The Business is Struggling: What’s Next?

The business is struggling and I’m not sure what to do about it

You have built the right strategy and brought together a strong team, but the business does not seem to be able to deliver to the level that is required. Something keeps getting in the way of achieving your plan.  

You may not be able to see why the business is broken but you can see the symptoms: The organization can’t deliver the strategy or do it on a timely basis, the organization is sluggish and slow to get things done, productivity and operational performance is poor or below expectation, costs are too high, opportunities are being missed, growth is below expectation, innovation is lacking, turnover is high and engagement is not high enough, and you are being asked to make decisions that should be made by others.

In some or all these ways the business is just not delivering what it needs to, when it needs to, and competition is gaining or pulling ahead. The list goes on and on, but the bottom line is that your bottom line isn’t what it could be.

You may have considered or have undertaken restructuring in the past and you know that it can be a perilous journey; if not done well. Statistically less than one-quarter of organization redesigns succeed with almost half not being fully implemented and a third not achieving the performance improvements that management set out to achieve.

Before you undertake such a risky investment you want to understand the true nature of the problems in your organization, and you want your senior team to be onside.

What should you do when the business is struggling?

Core International can help you understand the root cause of these pain points and frustrations in your business. In completing our rapid structure and process assessment, we will educate you on the ways to analyze your organization structure, gather data from you and trusted senior leaders, complete a high-level analysis of your situation determine whether the root cause is ineffective structure or bad processes—or both.

Our executive-level management consultants work with you to plan an approach that will identify organizational, structural and/or process issues and define them to prioritize remediation efforts.

• Clarify and prioritize structure or process interventions
• Create actionable plans for remediation
• Educate your team and facilitate buy-in

Case study

This large Canadian city had a PR problem and a possible performance problem. The executive leader of the 2000-employee public works department, in a moment of frustration, made the offhanded remark to a media reporter that “my job was too big.” Within hours the whole city had heard the story, and the City Manager had to deal with the fallout without having a clear picture of whether the department was in fact too big or if the problem was something else. It was clear that City Hall was challenged to fulfill its mandate and to deliver services at a time when work to be completed exceeds the ability of the tax base to fully meet the funding requirements. Management was under constant pressure to prioritize and execute work within this climate of fiscal restraint.

Core International was hired by the municipality to undertake a rapid assessment undertaking a tightly focused exploration of one part of the organization. It completed a rapid organization diagnosis and painted a high-level picture of organizational structure and dynamics and identified opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the organization.

Core International was able to demonstrate that the job itself was not “too big” but that there were several changes the city could, and did, make to the department to decrease cost and improved effectiveness.

Core International went on to support the municipality in rethinking the organization of several departments to help them deliver more value for the taxpayer dollars.

If your business is struggling, and you want to quickly and quietly understand why, consider a Rapid Organization Diagnosis.