Be the Change

When thinking about organizational development, it’s easy to focus on improving processes, streamlining workflows, and boosting efficiency. And while these are all essential parts of running a successful business, they’re not the whole story. If you stop there, you might be overlooking your company’s most essential source of innovation and expertise – its people.

Efficiency or quality? Maybe we can have both

When we talk about organizational change, it’s often framed as a response to external pressures: market shifts, customer demands, or the adoption of new technologies. Leaders aim to make their organizations more efficient, but the question is, can efficiency and quality coexist?

Organizational development isn’t just about doing things faster – it’s about creating an environment where your people can thrive, innovate, and align with the company’s purpose – for now and for future growth. This approach ensures that your business can adapt – and quickly if needed – to disruptions without compromising quality. It’s about driving growth, sustainability, and resilience while ensuring that processes and people work together in harmony. 

Shifting the Focus – from Process to People

Many models, theories, and approaches have emerged over time about how organizations should evolve (e.g. Ketters 8-step, MicKinsey 7-S, Nudge Theory, Bridges Transition ADKAR to name a few). The truth is, no one-size-fits-all solution exists, and the best approach is often tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities your business faces. But there is one principle that remains true across all of them: Culture matters.

As Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” This isn’t to say strategy is irrelevant, but rather that the best-laid plans will fall apart without a solid, supportive culture in place. Organizational development must be seen as a holistic process that integrates both people and systems.

Making complex simple enough to work with – for everyone

If we look beyond the systems made up of processes, tools, and interactions, all working toward producing a final output, we clearly recognize organizations as human ecosystems. Beyond managing tasks and processes – it’s about leading people through the complexities of change. And we can start with the small, yet significant things…

Terminology matters here. Agile, waterfall, hybrid models – they’re all buzzwords thrown around, but does everyone truly understand what they mean? I like to ask and bring everyone onto the same page. The key to successful development is aligning on a shared vision and purpose, demonstrating transparency and trust through clear communication. That can start as simply as defining a clear language while facing the key questions of: What problem we are solving together, why the change necessary, why is it important to the operations and the people answering the ‘what does it mean for me?’ question and, most importantly, who are the people driving that change and what will help them get there? 

Culture drives results

How organizations develop a mindset that aligns with their purpose is all about culture. Each employee must see themselves as a driver of change, not just a cog in the machine. Because we are indeed all drivers of, and contributors to, change. This ‘co-ownership’ fosters innovation, accountability, and agility. And when everyone is on the same page, the results are transformative.

Consider how this comes to life:

• Mindset → Purpose → Business Growth
• Business growth leads to customer satisfaction.
• Satisfied customers lead to higher employee engagement and retention.
• This ultimately reduces operational costs and opens doors for further growth and career development.

When culture supports purpose, employees are naturally motivated to contribute, making your organization more resilient in the face of change.

Adding value through focused organizational change

When it comes to our people implementing change, let’s remember that transformation borne of change comes down to two core components – customer focus and operational effectiveness. This is where the attention should be – how we work, how we lead, and how we can become more agile, within an enabling structure. The key is to focus on value-driven planning: prioritize processes that directly add value for the customer. Anything that doesn’t serve this goal should be simply omitted. This approach echoes Steve Denning’s philosophy, which emphasizes value-centric management.

If you had to boil it down to three essential questions

Ultimately, it’s the people –  employees, leaders, customers, not just the systems or processes, who will propel the organization forward. For a change strategy that focuses on what practical implementation should achieve, leaders need to reflect on three core questions:

• Who is your primary focus, and what is the core purpose of your product or service?
• How are you shaping and executing your strategy?
• What steps are you taking to drive the necessary changes?

Then translate insights into actions through focusing on learning, fostering collaboration, and building lean structures, that can boost efficiency while keeping both employees and customers at the forefront. 

And there are real-world outcomes that prove it’s working:

1. In the U.S., 12 out of the 30 Blue Chip companies in the Dow, such as Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia, have created stakeholder value at a faster rate than the other 60%.
2. In Europe, 8 out of 20 Blue Chip companies, like Linde, Siemens, and SAP, are outperforming their peers. (Source: S&P 500 5-year total return, April 2024)

These companies are demonstrating their understanding of today’s new market dynamics, in which the balance of power has shifted toward customers with more choices and access to information, allowing businesses to scale quickly and increase profitability. It’s a mindset that even smaller companies can adopt to drive growth. 

And there’s a clear connection between productivity and business growth: A Gallup Study shows that where 62% of the employees are not engaged, it results in 9% reduction of the global GDP – a major challenge for business growth. With managers accounting for 70% of the variance in team employee engagement. (Source: GALLUP, State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report)

So, I’m asking, what steps can you take to promote growth through your business organization and development? And what questions can we explore together to scope, define and move forward?

Reach out to Organisation Development expert Alexandra Denis

Bringing in an External Perspective: Why ELFIN?

As a boutique consultancy, ELFIN Consulting takes a co-creation approach to organizational development. We don’t simply offer off-the-shelf solutions  – we work alongside your team to uncover challenges, offer tailored strategies, and, most importantly, empower your people to lead the change. Here’s what sets us apart:

• Holistic: We consider all aspects – people, processes, and systems.
• Engaging: We involve those directly affected by the change to build buy-in and momentum.
• Supportive: We balance the need for continuity with the innovation required to move forward.
• Human-centered: We meet people where they are, allowing time for learning and reflection.
• Empowering: We create the conditions for successful, sustainable change by developing leadership capabilities within your organization.

A Step-by-Step Co-Creation Approach

At ELFIN, we co-develop a supportive work environment with your team in four stages:

1. Calibrate the change: We assess the depth and magnitude of change needed.
2. Architect behavioral and organizational structure: Together, we enable teams to design new structures that support growth.
3. Build capability: We help embed new skills and behaviors that reinforce the desired culture and efficiency.
4. Inspect and adapt: We continuously review and refine the strategy, ensuring it stays aligned with your goals.

Our agile approach combines strategic insight with a deep understanding of culture and behavior. This allows us to create innovative, tailored solutions that turn your organizational development goals into shared success stories.

Your people are the key to transformative change that builds resilience and  thriving business

Processes, workflows, and technology are all important, but at the heart of any successful transformation are your people. Organizational development that focuses solely on efficiency misses the bigger picture. By placing people and purpose at the center, your business can not only adapt to change but thrive in it.