Saturday 27 / April / 2024
Any thing forced is never forceful; this statement is so true for a company wished to embark on a journey of business transformation. When top leaders of a business after spending enough dedicated time on deliberation come to a conclusion that there is a need for their organisation to change from within and they are ready to put all the right efforts and do all sacrifices then it is the right time for an organisation to go for business transformation. Any other way the business transformation will not be able to produce the desired results.
Thinking about Business Transformation is a very positive sign that leaders of the business want to change and that is the most important prerequisite to go on a transformation journey.
Digital Transformation, Process improvements, Financial restructuring such various synonymous are commonly used for Business Transformation but Business Transformation is exactly not all these specific projects in an organisation. Transformation is one of those words that gets routinely misused. Business Transformation is spending dedicated time and efforts on thinking 3Ws:
1 W: What went wrong, 2W: What we have, 3W: Way forward
Most often Business Transformation needs originate when things are not going the right way, stress is seen in many aspects of business, and it is realised that if organisation continues to do in the same old way, then the business will keep falling and eventually will die. But true Business Transformation should not wait until an organisation starts showing signs of misery, but it should be adopted as a routine immunity building exercise to prepare better, transform better for a forever future.
Business Transformation is a cultural change, and this is the most difficult task to do in any organization as people especially the senior members of the team are so used to doing the things their old way that they just find it so difficult to accept and think that there could be a better or a new way of doing things. And that is where a role of Chief Transformation Officer (CTO) comes into play.
Chief Transformation Officer is a high level orchestrator of the transformation process. When CTO forms a core transformation team, first thing he makes sure that in his team a solid experienced finance professional of the organisation becomes a key player as he will have all financial data and information which will give all firsthand insights to the Chief Transformation Officer and he can diagnose the financial information to think and provide quick suggestions to few low hanging issues and start gaining momentum for the transformation process from the wider team in the organisation.
Transformation is being transformed — from one-off initiatives to an urgent, purpose-driven imperative. Modern businesses must move faster, but also with more empathy and openness.
The success of transformation depends on giving enough time every day to think with a calm mind. In the transformation journey the immediate focus on following five seemingly simple but very sensitive areas will start bringing immediate results.
1) People in the organisation are more focused on their rights than duties
2) If decisions are more individual-centric than through a committee structure
3) Actions and decisions are taken more on emotions rather than deliberation and logic.
4) Real feedback from Employees, Customers and Vendors are not in practice
5) Poor Communication within and outside the organization
Business Transformation can be all of the following but cannot be just limited to as shown in the following figure:
Business Transformation involves four phases; • Envision • Engage • Transform • Optimise
Business wide transformation is an intense, well-managed, organization-wide program to enhance performance and to boost organisational health. And the results should always be measured. Ordinary approach to transformation typically deliver and often sub-optimal results. To achieve extraordinary results a comprehensive, highly disciplined methodology encompassing both the “what” and the “how” is needed.
A transformation effort is not for the faint of heart. A company’s leaders must be absolutely unified and committed before embarking on such a programme. Once they do, they must pay close attention not only to the specific initiatives, but also to the changes they are making in how the business operates. Establishing a performance infrastructure is an essential ingredient of a successful transformation—one that yields rapid, dramatic, and sustainable business improvement.
As you think so you become.
As “Many” in a company thinks so company becomes. Think right to transform business right.
* The author is a Transformation Advisor and over last 27 years he worked in various CXO roles in multidisciplinary organisations
