Author: Imarticus Learning

Leaders drive success. They craft processes that streamline work, define clear goals that guide their teams, and rally people around a shared vision.

Achieving management goals isn’t a solo endeavor. When individuals understand their role in the grand plan, they become a driving force for organisational success. This article explores the vital role of leadership in achieving management goals and creating efficient, effective organisations.

If you wish to become an effective leader, you can enrol in Imarticus and XLRI’s senior leadership programme.

The Power of Process: Why Structure Matters in Organisations

Imagine two workplaces: one a whirlwind of shifting priorities and unclear instructions, the other a well-oiled machine of efficient activity. The stark difference lies in the process. Chaotic work environments breed frustration, wasted time, and inconsistent results. In contrast, environments guided by clear processes unlock efficiency and consistency while minimising errors.

The Heart of Process: Documentation

Process documentation is the blueprint for success. It outlines the essential steps of a task or workflow, meticulously detailing who is responsible for each stage. Here’s how it transforms operations:

• Clarity and Alignment: Excellent process documentation eliminates guesswork. Team members understand their roles and the exact sequence of actions required. This ensures everyone works towards the same outcome.
• Efficiency Boost: Well-documented processes streamline work. Teams don’t waste time reinventing the wheel or seeking clarification. They focus on execution, driving speed and productivity.
• Consistency Guaranteed: Whether a task is performed by a seasoned expert or a new hire, process documentation guarantees a consistent standard. This is paramount for quality control and customer satisfaction.
• Error Reduction: Clear, step-by-step outlines in process documentation minimise the potential for human error. Checklists and guidance reduce the risks of missed steps or misinterpretation.
• Knowledge Preservation: Process documentation protects your organisation’s intellectual capital. Even if key employees leave, the knowledge of ‘how things work’ remains securely embedded in the documentation.

Defining Success in Organisations: Setting Clear Goals & KPIs

Setting crystal-clear goals is the bedrock of achievement. SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) provide a roadmap for success, while Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) ensure you stay on track. But to truly fuel organisational success, there’s another critical piece: aligning individual goals with broader organisational objectives.

The Power of Alignment: When Individual Goals Serve the Big Picture

Imagine a rowing team. Each member pulls with strength and focus, but if they’re not rowing in sync, the boat circles aimlessly. True power comes from alignment. Here’s how to create it:

• Top-down Clarity: Organisational objectives cascade down into departmental and individual goals. Everyone understands how their work directly contributes to the company’s mission.
• Communication is Key: Managers regularly discuss with team members how their individual goals support broader initiatives. This keeps everyone mindful of the bigger picture.
• Shared Success: When company-wide goals are met, wins are celebrated collectively. This fosters a sense of shared ownership and boosts morale.
• Empowerment and Accountability: Individuals have the power to influence the KPIs tied to their goals. This promotes greater ownership and a higher sense of responsibility.

The Benefits of Alignment

Here are the benefits of alignment in an organisation:

• Increased Motivation: Seeing how daily tasks contribute to something bigger inspires greater dedication and effort.
• Focused Effort: Team members channel their energy towards the actions that truly move the needle for the organisation.
• Strategic Decision-Making: Alignment makes it easier to prioritise projects, allocate resources, and make choices that drive organisational success.
• Stronger Teams: A shared mission breeds collaboration and a sense of collective purpose, improving teamwork and overall performance.

Leadership as Catalyst: Motivation, Delegation, & Support

True leaders don’t just dictate processes, they ignite a passion for them within their team. They understand that motivation, skillful delegation, and ongoing support are essential to making processes work on the ground.

Motivation: Fueling a Passion for Process

1. Connect the Dots: Leaders emphasise the “why” behind processes. They tie daily tasks to greater aims, showing employees how process adherence directly impacts customer satisfaction, company growth, or team success.
2. Recognise and Reward: Publicly acknowledge individuals and teams that excel in process-driven work. Small rewards and praise go a long way in demonstrating the value of process.
3. Gamify Where Possible: Introduce elements of friendly competition tied to process-based KPIs. This can add a layer of fun and engagement.

Delegation: The Art of Empowerment

1. Match Task to Skill: Delegation isn’t about offloading work; it’s about empowering the right person. Assess team strengths and assign tasks accordingly.
2. Provide Clear Expectations: Delegate both the what and the how. Set clear goals, desired outcomes, deadlines, and available resources.
3. Trust and Let Go: Micromanagement kills process ownership. Give authority, but offer resources and check-ins to offer support, not scrutiny.

Support: The Foundation for Success

1. Open Communication: Leaders create an environment where employees feel comfortable asking for help or clarifying process steps.
2. Mentorship and Coaching: Leaders guide employees through processes, offering feedback and fostering continuous learning.
3. Celebrate Success and Analyse Failures: When processes work well, celebrate wins. When they don’t, dissect root causes without blame, focusing on solutions.

Continuous Improvement: The Key to Sustainable Results

In a rapidly changing world, resting on past success is a recipe for stagnation. Leaders who want to stay ahead of the curve must champion continuous improvement, transforming their processes into living, evolving systems that constantly get better.

Feedback Loops: The Voice of Process

• Solicit Input: Leaders actively gather feedback from everyone involved in a process. Regular employee surveys, suggestion boxes, and open meetings create channels for improvement ideas.
• Customer Insights: Customer complaints and satisfaction data hold a wealth of information about potential process bottlenecks or pain points.
• Data Doesn’t Lie: Regularly monitor KPIs tied to processes. Spikes in error rates, completion times, or customer dissatisfaction signal areas ripe for improvement.

Data-Driven Decisions

Leaders don’t improve processes based on hunches. They analyse the data collected through feedback loops and KPIs. This reveals:

• Bottlenecks: Where are things slowing down or getting stuck? Data points to the stages of a process most in need of streamlining.
• Inefficiencies: Are certain tasks taking excessive time or resources? Data pinpoints areas for potential automation or resource optimisation.
• Root Causes: Data helps leaders go beyond the symptoms and identify the underlying cause of problems, leading to better solutions.

Mindset: The Heart of Continuous Improvement

1. Embrace Change: Leaders foster a culture where change is seen as opportunity, not disruption.
2. Experiment and Learn: Encourage teams to experiment with process tweaks, track results, and scale up successful changes.
3. Empowerment: Give employees a voice in improving their work processes. Frontline workers often have the most valuable insights.
4. Celebrate Iteration: Acknowledge and celebrate even small process improvements. This reinforces the value of continuous betterment.

Actionable Tips for Senior Leadership

1. Process Audit

Start by understanding your current processes. Map them out. Are they well-defined, documented, and consistently followed? Identify gaps and bottlenecks.

• Detailed Mapping: Go beyond basic flowcharts. Visualise every step with decision points, responsible roles, timelines, potential delays, and handoffs between teams. Use process mapping software for clarity and collaboration.
• Documentation Assessment: Does documentation exist for every core process? Is it up-to-date, easily accessible, and written in language employees understand?
• Consistency Check: Observe processes in action. Are employees following documentation precisely, or are there informal ‘workarounds’ or variations? Interviews and surveys help here.
• Bottleneck Hunting: Analyse where things slow down, errors spike, or resources get strained. These are prime improvement targets.

2. Set Clear Goals

What do you want to achieve with strong process leadership? Improved efficiency? Error reduction? Better customer experience? Tailor your process strategy to these goals.

• Beyond the Obvious: “Efficiency” is vague. Quantify it: 20% reduction in task turnaround time? 10% drop in error rates?
• Customer Impact: How will better processes improve customer satisfaction? Faster resolution times? Reduced wait times? More personalised service?
• Cascading Goals: Align departmental and team objectives with organisation-wide goals. How does each unit’s process improvement contribute to the big picture?

3. Involve Employees

Don’t dictate processes from above. Engage frontline teams in process design and improvement. Their on-the-ground insights are invaluable.

• Form Process Improvement Teams: Include a mix of employees who perform the work daily and cross-functional representatives who see process impact downstream.
• Facilitated, Not Led: Leaders provide tools (like process mapping) and set the tone, but teams brainstorm pain points and solutions.
• Idea Capture: Create multiple channels for submitting improvement ideas, beyond team meetings – suggestion boxes, anonymous surveys, even a dedicated email address.

4. Invest in Training

Process change won’t stick without proper training and support. Provide comprehensive instruction and ongoing resources.

• Tailored by Role: Training for team members focuses on process execution. Managers need training in coaching for process adherence.
• Multiple Formats: Don’t just rely on written manuals. Use videos, simulations, or in-person demonstrations for different learning styles.
• Make it a Resource: Create a knowledge base of process documentation, FAQs, and training materials that are always accessible.
• Mentorship Program: Pair new hires with process ‘champions’ for questions and support as they adapt.

5. Technology as an Enabler

Explore how technology tools (workflow automation, process mapping software) can streamline work and enhance documentation.

• Automation Potential: Can repetitive steps be automated? Free employee time for higher-value tasks.
• Collaborative Mapping: Consider real-time process mapping software. Updates are immediate, shared across the organisation.
• Reporting and Analytics: Tools that tie process data to KPIs are vital. Look for customisable dashboards to track your specific goals.
• Don’t Overspend: Start with your most critical processes, or pilot affordable tools before major investment.

6. Measure and Iterate

Set KPIs to track process improvement. Analyse data, gather feedback, and refine continuously. Celebrate success to build momentum.

• Data is King: Define KPIs before change, establish a baseline, and set improvement targets aligned with overall goals.
• Diverse Feedback: Use employee surveys, customer feedback, AND hard data to assess success.
• Iterate and Adapt: Rarely is the first iteration perfect. Make small adjustments, measure again, scale successes.
• Wins Matter: Highlight even small process wins. Share case studies, give rewards, and show that improvement is celebrated.

Case Studies: The Power of Process Leadership in Action

Here are some case studies that teach us benefits of process leadership and structuring organisations effectively:

Toyota

Renowned for its Toyota Production System, based on continuous improvement (‘Kaisen’). Their meticulous process focus drives exceptional quality, efficiency, and the ability to identify waste. They empower employees at all levels to suggest and implement process improvements.

• The Power of “Just-in-Time”: Toyota pioneered the concept of producing only what is needed, when it’s needed, minimising inventory waste. This requires precise processes and seamless coordination with suppliers. 
• Visual Management (“Andon”): Toyota factories use visual signals to instantly highlight deviations from standard processes. This allows for immediate problem-solving, preventing defects from slipping through.

Amazon

Obsessed with operational efficiency. Highly-defined processes for order fulfillment, logistics, and inventory management have allowed them to scale at incredible speed with consistency. Their process documentation is detailed and continuously updated to optimise the customer experience.

• Warehouse Wonder: Amazon’s warehouses are marvels of process efficiency. Picking, packing, and shipping are optimised for speed. Constant analysis of data allows them to modify item placement and routes for maximum productivity.
• Relentless Documentation: Their focus on process documentation extends even to how items are packaged. This reduces error and ensures a consistent unboxing experience for customers.

Zappos

Known for stellar customer service fueled by a strong process-oriented culture. Their thorough onboarding and training processes ensure every employee understands how to go above and beyond, supported by documented guidelines for issue resolution.

• Empowering Employees: Zappos doesn’t script customer interactions. Their processes give reps guidelines for when to escalate but encourage individualised solutions and building rapport.
• Training Investment: Zappos puts new hires through intense weeks of training that covers company culture and processes for providing exceptional service.

Newer Case Studies

Healthcare: The Mayo Clinic – Recognised as a leader in patient-centered care. Their rigorous processes for diagnosis, treatment, and care coordination ensure consistent, high-quality outcomes, even with medical complexity. They analyse patient data to continuously improve their processes and drive innovation.

Software Development: Atlassian – Known for team collaboration tools like Jira and Confluence, Atlassian practices what they preach. Their agile software development processes are well-documented and encourage iterative improvement. This enables them to deliver products quickly, responding to user feedback effectively.

Building a Process-Driven Culture

A process-driven culture doesn’t spring up overnight. It requires a concerted effort from leaders who model the right behaviors, foster psychological safety, and reward those who embody the process-centric mindset.

The Leader’s Role in Shaping Mindset

1. Walk the Talk: Leaders who visibly follow processes themselves send a powerful message. If a leader ignores a process, employees will notice. Model adherence in every action, big and small.
2. Curious, Not Critical: Leaders ask questions that reveal their process-focus: “What are the steps involved here?”, “How does this contribute to our overall goals?”, “Are there any areas where this process tends to break down?”
3. Cheerlead for Improvement: Leaders publicly champion process optimisation efforts. They frame it as exciting, not threatening. Highlight employees who suggest successful improvements and spotlight the positive impact on the team and organisation.

Creating a “Safe to Improve” Environment

1. Separate Process from Person: Leaders emphasise that critiquing a process isn’t a personal attack. It’s about finding ways to work smarter as a team.
2. Failure as Learning: Frame process setbacks as opportunities. Focus on analysing the ‘why’ behind breakdown instead of assigning blame.
3. Open-Door Policy: Leaders make it clear that suggestions are welcome anytime. They listen actively and acknowledge ideas, even those that may not pan out. Effective leadership communication is essential for the success of any organisation.

Incentivising the Right Behaviors

1. Spotlight Process Heroes: Publicly recognise employees who consistently follow processes, find creative ways to solve process-related problems, or help improve existing workflows.
2. Small Wins Matter: Rewards don’t have to be grand. Gift cards, team lunches, or even an extra half-day off signal that process efforts are valued.
3. Beyond Financial: Sometimes the most meaningful rewards are increased autonomy, the opportunity to lead a process improvement initiative, or cross-training to broaden employees’ skillsets.

Adaptive Leadership: Navigating Change and Uncertainty

Adaptive leaders understand that in today’s world, the only constant is change. They cultivate agility within their teams and processes to not just survive disruptions, but to come out the other side stronger. A postgraduate leadership certification can help you become an adaptive leader.

Agility in the Face of Disruption

• Design for Change: Encourage process design that incorporates flexibility. Ask “What if?” questions, what if a key supplier goes out of business, or a new competitor enters the market?
• Modular Processes: Where possible, avoid overly rigid, linear processes. Modular ones, with the potential for re-sequencing or adding contingency steps, adapt more easily.
• Empower Decision-Making: Train employees involved in processes to make judgment calls when the unexpected occurs. This prevents delays while they wait for approval from the top.

Proactive Scenario Planning

• Diverse Thinking: Scenario planning isn’t just for senior executives. Involve frontline employees and cross-functional teams for a broader range of potential disruptions.
• Beyond the Obvious: Consider not just external threats, but shifts in customer needs or technology breakthroughs. What processes would these impact?
• War Gaming: Run simulations or table-top exercises where teams act out how they’d respond to a hypothetical disruption, using existing processes as a baseline. This spots weaknesses proactively.

Learning from Failure

• Blameless Post-Mortems: When processes falter, focus on system-level causes. What about the process made failure more likely? Could better communication or contingency planning have prevented it?
• Data is Your Friend: If possible, collect data during disruptions. This reveals where processes break down under pressure and informs refinements.
• Re-Train, Don’t Punish: If failure stemmed from employees not following processes, re-training and support are needed, not reprimands.

Conclusion

From this article, we find out that process leadership manifests differently across industries, but the underlying principles remain, which are clarity, documentation, focus on improvement, and valuing employee input. Building a process-driven culture is about consistency. Leaders must reinforce these behaviors every day, not just during big process change initiatives.

Also, adaptive leadership views change as an opportunity for improvement, not a crisis to be endured. Processes that are flexible and designed with adaptation in mind become a competitive advantage. Strong process leadership isn’t a quick fix, it’s a cultural shift. Senior leadership must model the way, championing process-driven thinking and empowering employees at all levels.

Finally, continuous improvement isn’t a project with an end-date, it’s a mindset. Leaders who embrace this philosophy build organisations that adapt quickly, solve problems creatively, and maintain a competitive edge. Leaders don’t just demand adherence. They inspire teams to embrace processes as tools for collective success, offering the right balance of empowerment and support along the way.

If you wish to learn how to lead processes effectively and fulfill your organisation’s management goals, you can enrol in the XLRI Postgraduate Certificate in Senior Leadership by Imarticus. You will learn many other crucial skills such as business turn-around management from this senior leadership course. This senior leadership program will also teach you other essential skills you will need as a leader.

Companies across the globe implement strategies to maintain their viability in the industry. Sometimes, special techniques are needed to reshape the business. Businesses experiencing a period of decline, re-examine their strategies to find areas of improvement.

Turnaround management is used by businesses facing any operational issues or economic decline. The management creates an action plan for the company’s growth, preventing further decline. You can learn about turnaround management in a senior leadership program to help your business find and enhance areas of improvement. 

Let us discuss turnaround management and how you can apply it to your business. 

What is turnaround management? 

The process by which businesses can reconstruct and renew their operations and practises is called turnaround management. These changes aim to improve operational efficiency and ensure long-term business success. 

Several companies use this form of management when facing financial challenges under the belief that reconstructing the operations might allow for effective management styles, new ideas, and creative business solutions. 

This form of management allows businesses to pause their operations to reduce any further decline. Management uses this time to strategise and resolve the issues which might cause inefficiencies. 

Why do companies employ turnaround management? 

Here are some reasons why businesses might use turnaround management strategies: 

• Increase revenue: If a business is experiencing declining or stagnant revenue, it can use turnaround management strategies to identify areas of improvement within the company’s sales practises. This may boost the revenue. 
• Boost operational efficiency: The main focus of these management strategies is to improve operational efficiency. It is done by identifying and addressing issues hindering the performance of the business. This may lead to reduced costs, improved productivity, and a streamlined organisation. 
• Improve employee turnover rate: Companies that have a high employee turnover rate may employ this management technique. It is done to introduce effective management styles that might lower the turnaround rate, retaining employees for longer periods. 
• Improve stakeholder confidence: Successfully implementing turnaround management strategies can help improve the confidence of stakeholders in the ability of the organisation to recover from a period of decline. This often comes in handy to maintain relations with customers, suppliers, and investors. 
• Lower expenses: In case the company’s monthly expenses increase more than the estimated cost, leaders can choose to employ turnaround strategies. This will help in bringing down expenses and restricting from crossing the budget. 

Turnaround management features 

Every management style has its features. Here are the features of turnaround management: 

• Applied to declining companies: This type of management is especially used to turn loss-making businesses into productive ones. It is applied to business units generating loss. Business turnover is achieved by making systematic changes. It serves as the medicine to the issues of the organisation. 
• Reconstruction: Business turnaround means restructuring a declining business. Structuring an organisation involves rearranging the resources to boost efficiency and productivity. It can involve financial reconstruction, personnel reconstruction, marketing and sales reconstruction, etc. 
• Expert consultation: Turnaround needs the consultation of experts, whether internal or external. Internal experts are aware of the company’s culture, history, technology standards, finances, etc. a lot better. However, the internal leaders might be biased for their benefit. 

On the other hand, external experts are more likely to be impartial. However, their recommendations might not be realistic for the company. Employees might also feel their feelings are not taken into consideration. 

• Heavy use of resources: Turnaround management strategies require an essentially significant amount of capital. Your company will need an excellent expert team to implement the strategies. 

You will also need additional assistance or advise from experts in the industry along with the skills of the internal workforce. Sufficient funds are needed for these services. Also, since the timeline of the success of the business turnaround is not fixed, the operations will require constant funds until the set objectives are achieved. 

• Requires intensive planning: Initiating the turnaround requires a detailed study of the declining company’s failed model. This starts by preparing adaptable, result-oriented strategies. 

To execute the newly developed strategies, you have to organise the previously failing model structure. Your company can achieve this with directions from the leaders in the planning authority. 

Once you have made the plan, it is tested for some time. During this time, the experts will gather and evaluate changes, improvements, or weaknesses in the performance. If any changes are required, you can tweak the process further. 

• Use of resources: Generally, a declining business is not able to make optimum use of its resources. These resources can be financial, human capital, physical resources, etc. With turnaround management, you can efficiently use your resources. 

This management technique aims to restructure the available company capital. The capital is extracted from failing projects to successful ones. 

• Requires cooperation: Complete cooperation of all the company members is necessary for the plan to be successful. This is because your employees are the people who will execute the turnaround plan. You will also require the cooperation of all the company’s stakeholders for the turnaround to be successful. 
• Permanent impact: The turnaround management techniques will leave a lasting effect on your company’s operations and structure. It will allow your business to concentrate on productive operations. 

Business turnaround will allow organisations to shift their technology from a labour-intensive one to a capital-generating one.

Steps of the turnaround management process

To successfully implement turnaround management strategies, businesses need to follow the steps listed here. 

Analyse and define

Analysing business processes and defining the issue is the first step in the process. At this stage, you can go through the financial records of your company to get an insight into the monthly revenue earned and expenses made. Don’t forget to review the employee turnover rate as well. 

Companies might have many issues that they want their turnaround manager to take care of. Most companies pause their operations before performing the analysis to achieve better numbers that aren’t declining. 

Strategise  

Now that the business operations are paused to determine the issues, you can start developing strategies for improving these issues. This strategic plan serves as a blueprint for the management goals that need to be achieved. 

Companies often perform SWOT analysis to identify the weaknesses, opportunities, strengths, and potential threats of the business. 

Review both the internal and external factors when strategising. SWOT analysis will help you to determine long-term goals for the company. It will also help you understand the practises which will lead to the overall growth of the business. 

Develop a plan 

Create an action plan to list the steps needed to achieve the goals outlined in the strategic plan. This plan of action will include daily, weekly, and monthly tasks which will help to improve the business operations. 

Often companies organise brainstorming sessions with their heads and employees to come up with ideas for the action plan. This plan has a list of tasks along with time frames that will help the company achieve its business objectives.  

Implement 

Once you have your action plan decided, now these strategies need to be implemented into the workspace. Leaders take charge at this point, educating the employees regarding the new plan objectives. Every staff member is encouraged to ask questions about their role in the plan. 

You can also discuss the new goals or mission statement of the company. This will allow employees to align their processes with the company’s new goals. Make sure you communicate with your employees daily and make the transition easy for them. 

Review 

After three to six months of implementing the new plan, review to determine the success rate of the plan. This will help you recognise any corrections that you need to make. 

Organise one-on-one meetings with your employees. Discuss with them how they like the plan now that they have been working on it and what further improvements it might need. You can also collect recommendations from the employees every month regarding management strategies. 

Enrolling in a certified senior leadership program can help you gain practical experience in the process. You will be able to understand the implications of the steps in real life.

How to implement a turnaround 

Setting goals is the easy part, executing it takes a lot of work. A turnaround in businesses is important as it signifies an upward shift for the company after experiencing a period of downfall. 

Every business turnaround is different. It caters to the company’s needs, abilities, and reaction time. One company’s successful turnaround strategy might not be fruitful for another company. With that being said, there are also some common characteristics of successful turnaround strategies. A postgraduate leadership certification can help you learn how to implement a turnaround effectively. 

Here are some steps you can follow to implement a turnaround: 

• Reevaluate budgets: Misallocation of funds is one of the primary reasons why businesses experience downfall. If a business exceeds its budget and invests all the capital in one area, it is bound to experience a downturn. 

Reevaluating its finances, income, and expenses, can help the business solve its main issue. Having a clear idea of the funds, you can effectively distribute resources. It will also allow you to decide which expense is necessary and which can be avoided for the time being.

• Redefine the management: Poor management is a situation that requires genuine reflection from the company. A company’s employees will look up to their seniors for support. The leaders need to practise effective management to support the staff. 

Staying transparent with the employees, considering their feedback for improvement, and taking steps to address the structural deficiencies can boost the revenue of a company. If your employees feel that their opinions matter in the workplace, they are bound to feel more motivated to work. 

• Recovery of customer base: Often businesses experience a downfall because they lose their customers. If that is the scenario for you, understanding why your customer base no longer wants to work with you can be of great help. Identify the issue, and address it.

Investing in new PR strategies can help you attract your customers. Working on improving the quality of your products or offering deals on purchase are just some ways by which you can attract clients. 

Indicators of a successful business turnaround 

Some indicators of successful implementation of the turnaround process are as follows: 

• Boost in the sales or turnover rate. 
• Financial stability along with better loan repayment capacity. Also helps in providing financial benefits for employees, better working conditions, proper maintenance of components, etc. 
• Increase in market share of the company. 
• Higher volumes of goods are manufactured and production activities are conducted in a proper order. 
• Healthier corporate life. 
• Improve liquidity along with satisfactory cash flow. 

Tips for successful business turnaround 

Here is a list of things to remember when implementing the turnaround management: 

• Start over: The most important thing when it comes to implementing the turnaround strategies is, don’t be scared to start over. A successful business turnover will need adaptability, objective analysis, and quick reaction time. If you learn something is not working for your business, you can abandon it and start over. 
• Transparency: As you navigate important conversations with your investors, leaders, and employees, try to be open and honest. Developing and implementing strategies becomes a hundred times easier when everyone understands the plan and their role in it. Being accountable can help you examine and improve your business issues. 
• Stay committed: To successfully implement your strategies, you need to stay stubborn about the changes you want. If you see old habits resurfacing, take action immediately. Turnarounds can take the wrong turn if problems are not identified and prevented as soon as possible. 

Pros and cons of implementing turnaround strategies 

The outcome of turnaround management implication can be seen from both a positive and a negative point of view. Let’s see how: 

• Positive implications: 

1. The net profit of the company improves. 
2. The market share value of the company improves. 
3. The client or customer base improves. 
4. As productivity increases, the morale of your employees increases. 
5. There is a significant change in the productivity of employees. 
6. The credit rating of the company improves.

• Negative implications: 

1. It can cause a productivity decline in some departments. 
2. Probable reduction in company workforce. 
3. Some employees may quit. 
4. The company might get amalgamated or merged. 

Who is a turnaround leader? 

These professionals initiate and lead a business transformation. Their main aim is to improve the business profitability, product performance, and customer experience. These leaders use their expertise, talents, and qualities to empower a business and the employees leading it towards success from downfall. 

Turnaround business leaders are trained to align with the unique business challenges that require drastic change, not just minor adjustments. This is why, these individuals are expected to work under immense pressure, with their leadership style being adaptable to each situation. 

A senior leadership program will help you become a successful turnaround leader. The course will make you industry-ready. 

Skills that turnaround leaders should have 

A turnaround leader should have excellent business and technical skills to be able to press the ‘reset’ button on a downfalling business performance. Some skills will help turnaround leaders to become successful. Let’s break them down: 

• Attention to detail: Reasons behind the failure of a company are most likely going to be intricate and interconnected. Attention to detail is necessary to identify these minute issues. Businesses will require more than a broad approach to solve any complicated problems. 
• People skills: The leader should have excellent people skills to communicate easily with the employees. As a leader, you should be able to navigate through people’s feelings and offer an open-door policy – without sacrificing accountability for popularity. Without these skills, you will not be able to inspire your employees which is very necessary for instigating lasting changes. 
• Humility: Leaders need to be confident, strong, and determined. However, humility is an attribute that keeps these qualities from morphing into arrogance. You need to understand or at least try to understand your employees and give importance to their opinions.
• Ability to motivate: As a leader, you are responsible for motivating both your employees and the stakeholders of the company. When the organisation is on the brink of failure, a responsible turnaround leader knows exactly how to motivate the employees to keep going. Turnaround leaders should also know how to not give in to frustration which often accompanies the struggle. 
• Drive for results: A successful turnaround leader’s goal is to achieve the results planned. You should be open to new ideas, innovations, and any strategies that might drive the desired outcomes. Moreover, you should focus on sustainable results to foster lasting changes and a constant upward trajectory. 

How do turnaround leaders work?

Every company has different challenges. A competent turnaround leader should be able to identify where the problem lies and properly deal with it. However, there are some commonalities in companies that have been able to successfully shift from near-failure with great heads at the top. Some of these characteristics are as follows: 

• Culture of respect: Successful leaders don’t believe in the blame game. They want to work towards achieving company goals by making necessary changes rather than pointing fingers. Creating a respectful work culture helps the employees build trust in the management. 
• Promote dialogue: One of the common problems that faltering companies face is the break in communication between the employees and management. A good leader helps in reconstructing the communication lines. 
• Inspire initiatives: Often employees are not considered when making decisions for the company. However, it is very important to take into account their opinions as they are the building blocks of the business. A good turnaround leader allows employees at every level to come forward with their innovations and ideas. 
• Generate collaboration: As a turnaround leader, you should work towards removing any social boundaries that might be present in your company. You should encourage your employees to think of the entire company as a big team and solve problems together. 

Conclusion

Turnaround management is a complicated and critical process for businesses facing continuous failure. It is a structured approach to analysing and addressing underlying issues impacting the performance of the organisation. A senior leadership programme can help you prepare for the role of a turnaround leader. 

Check out the Postgraduate Certificate in Senior Leadership offered by Imarticus in collaboration with XLRI. This postgraduate leadership course has been designed to help their students delve into corporate value creation, strategic thinking, conflict management, digital transformation, and developing high-performing teams. 

Enrol with Imarticus today!

Creating a proper organisational structure is a very important aspect of every business. an organisational structure with competent leaders helps the company to grow and reach greater heights. It helps companies to design a framework as to how tasks should be allotted to each employee and every department, how much resources they shall be provided with and who will manage them.

It is the responsibility of human resources to create and implement an effective organisational structure that will govern who will manage the people and how the resources should be circulated within the organisation. A senior leadership program can help individuals become better HR leaders so that they can benefit organisations with their skills and contribute to organisational development.

Read on to learn how one can acquire essential leadership skills and how it is important to design a proper organisational structure.

Role of Human Resources in Deciding Organisational Structure 

Every company needs an organisational structure due to the fact that it creates the foundation for assigning and distributing work and handling resources. Alongside managing the people that function within the organisational framework, the management of human resources is essential to its creation and execution. 

The significance of HR professionals in organisational structure is of utmost importance. They can support organisational advancement by employing different and innovative methods. Let us understand, what is the role of HR in designing an organisational structure and how it contributes to the overall development of a company.

What is an Organisational Structure?

Organisational structure refers to the layout or foundational structure of a company or the various departments of a company. It defines the hierarchy within an organisation by defining various positions such as general working professional roles and specialist working individual roles. The organisational structure basically throws light on the chain of command and states who will report to whom and how each employee shall work within their capacity.

Additionally, organisational structure dictates whether decision-making should be centralised or decentralised. A competent organisational structure may serve as a foundation for beneficial effects on the business as a whole. It integrates with the corporate atmosphere and is meant to attract and reserve the best employees by creating positions where they can take leverage of their finest suit. This helps the employees and the company to advance as a whole. Organisational structure assures rewarding employment and an ongoing sense of responsibility and commitment.

A solid postgraduate leadership certification can help you learn how to structure organisations effectively. 

How Human Resources Establishes Organisational Structure?

The HR department of every organisation is an integral part of the major internal decision-making process. Wondering how HR professionals move from a service-oriented approach to an executive-level strategy? That happens by linking the role of HR professionals with organisational structure.

Firstly, one needs to set clear goals regarding the various teams within an organisation and what strategies should be employed to achieve those organisational goals. Without defining clear objectives, it becomes vague as to what the employees should achieve. 

The following are the key roles that human resources play in deciding organisational structure:

Onboarding competent workforce 

The HR department of an organisation plays the most important part in hiring the right and most efficient people who become the part of organisational structure. The HR recruits and retains the right employees for specific job roles. Additionally, it is their responsibility to design various training programmes to guide and nurture the employees so that a growth atmosphere is created within the company.

Creating work hierarchy

Preparing subsequent generations of competent employees and powering them with the knowledge and resources necessary to be successful. Is a key HR role. it is the responsibility of the HR department to create and set hierarchical roles for the various positions within an organisation. it helps the employees to have clarity on whom they should report and whom they should take orders from.

A strong employee hierarchy within a company enhances the performance standards, ultimately making the business more productive and efficient in the work they do.

Building future leaders

Another important HR role in creating an organisation structure is recruiting exceptionally talented technical personnel and promoting their growth. This allows the organisation to grow as well as the employees feel benefited as they reach higher positions. 

HR lays the cornerstone of preparing future leaders by giving them a chance to the junior employees to reach higher positions and become senior executives. They assume such roles to strengthen the valuable propositions and healthy competition within the organisation.

Establishing better management

HR has a duty to train and empower supervisors and managers on how to handle and nurture talent more effectively. The human resource department has to design various educational programmes for the line managers so that they can perform to the best of their abilities and deliver fruitful results.

This will ultimately help the company to define an effective organisational structure which will improve the management within the company. Managing the employees proactively is a major role that HR has to play.

Enhancing communication

Maintaining a chain of communication throughout the company is another vital role that the HR department has to play. Creating a proper line of command and maintaining effective communication channels enhances the organisational structure.

Strengthening the capacity of managers and leaders to interact and communicate, motivate employees and acknowledge cultural diversity is what HR has to do. The HR department needs to ensure that there is a balance between the work, communication and cultural background of the employees.

Change management

Establishing an organisational structure for companies and navigating through various changes when required is very important and is done by HR. It is the duty of the HR to ensure that the employees and the organisation as a whole are adaptable to changes. For this, various change management principles are applied in the required departments when commodities get more complex.

Change management is crucial for building an organisational structure that is adaptable to changes and has the potential to grow.

Workforce planning

Combining employee planning, workforce, engagement, and career strategies is a far-fetched role that HR has to play so that employees are able to find job opportunities more effectively. HR can offer employment to the individuals in the company to sit for job openings within the company. This helps the organisation to save costs of hiring and the particular employee is also promoted to a higher position to assume a different job role.

This allows the HR team to cut company costs on the hiring and recruitment process as well as appointing talented and right individuals to higher positions.

Streamlining the decision-making process

With technology, the HR team has also started to incorporate various analytical metrics and models so that they can design the best plans and programs for the employees. Integrating simulations, statistical analysis, data mining, parameters and various tools that support decision-making have started to become a part of various companies. 

Using such tools allows HR to streamline the distance-making process and understand what exactly are the needs of the employees and what they can do to improve them. Also, employee satisfaction can be tracked with weekly or monthly feedback reports from the employees.

Introducing new technologies

Leveraging and working with newly developed technologies, such as smartphones and tablets to present training and development is also what HR teams have started to do. It improves the quality of programs that are considered by the company in order to educate employees about new technologies. This helps the company to be advanced and stay updated with new and effective technologies.

The HR department has started to include these technological measures within the organisational framework. Such scientific inclusions help to boost the utility of big data in managing employees.

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HR’s Own Organisational Structure

The HR has an organisational structure for itself, which governs how the HR department will be constituted and what significant positions should be there in the hierarchy. The organisational structure of HR is essential given that it provides a platform for aligning resources to the targets set forth in the company’s strategic plan. The internal organisational structure of the HR enacts the values and social norms of the company as a whole.

Top HR personnel enticement, participation, involvement, and retention are all significantly affected by the organisation’s structure. Consequently, prospective company performance is going to be determined by the job and tasks that human resource professionals do. The effect stretches beyond the human resource division itself.

One of the most important factors is that the role of HR, organisational structure and organisational development are closely related to each other. These are major concepts that determine the success of a business and it is vital to know how these parameters create an impact on one another. Businesses thrive for organisational development and creating a good foundation of organisational structure with competent HR professionals is a major step towards that direction.

An effective organisational structure can also help with business turn-around management, which is quite crucial for reaching solvency or corporate renewal processes. A postgraduate leadership certification can help you learn more about the organisational structure of HR departments.

Essential Components of Organisational Development in HR

The role of HR in creating an organisational structure is unmatchable. Here are some of the key aspects of HR’s role that help to elevate organisational structure:

Needs assessment

The aspect of needs assessment includes identifying and assessing skills, knowledge, development, abilities and potential. An employee should uphold to cope with the ever-evolving needs of a company. This component encompasses analysing the present scenario and needs of the organisation as well as filling any gaps and inefficiency in the performance of an employee. This, in turn, will help the organisation to grow.

Advantage: Hiring decisions are made more effectively when the skills and attributes needed to succeed in a particular role or team are thoroughly established.

Training and development

Providing employee training and development is a crucial aspect of developing the skills of the employees who constitute the workforce for the organisation. It is the duty of the HR team to design effective training and development programmes to develop the knowledge, skills, abilities, and technical capabilities of the employees. This encompasses both on-the-job training sessions and formal training programmes. These programmes also help in the overall personality development of the employees. 

Advantage: Allowing the employees to develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities will automatically benefit the company with enhanced efficiency, output, effectiveness, productivity, etc.

Career planning

Programmes for career planning and advancement Support employees in structuring and progressing their careers within the company. This entails highlighting the potential professional pathways and offering opportunities for growth and development. Career planning allows the development of employees as well as the organisation as a whole.

Advantage: Hardworking employees who dedicate themselves to the success of a business are the beneficiaries of advancement and career development opportunities.

Performance management

Performance management is a very powerful technique for fueling organisational growth. The human resource team sets performance standards for employees as well as various teams so that they can evaluate the performance performance and also provide feedback on the same. This helps companies to recognise the competent employees and the ones who are lacking get valuable feedback on their performance.

Advantage: Training for performance management helps to ensure that the employees are in conformity with the organisational standards and expectations while demonstrating their highest potential and efforts.

The role of HR is certainly very important in integrating employees to work as a team. They assist employees in acquiring new skills by designing interactive and effective training programmes. To excel in the field of HR one can enroll themselves for a senior leadership program that will teach individuals how to become a good leader in the competitive corporate world.

How Does Human Resources Related to Organisational Development?

There are numerous organisational development procedures that are associated with human resource management activities. Establishing sustainable and effective organisational development necessitates the implementation of strategies and regulations such as talent management operations, setting objectives, performance oversight and appraisal mechanisms.

While human resources primarily concentrates on the practices of the employees, organisational development pursues a more holistic and broader methodology. Organisational development can operate at every level of an organisation by employing techniques and mechanisms that include job design, private and public interventions, organisational design etc. The three levels at which organisational development functions are individual, group and organisation. However, HR tends to be a lot more functional because the spotlight is perpetually on issues of strategic importance.

The functions of organisational development are closely related to that of HR operations. It can be observed in corporate advisory services, company strategy, or in the services department. External strategy professionals additionally employ organisational development techniques in change management programmes. 

The company plan of action, consisting of the organisational goal, principles and division is the cornerstone of both HR and organisational development. Both of these concepts lay forth the procedures necessary for implementing the concepts into action. 

The organisational development strategies related to HR are very effective. Gaining competency and proficiency in these may prove to be extremely beneficial for those working in human resources. Acquiring a comprehensive understanding of organisational development permits one to identify and assess which element of fundamental HR duties need more attention, this ultimately helps the organisation become more productive altogether. A comprehensive approach for resolving these problems has been presented by organisational development.

Positions to Consider in the HR Department

Not every HR professional will have the exact same capabilities and drawbacks. It is very crucial for companies to choose and recruit a minimum of some different job positions with the right kind of employees. Such professionals shall effectively support the other employees and, ultimately the organisational structure of the company. 

Organisations may recruit such people based on the size of the organisation, the line of business, the flow of work, the scale of productivity, and so on. Generally, these are top positions within the HR department and people with a considerable amount of experience and acquired education via a senior leadership program should be preferred. 

The following are some of the job roles within the HR department that companies should hire professionals for:

Chief HR officer

The chief human resources officer (CHRO) is a crucial C-suite level employee in the HR department who is frequently seen in big-sized or moderate-sized businesses. CHRO in some organisations is also known as the vice president or VP of the HR division. 

The CHRO is the head of the HR department and exercises complete control over the particular division. The CHRO decides how the HR department will function within the organisation, what positions should be created, what will be the hierarchy, who will report to whom, what will be the chain of command etc. 

In recent years, this job position has also been popularly known as the chief people officer because the HR division established a greater priority on people or individuals.

HR director/HR manager

HR is similar to any other robust section of a company and hence it also requires proper management. An HR manager or director is the person who is in charge of managing the HR department. The HR manager reports directly to the chief human resource officer in large companies, but in the case of mid-sized or small-scale companies, this job position generally operates as the top HR post of the company.

For the purpose of handling issues, they established a division and began implementing workplace norms which foster a secure working environment. This is a major HR position that every organisation requires in order to maintain management within the organisational structure.

Recruiter

A recruiter is very important to identify and onboard new talent. Possessing expertise in human resources among the new hires is advantageous. A recruiter is someone who is in charge of the hiring process. Hence, having an understanding of the place of employment and the relationships among different individuals is a valuable quality that a recruiter should possess.

The HR department ought to offer recruiters comprehensive guidelines and recommendations regarding how to choose candidates who are not only competent but also likely to achieve success in their current positions. Recruiters and managers interact frequently throughout the recruitment process.

HR exports/HR specialists

Employing HR experts/specialists who specialise and focus on specific HR elements can often be beneficial as a company evolves and develops. Generally, HR specialists are important to aid specific human resources concerns such as HR data management, training and development, payroll benefits management, promoting cultural diversity and so on.

HR admin assistant

Bringing in administrative assistants solely for HR could be a great idea based on the magnitude and scope of the company. They are experts in handling and resolving employee grievances in order to maintain a reliable record of everything that unfolds in the work environment.

This professional works best when it comes to an argument or dispute and then arises a necessity to evaluate routine operations at work.

These are some of the most important HR positions that companies need to fill. However, a company needs to constitute an HR team depending on the specific goals, needs and budget of the organisation.

Summing Up

Sustainable organisational structure, organisational development and innovation necessitate the invaluable contribution of human resources professionals toward the company. HR is in charge of handling employee performance, job planning, education and growth, parting the knowledge of new technologies, needs assessment etc. Every aspect related to the individuals working within the organisation is looked after by the HR department within the organisational structure.

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