Navigating through the organisational change landscape in a tough economy

Since the 2008 economic meltdown many organisations have been struggling to navigate through tough economic conditions; often traditional and old mindsets prevail where leadership takes the position or view to reduce headcount, slash learning and development costs and reduce all unnecessary operational costs.

Upon closer examination of some local and international organisations, I have found a few organisations applying a different mindset; a different set of tools and methodologies to create a different/re-vitalized organisation using some basic principles to navigate through a tough economic climate, namely:

(1)    Going back to the drawing board to review their organisational strategies – not to re-invent them, but instead to ‘tweak/re-adjust/re-align’ their organisational plans and priorities based on good research gathered both internally and externally.

(2)    Engaging key stakeholders (both internal and external) – remembering that your customers and employees can make a mindful and significant contribution to the existence of the organisation.

(3)    Reconnecting with the organisational purpose and passion – this goes beyond the beloved Vision and Mission statement where every stakeholder understands why the organisation exits, and how they can effectively and efficiently contribute to its existence through their passion.

(4)    Monitoring and reviewing progress against the revised plans and targets – ‘revising plans and targets’ are vital, but our failure to implement controls and measures to determine progress or the lack thereof are often overlooked or down played because of our fear of failure .

(5)    Celebrating achievements and making continuous improvements through innovative contributions from stakeholders – organisations that survive a tough economic climate understand the value and power of how lessons learned can help to drive innovation and change.

By Dr Michael Glensor, SBL Alumnus and DBL Group Human Resources Executive: Liviero