even if results are good today, this could be a sign that they may be in jeopardy tomorrow. The character of these complaints should also be telling. Are there returning quality related issues? Has the level of service not been improved while the competitors’ are overtaking yours? Have the needs of your customers radically changed? The answers to these are not only helpful for putting out fires permanently, but also for uncovering new opportunities for your business.

Leadership is key

Identifying these opportunities to transform the company and acting upon them is the domain of leadership. It’s up to leaders in a company to identify them and determine the best approach to lead their company to better performance. Most of us know stories of companies that didn’t take the opportunity to transform. Think Nokia, Kodak or the old IBM. A combination of lack of vision and strong self-assuredness often were part of what made these companies blind to the risks of not adapting to changes, as well as to the opportunities to transform their company.

The most impactful organizational transformations happen not as a necessary reaction to bad results, but as a voluntary and purposeful decision to go for ambitious and inspiring goals that safeguard a better future for the company and all of its stakeholders. This better future can be had when strong leadership have the vision and ambition to spot opportunities and the ability to meet the challenges of capturing them.