Who Needs a Readiness Assessment?

Everyone likes to share their organizational change success stories, but they don’t always discuss what it takes to reach that point. Good managers and consultants know they can’t always jump head-first into launching brand-new processes — they need to gauge the teams appetite for change.

A readiness assessment is an opportunity to assess where an organization is today, and how it’s likely to react to changes. Is the team prepared, are the right processes and technology in place, and what effect will the plans have on customers? These questions can be answered through assessment tools and frameworks that seek out feedback on the proposed changes and analyze it. Sounds like something your organization could benefit from but unsure if it’s the right moment? Here are a few signs to look for.

Your team is stretched Is your team burned out, overworked, and struggling to get everything done? This is something smaller businesses often struggle with, and employees may have to handle many different tasks or perform the jobs of multiple people. This can sometimes affect larger companies too, especially those with a lot of turnover.

On one hand, it’s clear that any firm in this situation is in dire need of organizational change. But because the team is stretched and struggling to get by as things are currently, they’re likely to face even greater issues if they also have to deal with changes that are poorly planned and executed.

It’s tough asking them to find the time to talk to consultants and learn new things when they’re barely coping with their current situation? A readiness assessment can be crucial in collecting feedback and figuring out what is going on today and planning for a way to implement positive changes that won’t leave them floundering.

A lack of leadership or corporate culture

Transformation is difficult for everyone in an organization, especially for those who are on the receiving end of the changes rather than implementing them and therefore have minimal control. Having either a good leader everyone trusts, and rallies around makes everything easier. Or, alternatively, an organizational culture that gives everyone a shared mission.

If you don’t have either of these things, your business transformation risks being a complete failure or causing a wave of resignations. Maybe both.

A readiness assessment is the perfect tool for figuring out where you are today and how to get close to where you want to be.

There are communication issues In an ideal world, every company would have an open line of communication between the team, allowing any challenges faced to be communicated and solved. But often, this isn’t the case — either employees don’t have a chance to speak up, or they’re afraid to do so.

This puts you in danger when trying to implement change, because it means you’re unlikely to find out if there are any major issues. This is a major obstacle.

Your processes are outdated Are you still relying on old software programs or outdated and manual processes? These may be some of the most important things to change in business transformation, but they can also be the most challenging. How can you change something everyone is relying on to carry out day-to-day operations?

Readiness assessments aim to find out.

Business is stagnating Maybe you haven’t noticed any of the problems outlined above, but your sales or revenue are falling — even when compared to your competitors (suggesting that external conditions aren’t to blame). Or maybe you’ve already tried to implement changes and everything seems to be going wrong?

This could be a sign your processes are failing, or that you need to modernize. But don’t jump straight into anything — you need to determine where you are today first.

Through a readiness assessment, you may be able to pick up issues with any of the following:

• People

• Processes

• Technology

• Customer service

Ready, set, go Does one of the above criteria apply to you and your business? Looks like it’s time to launch your readiness assessment to prepare for organizational change. There’s no better way to do this than with a third party, who can analyze where you are today objectively and come up with a data-backed plan to get you where you need to be. At CPC, we help our clients improve their operations using readiness assessments, and we can even guide you through your business transformation project when you’re ready. To find out more about how we can help you, get in contact to book your initial consultation.