Organizational Change Consulting and Coaching

Q1. What kinds of organizations is change consulting or coaching for? When do they need it?

A1. Organization Change Consulting & Coaching (OCCC) is a key component in the process of Organization Development (OD) to improve organization performance. That said, the use of this capability is applicable to any organization, no matter size, function or industry, and at any level – be it individual, team, department or within an organization overall.  Orgs need the capacity and capability for change to better or fully leverage their own performance, and this capability is needed within an org at all times. In today’s competitive economic climate, change has to be the norm for any org to survive, let alone thrive and grow. In all of my career and across the many orgs I have worked with, I’ve yet to see one that didn’t have opportunity for growth and improvement. Simply put, whenever you need to get more out of your organization to its financial benefit, OCCC is for your org.

Q2. What roles in an organization would most benefit from Organization Change Consulting & Coaching?

A2. OCCC is for all levels of the organization, from the C-Suite to our valuable hourly employees. For executives, OCCC can help with vision as well as strategy and goal deployment. OCCC can serve management or other organizational leaders well through its ability to address leadership development, employee relations and the necessary operational systems and process improvements. And, by involving employees and seeking their input and opinions on critical organizational issues and change, OCCC can even improve company morale.

Q3. Why and when do they need change consulting & coaching?

A3. Organizations need OCCC because it can drastically improve a company’s human capital performance. People are the most valuable asset in any company, but many miss the opportunity to fully optimize this capital’s potential and contribution. Most don’t miss the opportunity because they aren’t aware of it, but because they don’t have the experience, capability or org developmental methods to take advantage of it. In this scenario, OCCC helps by giving a company access to the experience, capability and methods required to make the most out of their investment in human capital. Consider this: if you had a million dollars and were looking for an opportunity to gain the highest return on investing, you probably wouldn’t stash that million dollars in an average savings account. That won’t deliver the highest return. Instead, you look for other methods or vehicles to invest your money. You explore investment vehicles of best fit and customized to your investment strategy to help you meet your investment goals as expeditiously as possible. That is how you maximize the return on your capital. This is exactly what OCCC can do for the human capital in your organization! OCCC is a company’s opportunity to explore methods available to maximize its investment, choose the best options and put an appropriate program in place to achieve its goals as soon as possible.

Q4. What does Organization Development and the application of OCCC entail?

A4. Organization development generally entails the following categories of effort:

1. Org Join Up
2. Organization Assessment:
3. Goal Setting and Action Planning
4. Implementation
5. Monitoring and Modification

Every organization is unique. What it takes to develop each will vary from one organization to the next. An Org Change Consultant/Coach works with the org leadership to determine the org development processes necessary to accomplishing these efforts. Some of these processes might include:

• Strategic Planning, Goal Setting, Action Planning, and Deployment
• Organizational Health Assessment
• Opinion Survey and Analysis
• Culture Change and Culture Change Management
• Organization Design & Renewal
• Strategic Communication
• Organization Crisis Intervention
• Leadership Development
  • Executive Coaching
  • Leadership Training
  • Team Building and Team Development
  • Conflict Resolution

Q5. What is the Org Development process like? What about assessment?

A5. An Org Development process is collaborative between a consultant, organization leaders and other appropriate members. The consultant first gains an understanding of the history, current culture, capabilities, and business needs of the organization (1. Org Join-Up). Subsequently, some level of assessment (2. Organization Assessment) is typically required. This might involve focus groups or opinion surveys. Information collected is then analyzed and evaluated to identify organizational gaps to close in order to meet the existing business need. Leadership is then presented with the results of the assessments and accompanying recommendations of OD actions to close the identified gaps (actions involve OD processes similar to those listed above). Leadership then develops goals for the organizational change and also selects actions from the list of recommendations to formulate a firm plan to meet those goals (3. Goal Setting and Action Planning). Additionally, the appropriate resources and responsibilities within an organization are aligned to fit the plan. It’s always best to have a small project team to handle the plan logistics and allow the consultant to work very closely with them. This way, the consultant can help define the best implementation and provide the best resources to help. address any challenges that might arise (4. Implementation). After plan implementation, the results of the organization are compared to the goals set and any necessary modifications are made (5. Monitoring and Modification). Throughout the entire process, the project team manages communication to each appropriate group as well as the entire organization.

Q6. What are the Benefits of Org Development?

A6: The benefits of org development are many, the most appealing of which include the following:

• Stronger Individual, Team, and Organization Capability
• Stronger Leadership Capability
• Improved Employee Satisfaction and Employee Engagement
• Work Process Simplification
• Higher Quality Communication
• Stronger Richer Work Culture
• Increased Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Productivity that lead to higher Profits

In a nutshell: Org developmet delivers improved employee morale and engagement, leading to higher productivity and bottom-line business results.

Tim shares the difference between organizational change COACHING and CONSULTING, and how he does it.

Organizational Change Coaching

“I think coaching focuses on helping a client (typically an individual) identify their goals and the appropriate plan to help them achieve their goals. The skill used is primarily the coaching process which can be applied in any area for any focus.  The process can be a formal questionnaire, but I typically accomplish the same with an initial join up discussion/conversation that allows me to start trust and relationship building with the client. The client is the source of the information you need to help them plan and achieve their goal.  As mentioned in the article, asking powerful, probing question is important in coaching. Primarily coaching is about what the client specifically wants to accomplish for themselves no matter what that might be.”

Organization Transformation Consulting Services