Organizational design is the accepted industry term for a step by step approach for identifying dysfunctional components of workflow, processes, structures, and systems within a business, the process of realigning them to match current business realities/goals, and then developing strategies to put the new changes into action. The procedure focuses on both the technological and human aspects of the business.
The organizational design process typically results in a more efficient organizational performance, notably improved results across a wide range of crucial verticals (profitability, customer care, internal operations), and more empowered and committed people working within it.
This all sounds complex, and, at first, it can certainly seem that way, especially if a business has been in existence for many years, or if some stakeholders feel that things are fine the way they are and see no need for change.
As organizational design consulting specialists, the Pearl Lemon Consulting has helped a wide range of companies change their businesses for the better via improved organizational design.
You don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company to benefit from better organizational design. Nor do you have to be a business that has been around for many years. In fact, as prevention is always better than cure, it is often businesses in their early phases that benefit most from organizational design consulting. Getting started in the best possible shape can help startups weather all kinds of storms that their less well organized competitors might not survive.
The Big Benefits and Possible Drawbacks of Organizational Design
Organizational design is a framework for integrating an organization’s essential elements: people, information, and technology. Organizational design takes into account the aspects of organizational structure, such as management hierarchies and departmental groupings, as well as the technology infrastructure and operations workflow of a company.
However, when improperly conceived or implemented, organizational design can backfire, leaving businesses with a whole new set of issues to deal with. This is one of the most important reasons to involve experienced organizational design consultants in the process from the beginning.
Knowing just what organizational design might be able to do for your business is a great start:
Improved Clarity
A well-designed organization ensures that reporting relationships, decision-making, the flow of information, and work processes are all clear. Everyone understands precisely what they are accountable for, who they report to, and what other coworkers are responsible for with a well-crafted design. This can help a company’s operating efficiency, especially if it’s a larger one.
However, there are certain disadvantages to this level of clarity. Employees in small businesses without a defined framework, for example, may be expected to do a variety of unconnected jobs. Employees in highly organized organizations, on the other hand, may reject or refuse to complete work that is not part of their job description.
The latter disadvantages can be prevented, however, when organizational design does not follow a rigid set of best practices and is created and implemented with the unique business top of mind at all times.
As experienced organizational design consultants willing to go the extra mile, the Pearl Lemon Consulting team takes the time to understand each client business to help ensure that possible roadblocks to clarity in organizational design are identified and addressed early in the process and a strategy is created to overcome them.
Business Expansion
A well designed firm may be better positioned to capitalize on expansion prospects than a company with a more haphazard design, or no organizational design at all.
A strong organizational design can include, for example, a technical infrastructure that allows the corporation to easily integrate new employee workstation equipment to the company network as the business expands. In contrast, a firm that has not planned for technology expansion may experience needless obstacles when adding even a single employee.
Improved Adaptability
Organizational design strategies are frequently influenced by current market conditions and industry developments. The problem with this rigid concentration is that in most sectors, conditions and trends alter often or even constantly.
Too much emphasis on inflexible organizational design might result in businesses that are well-suited to today’s competitive climate but less able to adapt to future changes.
Pearl lemon Consulting’s organizational design consulting team are well aware of the potential downsides of overly rigid thinking when it comes to planning and implementing a design for a unique business. No two businesses are alike, so it only makes sense, in reality, that no single organizational design ‘playbook’ can benefit them all.
When clients work with us, they get a roadmap to an organizational design that takes future developments whatever they might be into consideration as well as current best practices. Doing so involves more out of the box thinking, and more questioning and market research consultancy team, but it’s work we happily undertake to ensure the creation of a better organizational design for each individual firm we work with.
More Opportunity for Employees
In a tight labor market and those are a reality in most business sectors and industries right now securing, and retaining the top talent needed to keep a business on track and help ensure it has a successful future – is increasingly challenging.
An increasing number of employees are not just looking at salaries when making employment choices. They want to know that their efforts and skills will be recognized, and, if they prove worthy of them, advancement opportunities they can aspire to exist.
Only a good organizational design can help create a system that gives them this reassurance, while also creating a more productive team for the business. If people have a goal to work towards, they work harder, better and smarter. That’s just Business.
When you work with Pearl Lemon Consulting on your organizational design, we will help ensure that it takes these very important considerations into account and that properly defined advancement tracks and employee management systems are a part of them.
The Pearl Lemon Consulting Difference
We know we are far from the only consulting firm out there offering organizational design consulting services. From the Big Four consulting firms to other boutique consulting firms, we are well aware of the fact that we have plenty of healthy competition. So why choose Pearl Lemon Consulting?
The most obvious answer here would be to say we are one of the best at what we do, and we would certainly like to believe that is the case. We have client testimonials to that effect. But we also know that what really sets us apart as organizational design consultants is our commitment to our clients and the skills and experience of our consulting team.
Pearl Lemon Consulting’s organizational design consulting team does not simply come in and tell you what you should do according to all the best business school wisdom, present you with a one size fits all plan and then leave.
We play a part in every step of organizational design and even once the initial changes have been made we remain available to help address any problems that arise as it unfolds, and to help you make any tweaks and changes needed to keep the plan on track.
