‘Tis the Season

From 2002 until 2007, my career was in consulting. Half of my time was spent working in the Middle East and the other half in North America. My business partner at the time was Mansoor who originated from Pakistan but lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for 18 years. We owned and operated The Corporate LIFE Centre International Inc. My Middle East work was concentrated primary in Saudi Arabia (“KSA”) with some assignments in Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai and Egypt. For five years while travelling back and forth to the KSA (i.e. Jeddah, Dahman and Riyadh), I worked with such firms as: ZFP (the largest architectural and engineering firm in the Middle East), the King Fahd University of Minerals and Petroleum, Sipchem (a billion dollar petrochemical business), and SBG, the largest construction company in KSA and one of the largest in the world with over 100,000 employees. I had the opportunity to learn a lot about this part of the world but most importantly I developed several new friendships with individuals I would never have thought of as ever being part of my life. I also was taught a few invaluable lessons. 

My first visit to KSA was not unlike any other international trip I have made. But upon entering the country I was surprised. It is interesting how the media can wrongly shape one’s perception about a country and its people. I was greeted at the customs desk by my sponsor Siraj. The process was straightforward and soon I was on my way through the streets of Jeddah to the Hilton Hotel. Jeddah is a port city of several million people. It is very modern, clean and has its own historical “old Jeddah” where I saw the actual former living quarters of “Lawrence of Arabia” and what some consider the tomb of “Eve”. The Hilton Hotel was located along a line of several western hotel chains overlooking the Red Sea. Peering out my room’s window, it was as if you were in the Caribbean… a very beautiful setting with palm trees lining the road and water’s edge. 

Once I was settled, Siraj, Mansoor and I met for dinner to discuss the assignment ahead of us. People were strolling along the boardwalk , sitting on the grass or lying on carpets laid out on the sand and enjoying the beautiful and peaceful surroundings. Siraj taught me my first lesson. He told me that is was their custom to ensure their guest’s needs were totally taken care of for the first three days of their visit. So, I, being the guest, was introduced to Saudi hospitality. It was an amazing experience. Our client, SBG, ensured that whatever was required to make me comfortable and relaxed during this first visit to Jeddah, would be done.

And their hospitality didn’t expire after three days but continued for the two weeks I was there. Everyone at SBG was advised of my coming. A parking spot was provided in the executive parking lot, a private office and meeting room was assigned, a butler was on duty from the time I arrived until I left to ensure anything I needed was afforded me, and the executives of the company set aside time to not only take me out for dinner but to challenge my 4x4-ing skills among the desert sand dunes. But the most amazing experience was one of several evening dinners, laid out on carpets underneath the starry sky in the desert while we all sat, talked and laughed about life itself. 

We discovered we all had the same wants and needs in life: health, family, security and happiness. But they did ask for one thing from me in return: while it is custom to ensure the guest’s plate is always filled with food, I was asked to oblige their hospitality by eating the brains from the lamb that was served for dinner. So with a spoon full of lamb’s brains in one hand and a can of Coca Cola (I demanded a Coke since I figured it would kill anything I ate) I met my guests’ demands and was then accepted completely into their circle of friends. I quickly realized they also had a great sense of humour and I fell for it. Upon leaving two weeks later, several members of this family-owned business honoured me with gifts to take back to Canada. When I did get back home, and after unpacking, I discovered they not only had a gift for me, but they also sought out the names of my children, Richard and Joanna, and my wife, Linda, and had special gifts for each of them as well. Inside our curio cabinet in the dining room is a beautiful crystal decanter set, that has been appraised in excess of $7,000, and is a tangible reminder of the value these newfound friends placed on my visit and acquaintance. To this day, I regard my acquaintances in Saudi Arabia as my friends and I theirs. 

While one may cite the above as a single experience, there were so many others. We were travelling from Riyadh to Jeddah with an appointment to see Ahmed, the President of Sipchem. Our flight was late and so we arrived at Sipchem’s office late. Upon meeting Ahmed we apologized for the delay, explained the situation, but then had to advise him our meeting had to be shortened in order for us to catch our next flight to Dubai. Now, we were meeting Ahmed to make a pitch for a piece of business that other very large consulting firms were also bidding on and our chances of securing would be low. Our flight situation was not helping our cause. But Ahmed didn’t reject or scold us, rather his first concern was our getting to the airport on time to catch our flight and to achieve that he ordered his personal driver to take us to the airport. This again was an amazing experience of Saudi hospitality that I experienced time after time during my several years of travel there. It helped shape my own attitude of hospitality.

“Tis the Season”

During the month of December, it is the season when there will be many lunches, dinners, parties and festivities. It will all be very enjoyable and we will be at times impressed by various forms of hospitality. But come the New Year, we will put it all behind us and we will cocoon ourselves into our winter caves only to come out when the ice thaws and the snow crystals turn to rain. And we will again look for another reason to celebrate. But I am reminded of what Siraj told me, how Sheik Abdulla welcomed me and how Ahmed supported me. They not only said it but demonstrated it: “it is our custom, our practice, our way of life”!

May we adopt “peace on earth and goodwill towards men” as our custom, as our practice, as our way of life so that in all things we say and do, our neighbor will experience not just in December, but all year long the true meaning of the season. 

For businesses, the word and practice of “hospitality” is defined as “customer service”. I appreciate the reminders from our members that CMA’s hospitality or customer service requires constant focus and attention. Recently, I attended an accounting conference in Phoenix, Arizona. On this particular occasion, Linda accompanied me. The hospitality of the hotel was what one would expect from J. W. Marriott. They have a reputation for good customer service. Upon departure and in a cab to the airport, Linda discovered she had left her sweater in the closet of the room we stayed. The sweater wasn’t expensive so leaving it behind wasn’t going to cost us much. But she really liked that sweater so she called the hotel to see if by chance it was still in the room. The hotel concierge wasn’t able to tell her what she wanted to hear, but did say they would check and if it was, would send it to her home address. We arrived back in Toronto Wednesday night. On Thursday afternoon, the day after our arrival, there was a knock on the door and standing there was a FedEx agent with a parcel for Linda sent prepaid by J. W. Marriott. Inside that parcel, neatly folded was Linda’s sweater. We are now J. W. Marriott fans (“friends”) for life. 

You can call it hospitality or customer service. You can speak of individuals or corporations. It doesn’t matter. The principles are all the same and they are absolute.

It is not “Tis the Season”. It is how life should be.

Moving Beyond the Recession Part I

My daughter Joanna, who is attending university in England has the month of April off to study for exams that are to be written in May (the English school system is quite different than ours in Ontario where for example her success is 100% dependent on passing the final exams in each of the seven subjects she has studied). Like every good student she thought it a good time for her mom and dad to visit with her because we only saw her for a few days over Christmas since her departure from home last September.  So we connected with her in London and then spent a few days in Ericeira, Portugal. One day I checked the weather forecast posted on the hotel lobby wall and it said “starting cloudy but clearing with sunny periods in the afternoon”.  Having no control over the weather I could only hope the forecast was true. I went outside and sat on a bench overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and in a moment of reflection as the chilly winds pierced through my poorly chosen jacket, the thought hit me. Surviving this and any other recession is less about managing money but more about managing expectations. We know through experience that life is filled with its crooked turns and cloudy days. But eventually we always meet a long stretch of road that never seems to bend and those days of cloud and rain always turn to sun and warmth.

 There is an old parable that says “learn to be content in every situation”! But how do we balance contentment with ambition? 

Portugal is one of the most beautiful countries of the many I have visited. The people are friendly, the streets are clean, the geography is awesome and the history enlightening. But of the many wonderful impressions I enjoyed, what caught my attention was the simplicity of life. Simplicity of life is not to be confused with simple people. For a country of 10 million people, and an economy driven by wine making, cork production and tourism, it is a model of what can be done with little, how culture and tradition can be maintained but not imprison the mind, how ambition to become a modern state in the European Union is balanced with values for the family and your neighbor. 

Picture two men on the shore’s edge with fishing poles in hand and  lines fully cast, waiting for the sea bass to be caught, while the waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash on the protruding rocks drowning out the surrounding noise allowing both of them to enjoy peace and solitude . Or imagine a half of dozen ladies sitting by the seashore with a deck of cards in hand, using them as a tool to initiate conversation and laughter.  In the town centre, as dusk beckons, couples strolling hand in hand, men and women with children line the town benches bidding hello to all after enjoying their regular daily fix of espresso and pastries. How have they managed to find such balance in a world where material gain, position and status are the rule of the day?

What this recession is appearing to teach us is how quickly those things we have valued so much in life can be so quickly swept away. Yet those things that really matter in life have received so little attention. It’s not about the equity on our personal balance sheet, but the equity we have built in our relationships with each other. What allows us to survive a recession is the strength we receive from each other.

For many the clouds have not passed; there is job loss, significant destruction of wealth, and even worse despair. But the clouds will pass and the sun will shine again. We all know by experience that nature seems to have a sense of order even when things seem out of control. The storms rise but eventually subside. It gives us hope for a better tomorrow. Surviving this and other recessions requires a hope for a better day. When we don’t have control, it requires a faith in others who will make sense out of the economic chaos we find ourselves in. It requires a value system that focuses on being content in every situation while exercising an ambition to achieve our greatest potential. It requires a greater investment in personal relationships that become out future sustenance.

Surviving this recession is more of an inner struggle than an external battle. When we come to grips with our own priorities in life we will be able to deal with whatever is thrown our way. Our confidence is not then based on what we have, but who we are. And the best part is we will find our way through the storm so that we can really enjoy those sunny days.

While attending Queen’s University, I met Hans. We went our separate ways, but one day through circumstance we reconnected at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport en route to different locations. We tried to maintain a friendship that unfortunately business demands interrupted. While he became president of a health care company, I moved into consulting which took me to another part of the world separating me from family and friends. It was this recession that brought us back into fellowship. Hans is no longer president, and in his search for a new company to build and grow he reached out to his friends including those he hadn’t seen for a while, like me. Fortunately, even though the glamour of travel and working with uniquely different clients and projects are behind me, my steady job at CMA Ontario allows me to do things that otherwise I had no time for - like reconnecting with my friends. Hans and I met recently and while the years had passed, the bond of friendship had not. We agreed to meet more often now and not allow work to rob us of what matters most. The time we spent building companies is gone and also a big part of the companies we built. We are both ambitious, career minded individuals, wanting the best for ourselves and our families, but now realize “best” may have a different definition and meaning.

I don’t know what situation you find yourself in, but if you are going through tough times as a result of this recession, the first step for survival and a positive outcome is re-evaluating your priorities so that all your decisions and supporting actions are executed within the proper context of life.

Developing a High Performance Organization™ (HPO)

Developing a High Performance Organization™ (HPO)

Today I will be focusing on the second pillar in The Organizational Dynamic Model™, Organizational Design. 

[link to http://members.cma-ontario.org/MHillierOrganizationalDynamicModel.pdf]  

The design of an organization takes into account many elements.  These include:

1. Basic Structure:                                           Criteria and evolution

2. Core Competence:                                      Identifying core competencies

                                                                        Leveraging core competencies

3. Information Systems & Technology:         Organization communication

                                                                        Targeted information

                                                                        Enterprising systems

                                                                        Applied technology

4. Organization Efficiency:                             Balanced oversight & direction

                                                                        Roles & responsibilities

                                                                        Outsourced & strategic alliances

Organization Design is not simply creating an organizational chart.  It is about designing how your organization will function in order to achieve its strategic objectives.  To quote my colleague Dr. Roger Allen, “although there is not a single way nor "right" way to make the transition to a HPO, there has evolved over the past several years a methodology that can be applied to most organizations. This method of design is a high involvement process.  It is not upper management or a consultant that analyzes the organization and comes up with a design to then impose it on the organization.  Consistent with the philosophy of trusting and empowering people, those who do the core work of the organization are intimately involved in the design process”. 

The Design Process
(Adapted from The Centre for Organizational Design)

What follows is a detailed descriptive of that methodology to give you an idea of how the design process is accomplished.  There are 3 phases and 12 steps in the design process.

Phase I:  Direction Setting

Step 1.  Leadership Awareness and Commitment.  Before embarking on a redesign effort it is necessary that the sponsor(s) of the project and senior leadership understand and be committed to the process.  This step involves educating senior leadership about high performance work systems, the transformation model, the change process and needs driving organizational change.  It is imperative that this group understand and be willing to commit fully the time and resources to the change effort.

Step 2.  Assessment of the Business Situation.  This step involves the senior leadership doing an overview of their current results and the business environment.  They gather data about key business results, customer expectations, technology, vendor relationships and other social, legal or political demands on the business. This overview provides a common view of the business environment and much needed context for the next steps in the redesign process.

Step 3. Strategy Clarification.  In this step, the senior leadership group examines both the business and organizational strategies.  On the business side they will review or, if necessary, develop: a mission statement; strategic intent; long range objectives; and critical success factors.  On the organizational side, they will review and/or develop their vision of the future, shared organizational values and guiding and operating principles.  Senior leadership also establishes a general framework for the redesign process that includes allocation of resources, time deadlines and other parameters they want to guide the project.

Step 4.  Steering Committee Orientation.  A steering committee is selected and chartered to oversee the redesign process.  They are a multidisciplinary group of key people critical to the success of the project.  Their role is to oversee the entire change effort, establish measures of effectiveness, choose and empower a design team and give final approval to all recommended changes.  They also act as a buffer and communications link to the rest of the organization.  They must be oriented to high performance work systems, the change process, the transformation model, the business situation and business and organizational strategy.  This is generally accomplished in a 2-3 day orientation session.  Site visits to other companies or locations who have gone through similar redesign efforts often take place during this step.

Phase II:  Involvement and Redesign.

Step 5.  Organization Awareness and Commitment.  After the steering committee formation, the rest of the organization needs to be made aware of the coming change process.   The intent is to help all employees understand that there is an organization redesign effort underway that will seriously change the way the business operates and will significantly involve them over time.  Communication sessions, department staff meetings, informal stand-up meetings, brown-bag lunch discussions and in-depth two-day orientation seminar are the means of communication.  Education brings awareness, and everyone’s inclusion brings the beginning of commitment.

Step 6.  Design Team Charter and Orientation.  The design team is a group of employees selected and commissioned by the steering committee to do most of the work of the redesign.  During three days of orientation, they learn about the vision, values and guiding principles that have been developed by senior leadership. They also learn about high performance work systems, the transformation model and steps in the redesign process.  Their job is to do an analysis of the organization and then develop redesign recommendations regarding each of the elements of the transformation model.  During their orientation they learn the steps and are given specific tools to carry out their responsibilities.

Step 7.  Organization Analysis.  Analysis is a period of intense data gathering and discussion to discover who the organization is connected to, how its core business process(es) work (or don't work) and how people coordinate efforts to get work done.  The design team leads the data gathering, holding one-on-one or small group interviews with different levels of employees, customers and other key stakeholders.  They share results and conclusions with the steering committee and the rest of the organization.  A thorough analysis is usually conducted of each of the seven elements of the transformation model including environment, strategy, core processes, structure, systems, culture and results. During analysis design team members, steering team members and others will often go to other sites and talk with people who have gone through redesign.

Step 8.  Redesign Proposals.  After the analysis of the present state of the organization is completed, results and key learnings are communicated and discussed with the steering committee.  Now the redesign proposals can begin in earnest.  During this time the design team, and usually subject matter experts, will look towards the future and develop a complete set of design recommendations for their "Ideal Future Organization".  They will first redesign the core business processes followed by the roles and responsibilities of people, including management and staff support functions, around those processes.  Often, the design team’s recommendations will point to cross-functional, self sufficient business units or teams.  The design team will also make recommendations regarding ways the various systems of the organization can be better aligned with the new philosophy, core processes and structure.  The recommendations of the team will include not only a snapshot of the ideal, also key milestones in a transition plan for how to get to that new organization.

Phase III.  Implementation and Evaluation.

Step 9.  Approval and Implementation Planning.  Approval is the process of discussion, adjustment, acceptance and buy-in to redesign proposals.  After the design team and steering committee meet and come to agreement on the design proposals they will make presentations to the rest of the organization or business unit in which the redesign is taking place.  Transition plans and rough time frames have been developed and are presented as part of the redesign package.  Implementation planning begins at this point and involves a cross section of employees who decide how they will make the new design happen.

Step 10.  Implementation.  Once implementation plans are completed the task is to make the design live and work.  During this phase, people are organized into natural work groups which receive training in the new design, team skills and start-up team building.  New work roles are learned and new relationships within and without the unit are established.  Reward systems, performance systems, information sharing, decision-making and management systems are changed and adjusted. Some of this can be accomplished quickly.  But some of it, such as reward system restructuring, may be further detailed and implemented over a longer period of time.  Aggressive goals and objectives should be set and carefully tracked during this time period to ensure continued progress toward implementation of the new design.

Step 11.  Evaluation.  A healthy organization is one that can measure its own performance, diagnose deficiencies, make plans for improvement and implement those plans to achieve desired results.  Evaluation is the process of monitoring and maintaining organizational health by measuring performance against clearly established standards and goals.  During implementation, when goals are met new ones are set.  Similar to target analysis after target practice, evaluation of organization performance provides needed feedback to continue learning and improvement.  Practically speaking, if targets are not posted before shooting takes place, it is impossible to measure accuracy.  It is the same with organization evaluation; if goals and expected results are not identified ahead of time, it is difficult to accurately measure performance progress against them!  If you begin with the end in mind, evaluation becomes a manageable and ongoing process.

Step 12.  Renewal.  Renewal can begin some time around two years after the beginning of implementation.  It is the careful comparison of the two-year-old organization against the ideal organization identified in the original redesign proposal.  It can be viewed as a sort of a mini-analysis to check organization design element by element to know how much progress has been made.  This is often accomplished through interviews and discussion at several levels in the organization.  Renewal is distinct from evaluation in that it occurs at a specific point in time and attempts to look at the whole organization and the integrity of the total design.  It is not uncommon to see significant course adjustments or design changes come out of the renewal process.

This redesign process can be used by any organization including manufacturing, service, retail, government, health care or professional staffs. The steps may need to be modified or streamlined depending on the nature and size of the organization.  Yet the same principles and general sequence of steps apply.  Likewise, the same process can be used to redesign a large and complex organization, sub-units of a large organization, or a small office or business.  I have seen and worked with companies or business units as small as 10 members utilizing the principles of redesign to improve their performance. 

The length of time required to complete a redesign also varies depending on the nature, size and resources of the organization.  Large and complex redesign projects can be completed within about six to nine months from Step 1 through Step 10 (the start of implementation).  Doing so requires that design team members dedicate and commit time to the project.  Smaller organizations require much less time and fewer resources to complete a project.

Although this methodology has been around for more than 40 years few companies have utilized it.  Why?  A big part of the answer is that throughout the 60s, 70s and into the 80s and 90s, it was unnecessary.  American businesses grew even when managed poorly.  However, moving into the 21st century, rapidly changing technologies, international competition and more educated workers have made that impossible in today’s world.  A second reason is lack of knowledge of a better way of doing business or the tools of organizational change.  A final reason is fear and self protection.  In high performance organizations, departmental boundaries are changed, jobs descriptions are broadened, people have full authority to make decisions and solve problems related to their work and the role of management changes.  This represents a radically different way of doing business that may be threatening to many managers and leaders.  In spite of the potential for great improvements, many prefer the security of the familiar.

Example

To illustrate this point let me refer to a previous client of mine where I was asked to conduct and lead an Organizational Design process. The client was a health care provider (HCP) focused on providing services along the continuum of “retirement to long term palliative care”. While in the past the HCP was to a degree successful, the CEO recognized they must create a new organizational design to ensure sustainability in a market where the government was providing an additional 20,000 beds to service the aging population. The redesign project was not simply led by management but included key individuals at every level in the organization.  The outcome was an innovative design that otherwise would never have been considered in how they should look at doing business in the future.

Please refer to Attachment B. [link to http://members.cma-ontario.org/MHillierHPC-IDEAL-HPO.pdf]

I will not explain each functional item of the new HCP’s Organizational Design as shown in Attachment B, but refer to it only to emphasize the creative approach used to define the HCP’s strategic focus, its key relationships, interdependencies and critical success factors.  The team was amazed at the design that evolved, the fact they did it (not the consultant), and that they owned it.  Using this design they then dealt with all the elements in this category described in the Organizational Dynamic Model™ to ensure best in class performance practices.  The new design was used to move their organization to a HPO, a status they achieved within 2 years with operating results well above the industry norm, making it one of the most sought after places for retirees, the ageing and the sick resulting in a two year waiting list.

CONCLUSION

Given the current economic challenges, most organizations realize that to survive and grow, they must find a new way to do business.  As a CMA, you are provided with the resources and tools to be a leader in the design process and help your organization realize its full potential. Here is a summary you can use to talk to your company about what it might need to do to face the economic challenge we are in.

Transforming the Nature of Your Organization

Twentieth century structures and processes will no longer serve the needs of twenty-first century organizations.  The growing challenge of Organization Design is learning how to adjust strategies and internal operations to the rapidly changing business environment which surrounds us.

Through a proposed Organizational Design Intervention™ program, we as CMAs can help businesses change the very nature of how they operate by aligning internal structures, processes, and systems to strategy, while adjusting to the demands of the external environment.

What We With You Will Do: 

• Verify the organization's strategy.
• Identify key business unit groupings.
• Map ideal core business processes.
• Design core work teams.
• Identify and allocate unit support resources.
• Design the management structure of the organization.
• Design coordination and development systems.
• Plan the transition and implementation of the new design.

RESULT

This approach to redesign results in dramatic improvements in quality, customer service, decreased cycle times, lower turnover and absenteeism, productivity gains from 25 to at least 50%, etc.

A High Performance Organization that realizes its full potential!