Even before the Covid pandemic, the modern world of work was experiencing rapid changes to the way we operate our businesses.

Business transformation is an overarching term for making fundamental changes within an organisation and is typically driven by external pressures to adapt to new market conditions, while still meeting existing and future business targets.

However, change is rarely received with open arms by our employees and with business transformation, the clue is definitely in the name! This fear is driven by potential changes in the way employees’ roles are performed, or whether the “transformation” even includes a job for them in the future.

The post-Covid era has seen growing demand for automation and digitisation, which has driven concerns about job security, but also opened the door in many industries to provide exciting and alternative working environments.

However, while transformation programmes can provide an opportunity to review and cater to employee needs, the transformation process must always be aligned with the overall strategy and business requirements of the organisation, both during and after the change management project.

A full transformation program includes three phases: TRANSFORM-OPTIMISE-MONITOR. These define the organisation’s strategy and review work processes that support the execution of the change management process while enabling results to be monitored.

Unfortunately, many transformation programs are unsuccessful because too many organisations emphasise the TRANSFORM part of the cycle but don’t follow through with OPTIMISE and MONITOR, which usually fall under the HR function of an organisation.

Optimisation initiatives typically underestimate the inherent human fear of change. This can occur when employers are not clear about what the new processes involve, or what policies are in place to support collaborative cooperation throughout the organisation for process improvement.

Monitoring is about measuring the desired outcomes from the transformation process. Senior managers are typically process oriented but are removed from specific staff operations and performance.

This is why collaboration across all levels of the organisations is essential to any transformation programme to ensure that unanticipated “glitches” are identified and addressed at the earliest possible opportunity before resentment can form and grow.

Successful transformation programmes are outcome-oriented with strategies that have been defined into operating models that focus on operational excellence through a time-managed programme.

The true measure of success is an organisation’s ability to fulfil customer expectations, comply with industry and regulatory requirements, and provide a high-quality and transparent business operation.

Your customers deserve the very best and are looking for customer-centric processes that make you stand out from the competition. To achieve this, you’ll need the whole team on board to collaborate and drive the process to deliver high quality products and services, minimise your risks, strengthen business resilience, and continue to meet compliance requirements.

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