Vision and Mission Development Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision merely passes the time. Vision with action can transform an organization. The vision concentrates on the desired state while the mission defines the means to achieve it. OCG, through a collaborative approach with our clients, helps them create their vision and identify the necessary steps to change their business. We work with our clients, on or offsite, to develop a future state for their organization by using a creative process which produces focus and action for successfully shaping the organization.Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is the process by which the guiding members of an organization envision its future and develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve that future. OCG tailors standard strategic planning methodologies and enables clients to define strategic direction within the context of their vision, mission, and goals.
Cultural Change
Cultural change embodies the norms, beliefs, and the values of the people in the organization and is concerned with the way people interact with each other. Cultural change management has to do with people which is more difficult to implement than structural change. People and culture – the human systems of an enterprise – are what make or break any change initiative. Involving people from all levels in the organization early on in the effort is critical to the success of the change.
OCG engages in an end-to-end process with the organization to ensure the successful implementation of the people side as well as the business side of change. We systematically plan for and create short-term successes throughout the process.
Change Management
In a recent survey we conducted of HR professionals, the number one challenge for the organization was managing change. Organizations of today and tomorrow are required to be fast, flexible, and adaptable in the dynamic business environment. To survive and grow, organizations, the people in them, and their products/services must change in response to changing customers, markets, competitors, workforce, and technologies. We have a saying in our firm, “The change process is equal to, if not more important than, the change itself.” We’ve learned that how a change is implemented has long-lasting effects on the people performing the work and must be attended to throughout the change process.
We use a “whole systems in the room” approach to clarify change expectations and outcomes. OCG guides the planning and implementation of new and existing change efforts during the implementation process, involving the appropriate people in the organization while continually assessing the organization’s level of change readiness.
Developing Openness in Communication
As new change strategies are implemented, such as the transition from a hierarchical structure to a team-based structure, individuals engage at different levels of change readiness. It is critical to the success of the change process that team members and leadership both establish norms of openness, provide reassurance and support, decrease the risks associated with openness, and are accountable for their roles in discussing and resolving conflict. OCG uses an open systems approach to faciltate effective communication between business units, leadership team members, work groups, cross-functional teams and individuals.
Identifying Organizational Values
Not surprisingly, shared values are critical to getting high commitment and retaining a quality staff. Organizations are becoming more aware of how the basic beliefs and values of the company affect the productivity and commitment of the employees. Uncertainty and fear, plus rapidly changing work values among employees, have frustrated efforts to make and/or attain long-term business objectives. Once agreed to at the top, these values are incorporated in the work systems. OCG uses both qualitative and survey methods to capture the current set of values in the organization and the future set of values based on the vision.
Goal and Objective Development
OCG leads our clients through the process of building a balanced set of SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results oriented, and Time delineated – goals at the top level of the organization and then leads clients through the process of linking these goals to each person in the organization. The result is a balanced set of goals that translates the organization’s strategic plan into actionable, measurable results that are linked to performance development systems and the work of each person in the organization.
Process Improvement
Work is accomplished in organizations through a variety of processes – customer service, billing, manufacturing, administration, and product design. A business is only as good as its work processes and, more importantly, how well employees understand and use them. The best source of process improvement ideas are the people who do the work. Multi-departmental or multi-functional teams are essential when activities or the results of activities involve multiple parts of the organization. Facilitation is often key to achieving timely, effective improvements in these areas. OCG specializes in facilitation of high performance, multi-functional teams so that they achieve significant improvements in business operations. As we work side by side with the team members our goal is to transfer knowledge in areas such as problem solving, process mapping, benchmarking, and cycle time analysis. Our team can either guide the process or conduct the analysis depending on your needs.
Process Alignment to New Technology
The pace of change due to new technology is accelerating. Many of the reengineering efforts of the past have produced mediocre results. They have forgotten one of the most important success factors, the people. At OCG we have a unique approach that combines technology, processes, and the people that perform the work. Implementing new technology presents an opportunity to change existing processes across organizational boundaries. We work with all levels of people in the organization to align the processes with the organization’s business strategy to optimize the new technology.
Business Process Reengineering
OCG helps clients develop reengineering efforts tailored to their circumstances. Whether an organization 1) is experiencing rapid growth and wants to resist the temptation to add additional staff and overhead costs by streamlining or eliminating non-value-adding processes, 2) needs to widen (or narrow) performance gaps with competing businesses, or 3) is implementing new technology, OCG helps clients find sensible solutions to problems, identify and quantify opportunities, prioritize improvements, and make recommendations. |
