Operations and bottom-line results suffer when employees are not performing well and teams are dysfunctional. The root causes of poor individual and team performance are often difficult to discover, however. And unless the root causes are discovered, any remedy is likely to be ineffective.
An Organizational Assessment is a survey-based process for uncovering the factors affecting an organization's performance. The result of this assessment is unbiased, fact-based information about the underlying dynamics of an organization. It is ideally suited to entangling the relative impacts on individual and group performance of organizational structure, processes, management and employees.
Several factors are potential contributors to performance problems:
Structure and organization: How work is organized and the reporting relationships between employees.
Management: Management's style and approach to managing employees.
Employees: The technical competence, attitudes and work ethic of the current incumbents.
It is important to correctly diagnose the root causes of performance difficulties. A correct diagnosis, followed by appropriate corrective action, will clear the way for your company to realize its growth potential and achieve your strategic objectives.
Process
The process of conducting an Organizational Assessment for your company is straight-forward and can be completed over a period of a few weeks. The steps are as follows:
Meet with employees to explain the initiative and introduce them to the process. The objectives of the process, detailed steps of the process, employee involvement, and the role of the consultant are explained in an "all-hands" staff meeting. The process is presented as one designed to help prepare and position the company for growth, to assistant management in developing the structures and processes needed for success, and to engage employees in the company's success.
Conduct survey. The Organizational Assessment Survey is distributed to each employee and manager. The employee survey is anonymous. Employees complete the survey in private, on company time, and return it anonymously by mail to the consultant. Management staff complete their survey and return it to the consultant.
Interviews. Consultant conducts one-on-one, confidential interviews with each employee and manager. These are conducted off-site, on company time. The interviews take an hour for each employee. Interviews with management are more open-ended and may take longer. During the interview, employees and managers are encouraged to speak candidly about their view of the company's strengths and weaknesses, and provide their ideas on how the company can best move forward. During these interviews, the consultant does not ask employees about their survey responses, nor is any attempt be made to tie individual employees to completed surveys.
Analysis. Data from the surveys and interviews is organized and analyzed by the consultant.
Management discussion. The consultant meets with management to review findings and to discuss ideas for improving the company's operations.
Reporting. The consultant develops a report and presentation to be delivered to the company in an all-hands staff meeting. The report and presentation contain recommendations for management and employees on organizational, process, strategic and tactical steps to enable the company to succeed and grow. The consultant also prepares a more detailed report for management's eyes only.
Staff discussion. The consultant moderates an all-hands company meeting where the results and recommendations of the Organizational Assessment are presented and discussed. The objective of this meeting is to develop a company-wide consensus on 1) the validity of the consultant's findings and recommendations, and 2) a process to implement the recommendations.
