Twelve
years. Four re-organizations. Does this sound like your company?
In today’s global environment we see
many companies struggling with growth. Company leadership is tasked with
looking for ways to be on the cutting-edge and competitive, not only in one
country, but in many throughout the world.
Leaders are continually challenged to
grow their companies through developing new innovations, products, efficiencies
and cost-cutting processes to generate revenue streams. Companies will
invite experts in to help them evaluate ways to improve their business model. I
see many companies re-organizing their internal structure, which can be
beneficial in improving efficiencies and processes; however, I am often
surprised to see how fast these companies are to embrace a new organizational
structure as “the fix” to challenges
that are often recurring and perpetual.
Implementing the latest and greatest new business tool or
academic philosophy to improve a current business model is secondary to truly
understanding the foundational root cause of why the old model was not working.
I have read about new algorithms to
better understand the workings of an employee. Surveys, case studies, speakers,
team-building sessions can all be used to implement the new organizational
model. None of these will withstand the test of time unless the leadership is
willing to guide the company and its human capital base in a new direction—starting
with the core values all the way through to the day-to-day operations.
In order to define the mission of the re-organization, a company
leader must first define the company. The
leader must be willing to engage with all levels of its operations to learn
about the impact of the re-organization, and be willing to listen to other
solutions.
If the leadership is only looking at the bottom line, how can a
long-standing legacy be in its the future? If a company is only looking at
today’s revenue stream, it will not withstand the headwinds of the next economic
business cycle.
Remember the dot-com bubble when seasoned
investors, accountants and attorneys threw everything they knew about running a
business out the door to chase after the next great idea? Hundreds of millions
of dollars danced off into nothingness—precisely because of a lack of seasoned
knowledge merging with new ideas.
A re-organization often overlooks the
company’s changing culture to support the new model and, as a result, the new
direction is only temporary “window-dressing” for change. Chasing after
business, rather than developing new products is history. Services or goods
built with integrity and strong core values are your best market asset and the
key to your company’s longevity.
