Organisational Change Management (OCM)

What is Organisational Change Management?

Every organisation, business or non-business, must at some point in time make reforms. These reforms could come from meeting growth and expansion requirements, adapting to changes in the business environment, adopting new technologies, change of business processes, etc. Organisational change management is how these transitions are handled and given effect. For example, when a departmental store wants to go omnichannel, it must develop the right systems to support the new way of doing business. This generally includes developing new operational planning, forming new teams, induction of new business software, new layout planning, etc.

The complexities involved in making any enterprise-level change have necessitated the emergence of OCM. One thing to be understood with OCM is that it is not limited to any few measures or methods. The idea is to incorporate the change like a master. If a more precise understanding of OCM is required, take any example from our personal lives. Think of the planning and adjustments an individual has to do when they have to buy a vehicle. There comes budgeting, documentation, dealing with financial service providers, obtaining registration papers and driving licence, sorting out parking space availability, etc. All these elements must fall into the right places at the right times to get that vehicle home. That is change management at the individual level. The same goes for organisations with the difference that here things are much more complex.

Why and when does your business need OCM?Modernisation

No successful business has enjoyed stability and sustainability for a long time. And the cost of maintaining this stability and sustainability is modernisation. Modernisation may include any small and big changes. Say, it is a rebranding exercise. It will involve making many changes in the organisation. If one of the strategies is to improve staffing, it may include providing training and development programs, improvising the hiring process, restructuring pay packages, stringent PMS, etc. OCM approach helps businesses organise the entire gamut of the required changes and turn them into a reality. Not doing so could send such exercises into a haphazard state. In this sense, OCM is mapping what is to be done and how to for successful change management and organisational development.

Staying Competitive

Competition is a big reason for organisations to go for a change. And it will always remain a big reason as becoming better than others helps retain relevance. Moreover, it is a good way to keep an organisation and its value intact. The defence capabilities of any nation are an apt example here. Every nation does its best to keep its defence capabilities superior to any potential rival country. The OCM factor arises in this example when a nation switches to new and technologically-advanced defence weapons and systems. These assets come at big price tags necessitating proper budget allocation. Storage and maintenance is another important area of priority. Then there is the question of strategic positioning of these assets. Such massive exercises cannot be done without meticulous management.

Enhanced Operational Proficiency

Technology has changed how businesses operate today. New business models have arrived that provide more value to customers. Businesses in the same value chain are functionally more interconnected. People consisting of employees and customers have greater expectations from employers and brands. In light of these perpetually developing elements, ‘business operations’ too have and must continue to keep up the pace. It could be moving to a new software platform or implementing SOPs or any other operational change. OCM is useful to embrace changes in operational planning. For instance, change in operations also brings varying changes in the duties and responsibilities of employees. Efforts to secure their cooperation come under the purview of OCM.

Moving to New Technologies & the Digital Era

Whether it is any industrial hardware and gear used in stores and warehouses or any ERP and analytics for desk-based operations, new technologies keep emerging. And adapting new technologies contribute to all the other three causes for change discussed earlier – modernisation, competitiveness, and operational proficiency. Without keeping close to technological developments, it gets challenging for organisations to keep up with the operational standards and expectations of the entities involved in the value chain. For example, modern-day customers expect omnichannel flexibilities from retail brands and businesses. But if the digital channel is undermined and it starts performing poorly, customers are bound to feel dejected. Thinking the OCM way lets businesses embrace digitisation and automation in a well-planned manner.

Growth and Expansion

While it is well understood that with growth and expansion comes the need for scaling up business capabilities, the issue boils down to how well and quickly the required changes are incorporated. Sometimes businesses tend to do things in a hurry. There is no harm in being able to quickly put the right systems in place but it should not come at the cost of the accuracy and fitness of the systems and solutions. Sometimes we see businesses trying to scale up their workforce to meet the demands of new projects. The focus remains so much on adding more manpower that the organisational ramifications get ignored. Can the existing HR team handle the hiring and onboarding process? What will be the impact on the work culture? Who will train the new employees? How are the existing employees going to perceive any structural changes? These are some of the pertinent questions on Organisational culture and change under the radar of OCM that will need addressing.

How BPX can helpOrganogram Redesign

The alterations required in the organisation design and structure of the host enterprise will depend on the kind of change involved. If the change affects only one or two departments in an isolated manner, the organogram changes will be confined to those departments and their processes. An example of this is the adoption of any new accounting standard. The organogram would not require any changes here; only the business processes affected by this new element will have to be adjusted. But say, the change is trimming the salary budget, some leaning actions are very possibly on the cards throughout the organisation. This will require some major organogram adjustments.

Our role here is to recognize and define the new organisational requirements and redesign the organogram for our clients. It becomes easier for our clients to quickly plan and implement other minor adjustments they need in their organisational design and structure.

Manpower Planning and Team Management

In manpower planning, we map the workforce requirements for the upcoming business setup. Here, we specify the current and future manpower strength that will be required if the changes are incorporated. For example, if you are the owner of a departmental store and you want to start eCommerce operations, our experts will suggest to you what kind of employee strength you will need.

In team management, we suggest ideal team strength and team capabilities. Extending the same example used above, our experts will prescribe to you what kinds of teams you will need, what their capabilities should be, the team structure, and the skills and competencies of the team members. An important consideration when we talk about teams is their leadership. Leadership and change management goes hand in hand. A good leader makes managing change in the workplace easier.

Process Design & Redesign

Organisational change can have a big impact on your routine business operations. The old ways of working may just become irrelevant in light of the changed circumstances. And also, with cross-functional interdependencies come process and operational interdependencies. Even a minor process change in one business function can affect the processes of other functions.

Our role is to develop or redesign the business processes as per the new business requirements i.e. in the event of change. This task is done by a team of SOP experts. If there are no existing processes, they will develop the same. If only process improvisations are required, we will cover that too.

Training

Providing training often goes undermined as a part of change implementation. When you ask your employees to do things differently like working on a new software or treating customers as per CX requirements, it becomes imperative on your part to provide them some head start in the form of training separately or in a simulated environment. Such efforts are a part of OCM.

We identify employee training requirements and offer various training modules. These modules are designed by our team of experienced professionals and curated over time and experience. We also suggest suitable training programs for various kinds of organisational changes.

Financial and Commercial Planning

As incorporating any organisational change carries financial ramifications, it becomes essential to prepare the necessary financial and commercial forecasts, manage funds, and allocate budgets as a part of an organisational change management plan. Some old expenses may go away. Some new ones come in. Some changes entail big planning while some could be managed with minor adjustments. Whatever the kind and degree of change may be, due financial and commercial planning is a must.

Business plan experts from BPX help in mapping and incorporating changed financial and commercial priorities and adjustments. In doing so, the numerical roadmap is developed. And once you have the financial and commercial roadmap, it becomes easier to implement and fund the activities giving effect to the desired organisational changes.

About BPX

We are a management consulting brand with adept capabilities and rich experience in formulating business process management and SOP services and solutions.

As an enterprise, we also provide solutions aimed at helping businesses enhance their organisation and management capabilities. That is where we chip in with our expertise in Organisational Change Management (OCM).

From planning to implementation, our solutions are designed and delivered in strict adherence to proven principles and premeditated process pathways. All our projects are executed by a team of expert and experienced professionals including change management consultants.

Today, BPX is a brand with a scaling global presence and our endeavour remains to reach new markets and clients for mutually-beneficial associations.

For more information visit us businessprocessxperts.com