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| 59june 2011 workspan

By John K. Moore

Imagine what it would be like

to work in an organization that

has the right people working on the right

things at the right time in the right

location and at the right cost.

When an organization is out of alignment, activities take too long to perform and cost too much. There usually is a lot of finger pointing going on by people who are not held accountable for expected results. The needs of internal and external customers are typically overlooked, and success in meeting those needs is not fully understood. Overall, the organization isn’t functioning very well. In such cases, it’s critical that someone take the initiative to identify what’s at fault, understand the align-ment process and drive that process through to completion. HR leaders are perfectly positioned for this opportunity. While some companies sit back and wait for their president or CEO to do it, human resources can be the first department in the company to take the initiative and realize all the benefits alignment has

to offer. Once their department is aligned, HR leaders can drive the same process through the remainder of their company. This allows human resources to become more of a strategic contributor to the overall direction of their entire organization.

Alignment DefinedAlignment refers to the steps required to define specific organizational components and making sure those components are coordinated. It’s surprising to note that in most cases, each of the steps are already performed by most companies and departments, regardless of their size or industry. A properly aligned organization is one that functions effectively and has the right people working on the right things at the right time in the right location and at the right cost.

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Warning SignsAt a high level, if either the HR department or entire company doesn’t feel as though it is operating like a well-oiled machine, there are many warning signs that are easy to recog-nize. These warning signs may just be symptoms or they may represent the root of much deeper problems altogether. They can include:Attraction and retention problems ❙Escalating personnel costs without ❙an increase in productivityExpanding legal exposure ❙and risk positionLack of focus on the needs ❙of internal and external customer groupsFragmented processes that take too ❙long and produce poor qualityLack of accountability, with ❙excessive finger-pointingExcessive reliance on vendors ❙and service providersPoor morale and debilitating rumors. ❙

12 Steps: OverviewA solid understanding of the orga-nization’s symptoms and underlying problems forms a great foundation to help launch any alignment process. There are 12 proven steps involved in this process, and it usually takes no more than seven weeks to complete them. The 12 steps, which are catego-rized as strategic, operational or wrap-up, are:

Strategic StepsStrengths and objectives1 |

Culture2 |

Processes3 |

Operational StepsOrganization structure4 |

Support5 |

Equipment and tools6 |

Training7 |

Performance 8 |

Skill management9 |

Wrap-Up StepsJob descriptions and plans10 |

Reward and recognition11 |

Recruiting.12 |

One of the major benefits of align-ment is the elimination of multiple and redundant sources of informa-tion related to each of the 12 steps. The excessive work involved in maintaining multiple sources of information is one reason why cost, time and quality can be negatively impacted when an organization is out of alignment. The alignment process also includes identifying one person for each of the 12 steps who can be held accountable for the ongoing process of updating and coordinating their information with the others.

Strategic StepsBefore the alignment process begins, some organizations need to take a moment to agree on the types of customers they actually serve. These customers include internal departments, as well as any external buyers of goods and services. If an alignment is conducted only for the HR department, its internal customer list could include department leaders and the remaining employee popula-tion. Its external customer list could include any outsourced services, as well as industry groups and other associations. Once the customer types are identified, their needs and expec-tations also need to be documented. Many organizations are surprised to find the products and/or services they provide don’t really align all that well with the needs of their customers. In any case, all the above information is collected or defined before the first alignment step begins.

Strengths and objectives1 | . The definition of internal and external customer types, their needs and expectations, and the products and services provided to meet those needs provides input to the required strengths and objectives of the organization conducting the alignment. Strengths may also be thought of as core competen-cies. For HR, strengths might include ongoing knowledge of legal trends, optimizing program costs and ensuring adherence to

performance evaluation standards. Objectives are the measurable goals and success criteria associated with each identified strength. One way to identify success criteria is to ask “How should our success be measured?” or “How will we know if we’re doing a good job?”Culture2 | . The culture (e.g., values and desired behaviors) of an organization can sometimes be defined in just one word or may require a sentence or two. During alignment, the results of each prior step are used to define the next step, and so on. In regard to culture, knowing the customer types, customer needs and expectations, products and services provided, and strengths and objectives of the organiza-tion will help define the type of culture required. Keep in mind that multiple cultures may need to exist across different depart-ments or company locations. For example, the definition of culture for an HR department could be “proactive, knowledge-able and trusted advisor” or “strategic business partner.”Processes3 | . These are the major activities necessary to achieve the objectives of the organiza-tion. Most of this information is readily available for free with a little online research. Some online sources even offer major process definitions for different industries. If an entire company was performing an alignment, its major processes might be: develop strategies, develop and manage products and services, market and sell products and services, deliver products and services, and so on. If HR was conducting an align-ment for its department, major processes might include devel-oping plans and policies, sourcing employees, counseling employees and rewarding employees.

These steps form the strategic foun-dation and must be completed before proceeding to the operational steps.

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| 61june 2011 workspan

Operational StepsThe results of the strategic steps are used to help define information directly associated with the perfor-mance and success of individual job functions. The first operational step begins by defining a bit more detail around the major process definitions, as highlighted below.

Organization structure4 | . For an organization to address frag-mented job functions, lack of accountability and other issues, its structure needs to be aligned with major and minor processes. Each of those processes will have an assigned person responsible for the success and improvement of his/her process. In the previous example, if a company has defined one of its major processes as “develop products,” the associ-ated minor processes could be: perform research, design and build products, test and evaluate products, and prepare products for production. Remaining work on organization structure includes defining specific career levels (such as manager, director and vice presi-dent), and optimizing reporting ratios between career levels. These reporting ratios reflect how many subordinates report to each leader. In some cases a 1:6 reporting ratio will work, while others may require something like a 1:10 ratio.Support5 | . The internal and external support services required for each career level are then defined. Internal support services may include technical support, administration and research. External support services may include industry associations, outsourced payroll processing, and even print shops for business card production.Equipment and tools6 | . Step 5 focuses on services, while this step focuses on all the specific products required for each career level. These products might include laptop or desktop computers and printers for an

office environment, or drills and eye wash stations for a manufacturing environment.Training7 | . All the information required to orient and educate individuals at each career level and enable them to be promoted to the next level is documented in this step. Some organizations decide to address this as an internal support service, but over time it has been shown that its significant importance requires this to be a completely separate step.Performance8 | . This is where all the prior work related to identifying success is used. Performance may relate to indi-vidual success (e.g., performance evaluations), departmental success (status reports, profit and loss statements, etc.) or company success (annual report, financial reports, etc.)Skill management9 | . Each of the career levels requires certain skills (e.g., programming, design or coaching) and competencies to be defined. This establishes an ongoing process by which skills can be easily identified and tracked for every individual in the organization. This is one of the ways the costs of external service providers can be kept to a minimum. The ability to locate skills within an organiza-tion helps minimize the need to acquire them from outside.

There are many ways to capture and manage the information associated with these operational steps. Some billion-dollar organizations have found a simple spreadsheet suits them just fine. Other organizations some-times decide to use more advanced database applications. Each organiza-tion decides what is best for it during its own alignment process.

Wrap-Up StepsThe final wrap-up steps begin by using all of the output from the nine strategic and operational

steps to enhance or create new job descriptions for each career level. Information related to the associated customer types, needs and expecta-tions for each job is also included.

Job descriptions and plans. The better the job description, the easier it is for individuals to know what’s expected of them, what’s required to be promoted, how much that job should pay, and who should be hired to perform that job. The plans portion of this step assigns all the ideas and opportunities generated during the alignment process to individuals who are responsible for their evaluation and progress. Rewards and recognition. A more accurate and complete job description for each job in each location will allow for better alignment of the compensation related to that job. This step goes beyond just compensa-tion to also include some of the more informal methods avail-able to reward and recognize performance and success for each geographic location. Formal rewards and recognition include annual salary, hourly rate of pay and benefits. Informal rewards and recognition include assigning a better parking spot, an article in the company newsletter or even a signed thank you card from the CEO. In consideration of all the cost cutting many organizations have conducted, it’s gratifying for many of them to know there are many other rewards and recognition options available.Recruiting. This provides recruiters with the aligned job descriptions and rewards and recognition information. This input — as well as other helpful techniques (critical behavior interviewing, exit interviewing, etc.) — allows them to identify candidates who are a better fit in the organization, who stay longer and won’t negatively impact the productivity of others.

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62 | workspan june 2011

Potential BenefitsImagine what it would be like to work in an organiza-tion that has the right people working on the right things at the right time in the right location and at the right cost. Many organizations begin to realize some of the benefits even before their alignment is finished, including:Improved individual accountability for ❙faster, higher-quality resultsEnhanced job performance and overall productivity ❙Reduced legal exposure ❙Ability to quickly scale operations and ❙respond to changing conditionsBetter teamwork and morale ❙Improved customer experience and relationships ❙Better leverage of employee ideas and opportunities ❙Enhanced reporting of success and performance ❙Improved retention of personnel. ❙The benefits of an aligned organization easily outweigh

the costs of conducting the alignment itself. These bene-fits can be categorized as personal, career, departmental, company, and even community and environmentally related. One executive said that as long as her aligned work schedule allowed for attending just one of her daughter’s soccer games each week, the alignment would be worth it. Some individuals benefit from better career advancement opportunities. Many departments often find their aligned organization allows one or more individuals to free up and focus on more proactive activities or address all the improvement ideas (revenue growth, cost reduction, etc.) generated during the alignment process. Each of these benefits and those highlighted previously have a dollar value. That dollar value (and associated assumptions) can then be compared to the cost of the alignment to ensure an attractive return on investment. Depending on the number of locations and timely partic-ipation by those involved, most alignments can usually be conducted for $50,000 to $100,000. If an alignment frees up just one individual, the alignment pays for itself. The value of all the other possible benefits makes for quite a compelling reason to begin as soon as possible.

Alignment in ActionA few years ago, the chief information officer of a major hospitality company was experiencing some real chal-lenges with his IT department. His department was spread across the United States with multiple locations, the result of a combination of acquisitions and organic growth. Job descriptions for hundreds of his employees were outdated or nonexistent. IT personnel didn’t know the type of skills or training necessary to get promoted. The same performance evaluation forms were used for all career levels, from administrative assistant through vice president. Many of his teams and departments weren’t aware of who their customers were.

I’m worried our top-performers may be looking for other

opportunities. What can I do, without breaking the budget,

to retain them and keep them engaged?

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connect. share. learn.YourYour Com Compensensatioation, Bn, Benefenefits its & Wo& Work-Lrk-Life ife NetwNetwork.ork.

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| 63june 2011 workspan

This company, realizing things needed to change, decided that it was urgent to begin with its IT department since customers were beginning to be affected. They followed each of the alignment steps, with particular emphasis on culture, process, organization structure and job descriptions. The entire process took seven weeks to complete at a cost of about $100,000, excluding travel and out-of-pocket expenses.As a result of alignment, the company not only corrected

its issues, but also freed up three individuals who were assigned the task of prioritizing and managing all the busi-ness improvement ideas generated during the alignment. Additional results included:Creation of an organization structure that was aligned ❙with the seven major processes performed by the IT department. These processes included managing the business of IT, managing customer relation-ships, managing risk and maintaining IT solutions Improved reporting ratios between management and ❙their subordinates for more balanced workloads Adjustments to personnel costs for each location based on ❙updated job descriptions in each geographical location Improved culture within the IT department ❙through collaboration and agreement on values and desired behaviors for each career level. Not surprisingly, the company’s HR director requested

that she be taught the alignment process so she could perform it for her entire department. She went on to successfully drive the process through the remainder of the company. She could have begun the alignment process within her HR department, but the urgency within the IT department had to be addressed beforehand.

ConclusionOrganization alignment is a proven process with 12 defined steps that produce dramatic business benefits for individuals, teams, departments and entire companies. Human resources is well-positioned to take the initiative and apply this process to its department, then expand its relationship with other departments by leading them through their own alignment. There is much to gain for both the HR leader, who can become an alignment hero, and the overall organization, whose operation can be vastly improved.

John K. Moore is the author of Align or Resign. He can be reached

through his publisher at www.alignorresign.com or his LinkedIn profile

at www.linkedin.com/in/johnkennethmoore.

I’m worried our top-performers may be looking for other

opportunities. What can I do, without breaking the budget,

to retain them and keep them engaged?

WORWORLDALDATWOTWORKRK ONLONLINEINE COCOMMUMMUNITNITYY

connect. share. learn.YourYour Com Compensensatioation, Bn, Benefenefits its & Wo& Work-Lrk-Life ife NetwNetwork.ork.

Join the discussion.

FREE TO JOIN. wwwww.wo.worldrldatwtworkork.ororg/cg/commommuniunity

9_10 Comm.indd 1 8/9/10 1:54:47 PM

resources plus

For more information, books and education related to this topic, log on to www.worldatwork.org and use any or all of these keywords:

Organizational + alignment❙❙

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Business efficiency.❙❙