Transformation

Buzz Words are Cheap, True Transformation is Hard Work

Transformation is the buzz word of the day. Business leaders throw the word “transformation” around so liberally that it is losing its meaning. Just like people posting selfies of their “transformation” sporting a new haircut and an outfit, businesses advertise that they are transforming themselves after hiring a new CEO and updating the company website. The new CEO fires a few of the former executives and hires a few new ones and they shuffle the deck. People move buildings. They co-locate. They re-structure functionally, or regionally, or by product line, or by business unit, or by the signs on the Zodiac calendar. When the restructure is complete, leadership claims victory. FINALLY, they have created a more efficient, productive, empowered organization that will deliver the results the prior structure could not.

A few years later, it is clear the transformation has not delivered any results beyond confusion and demoralization. The business still has a pudgy waistline and investors still don’t think it looks good in a swimsuit. The executives are fired and replaced by new leaders who start the insanity all over. It’s like watching Marie Osmond gain and lose weight on Weight Watcher commercials as she promises buyers a new, leaner look.

In order for true transformation to happen, most companies require a creative crisis. A creative crisis is most commonly the result of changing competitive forces, merger or acquisition, or bankruptcy and buyout. While transformation can mean many different things, when it is spoken around the lunch room, it most commonly means, “Here come the layoffs.”

Companies create and store value in three primary locations namely, culture, processes, and intellectual property. Executives who understand this realize they must approach reductions in force with great care or risk value erosion in all three sanctuaries. Surgical tools for labor reductions can provide opportunity for healing whereas blunt tools bludgeon future growth.

The Problem

The distance in org chart layers between the top leaders and the front line managers increases misconceptions about how the work actually gets done. The result is senior leadership and owners who are challenged by the task of surgically reducing the ranks.

So, leaders do the only thing they can do – they spread labor reduction targets like peanut butter across the company. This is done in supposed “fairness,” however some groups in the company are full of dead weight while other groups are stretched too thin. Peanut butter targets can hurt critical operations while rewarding managers who have over hired and held onto under-qualified, under-performing employees for too long. Often targets are applied equally to profitable and unprofitable business units, damaging financial results.

Furthermore, because the top leadership plans the reductions, and middle leadership executes the reductions, the lower level employees often are reduced in higher percentages than the ranks above them, leaving the organization top heavy. Lopsided reductions that take out too many employees who are closest to the day-to-day, value added activities (the “doers”) can harm the organization’s ability to get the work done.

A Different Approach

USC Consulting is pioneering a multi-directional approach to transformational right sizing. We have 50 years of process improvement experience at the operating level. Combining our operational excellence with an accelerated methodology for surgical headcount reduction results in smarter, healthier reductions. Identifying which departments have too many people, and which people are not doing productive work must be understood at the ground level. Improving the culture and governance during a creative crisis is work that must be done in the C-suite and board room. Executing operational improvements through highly refined Continuous Improvement Process (CIP) methodologies is work executed among the middle-management.

This multi-directional, multi-disciplinary approach reduces risk of value leakage, improving the chances the company will retain the best talent while implementing new tools to manage the business with a leaner workforce.

People who are struggling to lose weight and tone up buy Weight Watcher meals from Marie Osmond and hire a personal trainer. Businesses that want to lean up and get more competitive hire USC Consulting. With 50 years of experience, we drive results.

Reach Out

I enjoy making new connections. If you would like more information about USC Consulting or our pioneering approach to business transformation, feel free to reach out to me directly on LinkedIn or visit our website at: https://www.usccg.com/