| Recently, an increasing number of visitors to my | | | | - Work out a sequence and timeline. |
| website have been searching for KPIs relating to | | | | - Set business goals with hard and soft targets. |
| organization change management. This has prompted | | | | - Measure the results. |
| me to reflect on the idea and offer my thoughts. I | | | | If all these sensible steps are in place, the means of |
| believe they are asking the wrong question. The KPIs | | | | evaluating the strategic impact of the change are in |
| they need lie in the success model for the new | | | | place before the decision is taken. |
| strategy. | | | | A good principle for major organizational change |
| As a long time HR professional, in addition to my | | | | programs is that line managers should drive the |
| business strategy interests I have been involved in | | | | process, with HR taking a guiding role, and providing |
| many organizational change projects. Whether the | | | | specific services outside the scope of normal line |
| project has been described as "organization change", | | | | management activity. If this is how it works in practice |
| "restructuring", "reorganization", or "retraining", there has | | | | the KPIs are the measures of how well the new |
| been an underlying theme; it has always been driven | | | | strategy is working. |
| by a change in strategy. | | | | How does a KPI based business model assist with this |
| Either the business needs to do something different, or | | | | process? |
| it needs to do the same thing in a different way. | | | | Regular readers will know that a KPI model is a |
| I suggest that HR professionals need to think about | | | | business model that mirrors the operational structure of |
| organisation change from a strategic perspective. | | | | the organization. When we change strategy, we make |
| Classic "soft" performance indicators from the HR tool | | | | changes to this operational structure; we change who |
| kit such as employee satisfaction. employee | | | | does what to achieve a different result. |
| engagement, change in deployment or even employee | | | | We need to build a new model, a model of what the |
| cost savings fail to measure the success or failure of | | | | business needs to look like and what it needs to do. |
| the strategic change or even progress towards it. | | | | This is the way the best strategy consultants work, |
| I know this to be true because I have just reviewed | | | | because their clients demand this level of detail before |
| over 100 entries in the Human Resources KPI class at I | | | | they are convinced that the strategy will work. They |
| found fewer than 5 entries that could track the | | | | then use the model to set the targets that must be |
| strategic impact of a significant organization change | | | | achieved to show that the strategy has worked. |
| program. Check this for yourself if you wish. This | | | | Building the KPI model not only makes the KPIs, the |
| seems surprising because we know that these | | | | "must do" parts of the new process, crystal clear; it |
| programs are very expensive and usually take the | | | | also enables the effect of alternative combinations to |
| business some time to recover the costs. | | | | be tested, on paper or in an interactive model. |
| Rethinking KPIs for change management. | | | | We measure the effect of our change using a new |
| I am going to wear my strategy consultant's hat to | | | | set of KPI relationships that show how the new |
| write this section. | | | | strategy will work. The KPIs flow out of the strategy |
| When we develop a new strategy, good practice | | | | development process. They are the measures that tell |
| says that we: | | | | us how well the new process or structure is working. |
| - Gather evidence to prove that the change is needed. | | | | They are operational measures. If they are not clear to |
| - Work out what needs to be changed to make it | | | | everyone involved in the change propcess, then the |
| work. | | | | business is taking a giant leap in the dark. |
| - Estimate the costs. | | | | You would not do that in your business, would you? |
| - Estimate the benefits in business and financial terms. | | | | |