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Organizational Redesign & What it Means for Employee Engagement

Rachel Reed
11/20/17 9:10 AM

Organizations are beginning to facilitate structural change to adapt to growing technological advancements which are disrupting how consumers purchase, brands market, and employees work. They have recognized the importance of employee engagement, as Gallup reported only 33% of US employees are engaged, creating a significant opportunity for businesses to adjust.  

As organizations move toward agility, barriers between departments are being eliminated, making way for the rise of networks and teams. What once was a hierarchical model of departments is being replaced by a web of tasks, roles, and responsibilities, with employee engagement and the employee experience gaining a place at the table. 

Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends research indicates organizational restructure has been a top priority for respondents for the last two years. Many organizations operate on dated hierarchal business models–namely those created for the Industrial Revolution–which were developed for predictable supply and demand and designed to maximize efficiency. With today’s rapidly evolving advancement of technology comes a new level of expectation of employers, a new generation of young talent with new demands, new communication methods, and a need for new organizational strategy. This rapid advancement requires agility and adaptability.

In examining Deloitte’s Organization of the Future report, it’s evident that businesses are adjusting organizational structure for agility to combat tech disruption. Leading brands are appointing agile, young, and diverse leadership to better face tech-driven change. These leaders are dissolving silos and barriers to empower team communication. In fact, 88% of executives believe building the organization of the future is very important. However, other businesses still struggle to adapt. Organizational consultants report that 70% of companies fall short of a successful team-based redesign due to “creative disobedience” from executive teams. 

They are providing them with the tools and time required to quickly move between teams and tasks, eliminating hierarchical, compartmentalized thinking altogether. Organizations have also embraced new employee demands by incorporating learning, coaching, and development with culture: 83% of business leaders surveyed say they are shifting culture to welcome development through offerings like dynamic projects and experiences rather than providing the traditional, static career path.

These changes empower employees to learn and grow along with the company, while also making the experience associated with an organization a seamless one.

Organizations structured around networks and teams encourage collaboration and communication across the organization, improving the employee experience and employee engagement along the way. This model has been adopted by the likes of Whirlpool, Cisco, and Pandora in effort to elevate employees. We’ve written about the practices General Electric and IBM have adopted to focus on employee experience, and these are just a few companies rethinking structure.

 

 

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