Adapting to Thrive: A Strategic Roadmap for Organizational Resilience in 2024
Adapting to Thrive
A Strategic Roadmap for Organizational Resilience in 2024
By Staci Hegarty, M.Ed.
In today’s dynamic business landscape, where constant change is the norm, organizations must adapt to stay competitive and relevant. However, 50% of change initiatives result in failure, with only a 34% success rate. The critical factor for their success lies in their ability to assess and manage change effectively. As we approach the end of the year, now is the time to complete a comprehensive assessment of your organization’s state in 2023 in order to craft a strategic roadmap for 2024. By examining a range of key components, we are able to determine whether the intended objectives were met and if any unexpected consequences occurred.
This assessment should encompass various critical dimensions and offer a strategic roadmap for tangible results:
Year-End Review
Gather Employee Feedback
Understanding the perceptions and concerns of employees who experienced the changes is vital. Asana shares a great article on gathering feedback through surveys, interviews, or focus groups offers insights into how employees have experienced and adapted to these changes. Envision RISE offers these services in-depth with an implementation plan.
Document Lessons Learned
Document lessons learned from the change management process. This provides invaluable insights into what went well and where improvements are needed and serves as a foundation for refining future change management strategies.
Review Communication Strategies
The clarity and frequency of communication regarding changes play a pivotal role in change management. Review internal communication channels and tools to help assess the effectiveness of keeping employees informed. This article shares the elements of effective employee communication.
Review Resources and Budget
Review the allocation of resources and budget for change management to ensure that adequate support is available for future change efforts.
Celebrate Successes
Last but not least, acknowledge and celebrate successes and milestones achieved through the change management efforts. This fosters a culture of appreciation and motivation.
A Strategic Roadmap for 2024
The data from the comprehensive assessment acts as the cornerstone for a strategic roadmap, encompassing employee feedback, lessons learned, and communication strategies for organizational adaptability and success. Subsequently, focusing on aligning changes with culture and values, gauging overall change readiness, and evaluating training effectiveness ensures a smooth transition. Future planning, technology assessment, legal compliance, and benchmarking contribute to a holistic approach in steering the organization towards its goals.
Culture and Values
Ensure that changes align with the organization’s culture and value to maintaining a harmonious workplace environment.
Change Readiness
It’s essential to understand the overall readiness of the organization for change. Identifying areas where additional assessments and preparations are needed ensures a smoother transition during future changes.
Training and Development
Evaluate the effectiveness of training and development programs for employees affected by changes so they have the necessary knowledge and skills to adapt successfully to the evolving organizational landscape. Envision RISE provides a series of online professional and personal development courses in the RISE Academy.
Future Planning
Develop a plan for strategic change for the upcoming year that involves identifying goals, assessing required change management efforts, and creating a roadmap for managing change. Consider a process and procedure review.
Technology and Tools
Evaluate the technology and tools used to support change initiatives. Consider upgrades or changes to better facilitate future changes.
Legal and Compliance
Confirm that changes comply with all legal and regulatory requirements. Reviewing any legal challenges or compliance issues that arose during the year helps mitigate risks.
Benchmarking
Compare the organization’s efforts with industry best practices and benchmarks for identifying areas of improvement and maintaining a competitive edge. Indeed shares a thorough guide on benchmarking.
As the year concludes, it’s an opportune moment for a comprehensive assessment of your organization’s 2023 journey, deciphering key components for goal realization and uncovering unexpected consequences. This holistic evaluation lays the foundation for a strategic roadmap, encompassing crucial elements like employee feedback, lessons learned, and communication strategies. Ultimately, this assessment serves not just as a reflective tool but as a forward-looking roadmap, steering organizations through the evolving business landscape with adaptability and resilience in the face of change. For those seeking effective implementation, Envision RISE is a trusted partner to assist on this transformative journey.
The Evolution of Mission, Vision and Values
The Evolution of Mission, Vision and Values
By Staci Hegarty, M.Ed.
We often treat our organizations’ mission, vision, and values as immovable bedrock. In many ways, they are. Yet as the world changes, we must consider that we may need to adjust or expand the goals and aims of our business.
Evolving Envision RISE
This even happens to organizations like Envision RISE, a company that prides itself on offering leading services and training to assist in organizational change and transformation. Founded by IpX, the Institute for Process Excellence, a leader in enterprise transformation, RISE was launched to provide organizational change management (OCM) primarily through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Since 2020, our customer’s found the most success when our partnership kept the lens opened to support all types of organizational change. Of which, successful DEI can become a byproduct of improving legacy policies and procedures along with focused goals and objectives.
Our values have not changed, we believe that companies succeed when their people succeed. That means creating a workplace where all voices are valued, and differences are embraced. Yet the world has changed. The words “diversity, equity, and inclusion” have become a distraction from the core work of centering and uplifting people in the workplace.
Realigning Company Values for Success
Before you start revising anything, it is critical that leaders agree on their values. Not their personal value system, although that will have an impact, but the values of the company. Your values may expand or transform over time. For instance, many companies did not include sustainability as a company value even a few years ago. Now many organizations have begun to prioritize sustainability in their daily operations. The important thing is to verbalize those values in a way that people can understand and support.
Look at your mission statement. Whether it was written one year ago or one hundred years ago, it may need to be updated to better align with your strategic plan. If you need some ideas, this Hubspot blog can get you started.
Your vision statement is about the future, while taking the current state into consideration. Your vision statement will help to guide your strategic plan. If your vision statement doesn’t include your people, your strategic plan will fall short.
You don’t have to do this alone. The experts at Envision RISE can help your leadership team clearly identify the mission, vision, and values of organization through a variety of services, including executive and leadership alignments, assessments, and focus groups.
Going Beyond the Survey: Creating Holistic Change from Survey Results
Going Beyond the Survey: Creating Holistic Change from Survey Results
Envision RISE
Employee surveys continue to be an invaluable source to organizations. They provide numerous benefits, including measuring employee engagement, assessing employee satisfaction, and collecting feedback. But not all organizations are harnessing the benefits of employee survey data. Many organizations collect survey data but are unsure what steps to take next.
So, you administered an employee-wide survey and collected data on the health of your organization. Now what? If your organization has been sitting on survey results for months, with little to no action, you are not alone. Surveys are undertaken with good intentions, with the hope of understanding the needs and concerns of the workforce. Once the results are in, it can be overwhelming to analyze the data and then prioritize and act on the results. Oftentimes the results are compiled without a plan for action. Without a clear action plan, implementation will either not happen at all, or it will be counterproductive, leaving things worse than they were.
When an outside source administers an employee survey, they should provide you with results as well as insights into the data that may not be obvious from the results alone. Were there themes in the answers from a particular demographic or department? Are all of your employees having a similar experience, or are certain groups having vastly different experiences? An effective organizational consultant turns survey data into real-life narratives about the experiences of its employees.
Effective consultants also convert employee survey results into actionable plans. They provide you with a summary of risks and recommendations. If a third party consultant doesn’t offer strategic planning as part of their expertise, your organization will need to be diligent in ensuring that needs are highlighted, prioritized, and included in budgeting and long-term planning. (Pro tip: think twice before hiring a company that does not provide insights, recommendations, and assistance in developing a roadmap for transformation!)
Whether your survey is done internally or through a third-party, your plan before, during and after implementation should include the following:
A Messaging Plan
Don’t just send out a link to the employee survey and hope people will participate. Motivate your workforce to participate by communicating to them about WHY their input is important and what will be done with the information.
Once the survey is complete, decide how you will share the results. Sending detailed data results to the entire workforce is often ineffective. We recommend promoting workforce engagement by providing employees with a summary of the results, along with a plan for action. Your messaging should outline the next steps and inform your workforce the actions that will be taken.
Expert Advice Following the Employee Survey
The results of your employee survey may illuminate a need for services or training that are not currently part of your existing expertise. Consider bringing in experts to transform your survey data into effective organizational change. If your budget currently does not allow for third party training, it may be time to reconsider how your organization views workforce training. Training your workforce has countless benefits and should be seen as an investment, rather than a cost. Many experts can work within a limited budget, so it helps to be transparent about what your company can afford.
Collect Qualitative Data from Stakeholders
Collecting post-survey qualitative data can be a great way to provide context to survey results. Consider holding focus groups to gain a deeper understanding of employee experiences. Individual interviews can also provide insights into organizational culture and employee resistance to change. It is unusual for everyone to share the same enthusiasm or dedication to particular initiatives. Qualitative data collection can be a way to understand what may contribute to employee resistance to change and what steps might be taken to motivate employees to be engaged in the change process.
Executive Alignment Following the Employee Survey
Successful organizational change begins at the top. Change happens when leaders work collaboratively to attain organizational goals. With the survey results, risk, and recommendations in hand, bring the executive leadership team together to forge an actionable plan. Leaders should collaborate to create a shared vision, success criteria, and an ongoing training and monitoring plan.
Progress Measurements and Adaptive Monitoring
How will your organization know when it is making progress? What does success look like? Do not wait until the next annual survey to find out if your plan is having the impact you intended! Effective action plans include a method for measuring progress. Be sure to include quantitative metrics whenever possible. If any action items are more difficult to quantify, determine how progress will be measured. Then, collect and assess data regularly throughout the change process to measure progress and revise action plans if necessary.
Organizational transformation requires work. It does not happen through good intentions and hope alone. Envision RISE can assist with setting a course for your transformation journey, beginning right where you are at this moment. From baseline assessments to executive alignment to strategic planning to training, we have the expertise to help you plan and execute an effective organizational transformation.
References
https://www.driveresearch.com/market-research-company-blog/10-benefits-of-employee-surveys/
https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/storytelling-with-data/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/alignment-leadership-successful-change-management-nikita-shah/
Workforce Training: What is it and Why Does it Matter?
Workforce Training: What is it and Why Does it Matter?
Sara Skidmore, Envision RISE
Change and growth are a part of every organization. That is especially true today, where young employees are changing jobs more than their predecessors ever did and workforces are becoming increasingly more diverse. So how do organizations adapt to these changes and maintain a competitive advantage? The answer lies in well-designed and ongoing workforce training.
The Benefits of Workforce Training
There are numerous benefits of making workforce training an ongoing part of your organizational strategy. Below are just a few.
Talent Acquisition
Self-improvement is an important part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle. We all need to feel that we are being challenged and reaching our potential. For most people, personal and professional development are distinct but intertwined experiences. When we are given opportunities for professional development, we usually grow personally as well.
Today’s employees are seeking opportunities for personal and professional growth. Acquiring new skills gives employees a sense of accomplishment and makes them feel confident in their roles. This, in turn, increases job satisfaction. Offering well-designed and ongoing training opportunities makes organizations attractive to job-seekers, giving them a distinct competitive advantage when it comes to talent acquisition.
Enhance Team Productivity and Collaboration
Among recent changes in workforce dynamics is an increased use of teams. The vast majority of employees today work in teams. Working in teams comes with numerous benefits, but it is not always easy. Team members must learn to communicate effectively, work with people who differ drastically from themselves, provide and receive feedback, and collaborate with one another to bolster creativity and innovation. Consistent workforce training can help.
Training benefits teams in several ways. It helps employees be on the same page when it comes to organizational policies, procedures, and strategic goals. If done correctly, training can improve workplace culture and climate and help build employee relationships. As a result, teams are able to communicate more effectively and resolve conflict. They become more engaged and collaborative. In other words, well-trained teams are effective teams.
Succession Planning
Organizations that don’t plan ahead suffer. An important part of strategic planning is identifying strategic goals and the roles that are needed to accomplish those goals. Effective succession planning ensures those roles will always be filled by competent employees. Preparing employees to have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to fill leadership roles should be an ongoing process in every organization. Workforce development and training programs equip current employees with knowledge and skills needed for successful leadership.
Sustained Organizational Change
Organizational change doesn’t happen overnight. A structured and consistent approach to change is more likely to have lasting results.
Workforce training is a way to get everyone – employees, teams, and managers – involved in the change process. It educates employees about the importance of the change, their role in making the change happen, and it helps them understand the organization’s vision. When employees understand these things, they become more engaged in the change process. An engaged workforce is more likely to bring about lasting change.
Implementing Ongoing Training in Your Organization
Organizational problems are inevitable. Don’t assume your workforce is already equipped with the knowledge needed to manage these problems. Get ahead of the problem. Prepare your workforce to face problems head-on by implementing a well-designed and ongoing training program.
Hiring workforce development professionals is a good place to start. Workforce development professionals work with organizations to develop organizational goals and objectives and come up with tailored training plans to help accomplish those goals. They can help prepare workforces to grow professionally, work effectively on teams, manage problems, and acquire leadership potential. Contact Envision RISE for more information on how to help your organization implement training programs that result in lasting change. Visit our Training page to learn about the RISE Academy, which makes learning accessible and impactful by bringing together exclusive industry certifications and accredited courseware under one innovative platform with self-assessments, self-reflection exercises, course workbooks, and training progress report cards.
References:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/workplace-diversity-retention-recruitment-race-ethnicity-age/
https://emeritus.org/blog/benefits-of-team-training-in-the-workplace/
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/change-management-training
Beyond Awareness: Harnessing the Benefits of a Neurodiverse Workforce
Beyond Awareness: Harnessing the Benefits of a Neurodiverse Workforce
Sara Skidmore, Envision RISE
American organizations are facing unprecedented changes in employee demographics. Within these demographic changes is an increase in employees with neurodivergent conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, social anxiety, and others. Given that 15-20% of individuals have neurodivergent conditions, it should come as no surprise that organizations are becoming increasingly more neurodiverse.
Benefits of Neurodiversity
There are numerous organizational benefits of a neurodiverse workforce. One benefit is that it drives innovation. From Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to Emma Watson and Tim Burton, some of the world’s best innovators have neurodivergent conditions. Having a workforce with diverse ways of processing information reduces groupthink and drives innovation, giving neurodiverse organizations a competitive advantage over their competitors.
Another benefit is that neurodiverse-inclusive policies and practices can boost company culture. In a Microsoft study of 31,000 employees in 31 countries, employees rated having a “positive culture” as one of the most important factors they look for in a job. Organizations that want to attract and retain top talent must foster cultures of inclusivity for all employees, including those in the neurodivergent community.
Promoting Neurodiverse Inclusiveness
So, how can you promote inclusiveness in your workplace so that you can harness the benefits of a neurodiverse workforce? Below are a few ways to ensure neurodiversity initiatives are a key part of your organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.
- Begin with examining current neurodiverse inclusivity practices. Understanding your current baseline can guide neurodiversity objectives and goals.
- Consider nontraditional selection practices. For example, non-conventional interview settings and specific (as opposed to general) cognitive ability tests can help organizations identify qualified candidates with neurodiverse conditions.
- Incorporate accommodations for neurodiverse individuals. These can include flexible work hours, breaks between meetings, and areas with reduced noise and lighting.
- Hold training sessions that help managers and employees understand their role in promoting inclusivity.
Today’s workforce is more diverse than ever. Understanding how to harness the benefits of a diverse workforce is a necessary component of thriving organizations. Prioritizing neurodiversity is just one way organizations can harness those benefits and gain a competitive advantage. Contact Envision RISE for information on how to make neurodiversity initiatives a key part of your DEI practices.