“Something has to change.”
Every organizational transformation begins with a realization that you need to move in a new direction and potentially overhaul how things are done. And whether that is because of a desire to hit a new business goal, improve retention, or capitalize on a market opportunity, change can be slow-moving.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Part of the secret to purposeful change is making sure your people lead together. Momentum comes when everyone is moving in the same direction, which is an idea that lies at the heart of UNC Executive Development’s programs.
The Challenges of Change
Organizations have been forced to navigate tremendous change in recent years, from disruptive digital tech, to shifting to hybrid work, to new generational attitudes towards employment itself. Challenges like these can further add complexity to any transformation effort.
There is also a more fundamental issue that often prevents progress: a reluctance to get started in the first place.
We often hear senior leadership teams say things like, “The conditions aren’t right,” and, “We’re facing other challenges, now isn’t the time.” But these are indications that now is the time, and that you probably need to start acting sooner rather than later.
Once you have recognized the need to transform a key aspect of your organization, where do you begin?
Laying the Foundations for Success
Any transformation effort starts with careful reflection. As a leader, you need toidentify the specific gaps and weaknesses that are holding your organization back from making meaningful progress.
A transformation project cannot be created and enforced by the CEO alone. Success hinges on getting buy-in across your workforce. Instead, you need to lay out the vision of where you want the organization to go and then gather input to make sure everyone feels invested and has the opportunity to contribute.
Of course, in practice, accelerating organizational transformation is difficult to launch alone. Here is a snapshot of how UNC Executive Development’s programs can help.
Get Clear on Your Goals
Real change starts with an honest conversation. Our program design team will lead this conversation with your organization’s senior leaders, making sure that we have a clear understanding about what your organization wants to achieve and the underlying reasons for seeking change.
Identify Potential Roadblocks
Our team then partner with your organization to discuss any needs, weaknesses, or barriers that could impede your success. Sometimes they might gently push back and ask your organization some difficult questions, but always with the intention of getting absolute clarity on your context. As soon as any roadblocks have been addressed, our team can quickly start helping you move forward.
Right Faculty, Right Content
Once our team knows we are moving in the right direction, we start to design your custom program from the ground up. In addition to choosing the most relevant topics and learning modalities, we pair you with the right members of our faculty — a decision that we base on their expertise, research background, and teaching style. Our team builds everything around your specific needs that were identified in our early conversations.
Tools to Cope with Change
Transformation initiatives often face resistance from internal stakeholders. This is because change can feel uncomfortable. Our programs are designed to help your organization’s senior leaders anticipate resistance, and then create actionable plans to support their people through uncertainty (and sometimes fear) toward acceptance, commitment, and even excitement.
At the start of a transformation effort, you need to identify the specific gaps and weaknesses that, when addressed, will enable your organization to move in a new, positive direction.”
Senior Director, Government and Defense Sector, UNC Executive Development
A Record of Success
We help all kinds of organizations with transformation efforts, from Fortune 500 firms, to non-profits, to government and defense organizations.
For example, we designed a program for the U.S. Navy to help them negotiate better deals on everything from submarines to aircraft.
In the corporate sector, we delivered coaching to nearly 1,000 participants for one of the world’s largest financial services firms. Our program helped them train financial advisors in their own organization to provide more personalized financial wellness planning to customers. Internal data has shown that the company’s most successful financial advisors are now using these newly learned strategies.
Your Path to Progress Starts Now
If you want to accelerate organizational transformation, it starts by slowing down and asking, “Are we heading in the right direction?”
UNC Executive Development’s programs help you answer this most crucial of questions while supporting your leaders with practical tools and ideas that are backed by the latest research across strategy, innovation, talent, data, and adaptive leadership.
To discover how we can help your organization start its own transformation journey, get in touch with us today.
