Driving Change
through the Organisation
Over the last couple of years, my colleagues and
I have been asked by senior management in a variety of
organisations to help them deal with a problem that at
times can feel almost insurmountable to them. One of the
biggest challenges that progressive senior managers face
is how to drive change down through their organisations.
They have the ideas, the strategies and the vision - but
how do they get everyone on board, fired up and
aligned?
In
our experience, one of the hardest parts of that
challenge is to get middle managers to take ownership
and responsibility and to run with the ball. What often
happens is that the ball gets thrown back up the line
which leads to understandable frustration for the people
at the top. Extra responsibilities land back in the lap
of those who should be giving their attention to guiding
the organisation to the future.
A
survey by management consultancy Hay Group published in
February 2007 concluded that underperforming middle
managers are costing UK-based organisations £220 billion
a year in lost productivity. The survey found
that:
-
38 per cent of UK
directors believe that their organisation is
"paralysed" by ineffective middle
management
-
40 per cent identified
this as the single greatest barrier to achieving
organisational objectives
-
54 per cent of senior
managers felt that middle managers were uncommitted to
strategic goals, and
-
62 per cent
criticised middle managers for their lack of
management and leadership
skills.
The
underperformance of middle managers is an issue - for
senior management. If senior managers are going to be
able to drive change down through the organisation and
make the right, strategic decisions for its future
direction, they need to be free from the pressures of
day-to-day implementation. Implementing policy should be
fairly and squarely the role of middle managers. In so
many cases, however, that responsibility is passed back
up the line to sit on the shoulders of senior
management.
The
effort that they need to exert getting alignment to the
organisation's aims and maintaining a consistent
approach not only results in high stress levels for
senior managers, but impedes their ability to manage
strategically. They are forced to get involved in the
nitty-gritty of policy implementation and in doing so,
are prone to take their eye off the ball in terms of
future planning - the effects on the organisation can be
disastrous.
We
are making a free report
available which describes a successful strategy that
some of our clients are very excited about as it has
helped them to move forward. It involves working with
middle management to support them and equip them with
the skills and attitudes to take ownership and
responsibility for driving sustained change through
their organisations. It involves a targeted combination
of elements such as coaching, training, project work,
self-learning, job observation, diagnostics and meeting
facilitation. While senior management involvement is
crucial, we have found that one of the key results has
been that senior managers, in the words of one of our
clients, "get their day back"; they regain the time and
energy they need to focus on their key role - leading
their organisations.
Click here to get
your free report: How to Drive Change through the
Organisation.
