Vantage Point: Make the Most of Your Business Transformation Plans

·         Make sure technology-enabled business transformation efforts have clear goals and take organizational change management into account. It seems like common sense advice, but this is still frequently ignored by companies too eager to implement technology-enabled solutions expecting wildly successful and sustainable results overnight.
 

When organizational issues are left unchecked, they often lead to project failure. The moral of the story is that companies must invest in process transformation and organizational change management activities. Failure to do so in order to keep the price of implementations down will cause significant heartache.
 

·         Don’t assume that you are naturally good at managing change. Managing change is not one event. It’s a process and its hard work. It requires business process and industry knowledge, the ability to analyze changes in roles and responsibilities, making the appropriate changes to organizational structures and performance metrics, the execution of a two-way communications plan that addresses all key stakeholders as well as a flawless execution of the delivery of training and education programs.
 

·         Sponsors must put corporate-wide interests ahead of local or functional-based ones. Make sure that you understand all business transformation linkages and key dependencies across all business areas or functions. Create a sponsor coalition that is broad-based in nature and is strong enough to make cross-functional change happen. Compensate people, including sponsors, based on their combined ability to deliver the desired business transformation. Consider a compensation model that rewards people over a measurable period of time, so there’s an incentive to make the change last.
 

·         Create your own business transformation team. Business people, alongside with Technology and Human Resources, should drive the implementation of new programs. No one else knows the business processes, policies, procedures and behaviors that are characteristic of their home organization as well as they do. It stands to reason then that credible business people should lead the charge in helping the enterprise implement change.
 

·         Devote your best resources to the task at hand. The old adage that “you get what you pay for” holds true in all change management activities. Staff your own change management team with people who are well respected, “A” players in the areas of the business that you intend to transform. Make the commitment to devote these resources full-time to managing change and make it attractive for them to want to fill these positions. To ensure a comprehensive change approach, supplement your business resources with HR, Training, Corporate Communications and Legal resources. And last, but not least, leverage industry-specific change management expertise and methodologies supplied by consultants, but insist on knowledge transfer. Become self-sufficient!
 

·         Take into account the organization’s capacity to assimilate change. This one requires a lot of homework and is hard to execute. It requires complete and accurate information on all significant business transformation programs and activities that are ongoing in the corporation. To gauge whether you have a good handle on such information, you should try answering questions such as:

–       How many strategic projects is the enterprise currently undertaking?

–       Do implementation timelines, communication messages, education programs and other key activities coincide for one or more groups of stakeholders in the company?

–       Do we understand the key interdependencies between projects or initiatives? Are we managing risks?
 

If you are not able to get clear answers, you may need to institute an enterprise governance framework to oversee all business transformation programs. A governance framework will allow you to align all business transformation programs to the stated corporate vision and prioritize them based on a predetermined set of criteria. The prioritized list should be reviewed and analyzed periodically to make sure that the organization will be capable of implementing, assimilating and sustaining all of the planned transformation programs. And, as painful as it may be, one should not be afraid to remove programs from the list when it makes sense to do so.
 

·         Involve middle and line management in the project. While the decision to embark on a large business transformation program is the exclusive domain of upper-level executives, the design and implementation typically involves two groups that are critical to the success of any program: the middle and lower ranks of the corporation. When you also take into account that a sizeable portion of training and communication at consumer goods manufacturers is traditionally delivered by supervisors or line managers, few people would argue with the notion that winning middle and line management over is one of the key success factors in making any transformation lasting and successful.
 

·         Don’t neglect to identify the need for organizational change management in your technology organization. Whether you are migrating from mainframe-based legacy systems to a client-server environment, or you are attempting to transform the corporation by using web-enabled business processes, chances are that you will need to tap into hard-to-find technology resources and skills. While some of the needed resources will need to be hired from outside the organization, or temporarily supplied by an outside vendor, a significant number may need to come from within the organization and staff may need to be re-skilled in new technologies and technology processes. If you find yourself in that situation, you will find solace in the fact that all of the previous points are also valid for the technology transformations that are required in order to enable the desired business transformations.
 

·         Don’t be afraid to swap out resources. Even in the face of evidence that a major change program is needed and is being executed according to a well-crafted strategy, you will occasionally have to deal with resources that are unwilling to support and participate in the program. When that happens, don’t be afraid to take quick action and make the necessary organizational changes. But, make sure those changes are based on a fair evaluation process.
 Consequence management can be hard, but it is an important ingredient in getting corporate culture to align with the enterprise’s new vision.
 

To survive and thrive in the current business environment, companies need to understand that change management processes and capabilities must become one of the enterprise’s core competencies – and they must be willing to invest the time and resources to make it happen. Whether a company is going through a merger and acquisition, increasing the use of web-enabled business solutions or implementing new social media strategies, effectively managing change can help consumer goods companies become more successful in the marketplace.
 

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