Two things I've learned recently... after six months of consulting with Beyond Performance, Damian Newland shares some insights on organisational development done the Beyond Performance way.

Learning number one: Business transformation created by influencing values, culture, capability, structure, conversations and leadership out-plays  brand, product and price-led change any day.  When you use the same approach to transform HR, it leaves process and system-driven change dead in the water.

At the end of this week I finish up my six-month project with Beyond Performance, where my focus has been on putting a sales and marketing plan in place to drive growth.  During this time, we’ve launched a new website, started regular Think Tank events, re-built our consulting offer around the Design Thinking process, standardized a lot of in-house stuff like sales (and customer care) processes, documentation and systems use, not to mention starting some exciting new projects.

However, my biggest personal learning is not related to sales and marketing but to the impact that organisational development-led HR can have on business transformation and growth.  In particular, and probably more accurately, the impact that a truly immersive ‘whole of organisation’ approach, supported by an executive leadership team, can have on a business.

Before my time with Beyond Performance I’d observed and experienced plenty of ‘people’ change —mainly driven by implementation of new HR processes and systems, mostly in the area of talent acquisition and recruitment.  It’s since become clear to me that processes and systems are what we put in place to cement the change that has been designed and implemented through organisational (re)development — not the other way around.

As with many things, the success here lies not in the idea, but in the execution of the idea.  Many an organisational transformation plan has gone awry because of a failure to get buy-in from decision-makers and sponsors.  This brings me to my second big learning of the past six months:

Learning number two:  Successful HR management is like sales.

A good sales professional will tell you that the first and most important step when connecting with a potential new customer is to discover a set of important information.  What are the organisation’s pain points?  What solution do they think they need?  Who are the decision-makers and other stakeholders?  Do they have a confirmed budget?  What is the timeline they are working to?  Are there any compelling events driving the decision?  What processes do they need to work through internally to get a decision?  What do they need to do to secure the final go ahead?  Perhaps most importantly, what are the key decision-makers’ personal pain points and motivations?  I learnt long ago (credit to @Drew Gilpin) that decision-makers look for logical reasons (usually the organisation’s drivers) to make emotional decisions (the personal drivers).

It is only once these things are understood that a sales professional can decide whether or not they can offer a possible solution — and whether they stand a chance of being able to deliver it! If so, they can now go ahead and demonstrate a tailored solution, begin to negotiate a deal and push for a decision.

A good HR leader knows that these steps closely mirror what needs to be done to gain support from a leadership team/executive team/board of Directors.  Believing passionately in your business case for change is not enough.  Being able to present immaculately is not enough. Hoping that your pitch lands in the right place is not enough. To be sure that you stand the best chance of implementing the change that you believe in, you need to go through a similar discovery exercise to uncover critical information.  Only then can you demonstrate how you are going to satisfy your stakeholders requirements, before working on the deal and getting a decision.

In a recent Beyond Performance Think Tank  we explored the differences between Return on Investment and Return on Expectation with a group of OD and Learning professionals. The learning that resulted is relevant here:  Not all of your stakeholders are alike — and your business case must be pitched to the right people in the right way.

I hope my learnings and insights are useful. Feel free to let me know your thoughts by jumping in and getting involved in the conversation.

Damian Newland