Capability-driven transformation

We are frequently asked why as a firm we put such great emphasis on understanding and building our client’s capabilities to help them achieve their sustainability goals?

Our response is simple – the extensive transformation of an organisation’s core activities is tough! To maximise the chances of success you need to put in place the core skills, knowledge and resources to deliver the desired changes rather than expect improved performance without them.

Only the most foolhardy would attempt an ironman without any prior training or expect to be able to sail across the Atlantic without extensive sailing experience and an appropriately sized and equipped yacht.

So why would an organisation start to make root and branch changes to its business without first understanding what capabilities it has at its disposal versus those that it will need to succeed over time?

It is a telling statistic that approximately two thirds of all business transformations fail to achieve their initial objectives. Although each individual failure will depend on the specific circumstances of the business concerned, many have common themes:

• Insufficient visible and authentic commitment from leadership
• Lack of a robust and coherent plan
• Inadequate skills and knowledge to address key improvement levers
• Insufficient resources – headcount, op ex, and cap ex – to deliver the changes
• Poor buy-in from staff as the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ have not been explained to them

These issues are particularly telling for Sustainability transformations given the very wide ranging set of issues that organisations need to address and the speed at which they must be resolved given the scale of the crisis facing humanity.

Consequently the first step we always take with new clients is to benchmark their capabilities versus those required to achieve their Sustainability objectives. By utilising a comprehensive and rigorous assessment framework we help clients to understand objectively their current status and the corresponding gaps they need to close.

We then work with them to prioritise the required improvements and to develop pragmatic and achievable implementation plans which build the necessary capabilities in parallel with the delivery of the required performance improvements.

We do not hesitate to provide constructive challenge – if based on our own extensive transformation experience we think the client is either trying to build capabilities too quickly, spreading resources too thinly, or attempting to deliver improvements without the core capabilities in place, we will counsel them accordingly. Pardon the pun, but Sustainability transformations need to be sustainable in their own right.

If you are embarking on your Sustainability transformation and would like help to understand whether you are equipped for the journey please visit www.smartsustainability.solutions or email [email protected]

#Sustainability #Capabilities #SustainabilityTransformation #Transformation #ChangeManagement

Smart Sustainability ltd Brian Roche

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