Organisation structure, design and operating model: key improvement areas

Organisations that look to streamline and standardise processes and policies while also providing transparency around direction will be best placed to improve performance.

Out of the four areas we identified as having the biggest effect on productivity, 23% of respondents cite organisation structure, design and operating model as the biggest influence.

While there are some very encouraging trends around respondents’ sentiment towards their organisations, there is definitely room for improvement.

Workers’ positive sentiment towards their organisation

There are some very encouraging trends around respondents’ sentiment towards their organisation:

• Sixty-eight per cent are proud to work for their employer
• Sixty-nine per cent believe their work is valued
• Seventy-eight per cent have a clear vision of what is expected of them in their role

Room for improvement

Despite this rosy outlook, there is definitely room for improvement:

• Thirty-six per cent did not agree processes and systems in place assisted role execution
• Forty-one per cent did not agree organisation effectiveness and efficiency had the right level of focus and attention
• Thirty-nine per cent did not agree their organisation operates effectively

Key improvement areas

• Reducing bureaucracy and red-tape
  
  The number one recommendation for improving general organisational productivity is to reduce bureaucracy and red-tape.
  
  Bureaucracy and regulation exist in organisations to manage risk, assign accountability and ensure quality. However, they can and do have the unintended consequence of reducing organisations’ flexibility, as well as adding a cost burden to operations — and as shown in our Pulse, shrinking productivity.
  
  In reducing bureaucracy and red-tape it is important for organisations to take a holistic approach, identifying regulatory inefficiencies across the business as a whole, while also ensuring quality and high standards are not compromised.
  
  
• Increasing visibility and clarify from leadership
  
  Two of the biggest influences on organisational productivity are having a clear vision of the organisation’s future and having confidence in leadership. Respondents from the professional, scientific and technical; and the finance and insurance sectors rank highly in both these categories.
  
  This is not surprising given organisations from these sectors generally place internal communication higher up on the business agenda and often have better resources and bigger budgets to ensure effective, timely communications to their employees.
  
  
• Fostering a competitive workforce
  
  Another significant influence on organisational productivity is fostering a competitive workforce, where both the health care and social assistance and public sectors rank the lowest.
  
  Recently there has been widespread media commentary on public sector productivity. Given that the survey shows this sector has a less competitive workplace environment, there is indeed opportunity to leverage and embrace a wider set of values that are more commonplace within corporates, including workplace culture, organisation dynamics and cutting back red—tape.

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Contacts

• Neil Plumridge
  Oceania Advisory Leader
  Tel: +61 3 9288 8957