How to use “Enterprise Transformation” to unlock exceptional value from your people

This paper, written by Stefan Schmikal of Deloitte Consulting, discusses the use Enterprise Transformation to enable an organisation to better understand itself and unlock exceptional value in its people. If you have any questions, contact Stefan at sschmikal@deloitte.co.za.

Enterprise Transformation – Transcending Traditional Organisation Design

Changing any part of an organisation, no matter how small, stands to have a profound impact on how people work and interact with each other- even if they are not directly affected by the change itself. Effective Enterprise Transformation can unleash a tremendous amount of latent ”people potential‟. At the same time, such initiatives are invariably stressful and emotionally taxing to those involved and affected.

In order to be successful, the ”traditional‟ Organisation Design and Change Management efforts need to work in concert, in the context of Strategic Clarity to guide the way. All organisations are unique, so each Enterprise Transformation initiative must be contextualised in the organisation’s history that has led up to this point.

Understanding the subtle nuances that personify an organisation is also critical, as it is these nuances which will influence the Enterprise Transformation process going forward. Rather than the rigid application of generic methods and templates, the Enterprise Transformation facilitator’s role is to act as a guide down a path less travelled- while taking cognisance of the journey to date.

Enterprise Transforming is all about facilitating a logical thought process, by asking the right questions and guiding key decisions around the organisation’s future.

Read the full article . . . .  How to use Enterprise Transformation to unlock value

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Filed under: Executive Leadership, Talent & Human Capital, change, change management, Deloitte, organisational design, people potential, transformation, value

The impact of technology infrastructure when doing business in Africa

Leana du Plessis from Deloitte has written a short piece on the impact of technology infrastructure when doing business in Africa. Contact Leana at lduplessis@deloitte.co.za should you have any questions or require additional information.

The Impact of Technology Infrastructure on doing business in Africa

The transformation and challenges that twenty-first-century organisations face are vast and varied. Whilst progressively more pressure is being placed on organisations to continually improve and increase productivity and revenue, the pace of change in the new global economy has brought about its own unique set of constraints and challenges. Integration of information systems, new structures, business processes and the reallocation of functions and powers, to name but a few, have indeed created a new and challenging business environment. ICT is seen as the magic wand that can increase efficiency, provide access to new markets or services and create new opportunities for income generation and improving governance.

But what if you are in Africa? Africa has had its own challenges with inter alia diversity, political instabilities and the lack of proper IT infrastructure. Is this still true, and what challenges can you expect if you intend doing business in Africa?

The South African mobile phone companies’ success stories of mobile technology (200-million subscribers in early 2007) and telephony in Africa have changed the landscape and infrastructure availability radically. Network infrastructure has increased significantly over the past 12 to 18 months, and the cost has decreased as more players entered the market. However, it is still less affordable than in South Africa with limited options.

The lack of proper data centres and management of infrastructure is still a concern, and there is a serious skills shortage in the IT market. Legislation and regulations are limited in most of the countries, and this can open a risk for organisations that operate from South Africa, especially around privacy and protection of data. 

Service providers in many African countries are not used to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and delivering or managing according to agreed SLAs. A number of organisations are managing the infrastructure from South Africa, but that has its own challenges with the delivery of services from a distance.

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Filed under: Executive Leadership, Information Technology, Risk Management, Africa, business in africa, data centres, Deloitte, legislation, mobile technology, network infrastructure, regulations, risk, service level agreement, SLA, technology infrastructure, telephony, transformation

Future proof your organisation through “Next in Class Learning”

High-performing learning organisations are challenged today like never before. The notion of “learning” is definitely changing with the future workplace. Expectations of business are putting new demands on the learning function. This accountability is forcing a monumental change in the way organisations develop their people.

There is a new wave globally in building people’s capabilities. Tomorrow’s jobs require skills we may not even be aware of today. Competitive forces, changing job requirements, emerging technologies, an ageing workforce, new ways of working and a shorter shelf life of knowledge will combine to drive the need for re-skilling and up-skilling of the workforce.

Expectations from the business are putting new demands on the learning function and focusing squarely on meaningful learning outcomes. This accountability is forcing a change in the way the best organisations develop their people.

In the midst of a demand for more talent and expertise, a wealth of experience and knowledge is expected to exit organisations. The war for Talent means that workers are recruited from a shrinking base, and recent employees in the global labour pool must master new capabilities and knowledge more quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, the most compelling strategy in the attraction and retention of critical talent is the confidence of recruits that they will have access to cutting-edge opportunities to learn and develop valuable skills.

Value drivers for building people capabilities include: the pace of change, globalisation, emerging technologies and, most importantly, intensifying complexity in the business landscape. The speed of business is accelerating, and organisations are on a path of transformation. Keeping pace with the transformation requires a change in learning strategies.

Read the full article . . . .  Future proof your organisation through next in class learning

What are your views in terms of “future-proofing” your organisation?

Filed under: Talent & Human Capital, capabilities, Deloitte, development, education, expertise, knowledge, labour pool, learning, learning function, learning outcomes, shrinking base, skills, talent, transformation

Unleash the collective power of your organisation

As One is a pioneering approach to leadership that can give leaders greater control over the success of rolling out business strategies and conducting large scale transformation. It comprises an analytics-based methodology, a management discipline, and a suite of business resources designed to empower leaders to more effectively galvanize their people to work together to achieve organizational goals.

Whether you are a leader deploying a new strategy, trying to get greater engagement to an existing strategy, dealing with organizational crisis or searching for ways to enhance organizational performance, As One is the answer.

The As One service offering, which is provided by Deloitte member firms, can help member firm clients unleash productivity, realize the full potential of their people, and inspire commitment to shared purpose. A collaborative journey—from goals to As One insight to As One interventions—focuses leaders on addressing that last harbor of risk: “Are my people willing and able to perform the core tasks required to achieve our organization’s goals?”

As One leverages the Deloitte member firm network’s significant investments, thought leadership, experiences and insights into collective leadership to benefit their clients.

Learn more : Collective Leadership – Individuals acting As One 

As One member firm contact

South Africa  – Gert de Beer – View Gert’s LinkedIn profile
email: gedebeer@deloitte.co.za
tel: +2711 806 5995

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Filed under: Executive Leadership, collective leadership, control, Deloitte, leadership, management, organizational goals, transformation

Components Critical to Successful Transformation

The compulsion to deliver ever better financial results, contain costs or actively respond to changing commercial and economic circumstances all create pressure within an organisation to look at reoccurring waves of strategic transformation. Numerous studies have been conducted on the overwhelming failure rate of strategic transformation programmes and various complex theories have been developed.

A recent analysis by the Deloitte Strategy and Transformation team has identified key components which are critical to successful transformation. Although deceptively simple, they are often neglected by change agents, consultants and company executives driving a transformation process. Those who excel in getting the basic success factors in place seem to be much more successful in achieving the desired business transformation, while the laggards tend to fail time and time again in getting the basics right.

Read the full article . . . . Components Critical to Successful Transformation

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Filed under: Executive Leadership, Deloitte, leadership, strategy, transformation