The concept of Shared Services certainly isn’t a new one. It’s been a popular business structure since the 1980’s. But, even now in 2017, the number of organizations transitioning to a Shared Services model continues to rise. Why? Because the model makes simple, economic sense. If you centralize administrative functions and share them between business units, you will standardize processes, eliminate redundancies and ultimately reduce costs. Sounds easy, right?
A few weeks ago, the CEO of Ford Motor Company was fired. The reason: the company was not moving fast enough to compete in the upcoming automated car market. It’s a real world example why speed isn’t just a nice to have… it’s a business necessity. The need to do a better job of delivering faster, better change has never been greater. Quite simply, organizations who are able to implement faster are one step ahead of their competition, ultimately meaning they are more successful.
Your organization’s culture is arguably your greatest strategic asset. Your competitors can potentially match your product or service by creating a marketing strategy as equally as powerful as yours. But, no other organization has your culture. It’s what makes you successful in what you do. So, what happens when your culture and another organization’s culture are supposed to merge into one?
How’s this for irony? You’ve finally convinced your senior executives about the benefits of applying structure to the people-side of projects. You’ve been approved to implement a new change management methodology across the organization. This is great news, and of course, you’ve selected the Accelerating Implementation
Methodology (AIM) as your change management process of choice. You’re so smart!
Imagine a world in which your organization’s most complex issues are solved by a continuous improvement effort and then the new processes are implemented seamlessly into the organization. Where Lean isn’t just a process improvement approach for a few, but a culture shift for the whole organization. An organization that just doesn’t do “Lean,” but where a Lean mindset permeates through the organization. Sounds perfect, right?
If your organization is like most, there is significant emphasis on implementing innovation across the enterprise. Developing market-leading products, business process improvements, new patient care models, ground-breaking strategies, new markets --- all offer substantial potential for increasing market share, efficiency, and competitive advantage. And let’s face it… competitive advantage is what everyone is seeking.
One of the most common questions we get from potential clients looking for a change management methodology is "How does AIM (the Accelerating Implementation Methodology) compare to other change management approaches?” On the surface, a lot of change management methodologies look similar. For example, most change management approaches are research-based and include tools, templates and checklists. But based on decades of work on global change management projects, and training thousands of people in our change management training programs, clients have told us that AIM stands out from the rest. Here’s why:
Whether you call it a perspective, a paradigm, or just “the way I see it”, Frames of Reference (FOR) are not optional. Everyone has a Frame of Reference, and often they have multiple FORs. For example, in a healthcare environment, a nurse may have a personal FOR, a departmental or work function FOR, and a professional FOR. The ranking of these FORs in importance varies by individual.
Every change management methodology includes some type of toolkit. Our proprietary Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM) is no exception. It offers a multitude of tools including assessments, forecasts and templates, because there's no question… checklists, templates, and surveys all have a place, and each has value for change management practitioners. But some change management methodologies stop there. They are primarily driven by a set of checklists, templates and tools for Change Agents “to do”—in other words, they are activity based.
Walk into almost any large corporation and we bet you will find at least one (if not more) of these changes in their change portfolio: shared services, mergers or acquisitions, ERP/technology updates, customer-centric strategies, and other one company solutions. These enterprise-wide changes can all be significant strategic solutions to critical business problems or market opportunities. In fact, “one company” business models can markedly improve customer satisfaction, materially reduce operating margins, utilize resources more effectively, improve internal collaboration, and position the organization to respond quicker to changing market conditions. The ROI is staggering. But…so is the investment required!
