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Breaking News in the Project Management World
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Big business failing to cope with change, UK survey tells
Reported by Miles Shepherd in UK
Many UK companies are failing to achieve benefits from their change programmes, despite investing millions in the hope of finding more efficient ways of working, new research tells. The survey, commissioned by programme and project management advisory specialists Moorhouse and the Financial Times (FT), found that less than 20% of respondents believed their organisations consistently delivered the efficiencies they sought, and that fundamental barriers existed - such as lack of organisational buy-in, unclear goals, and insufficient skills - preventing them from getting optimal value from their change initiatives.
According
to Bob Hendicott of Moorhouse (pictured), "There is a long list of
things companies get wrong when it comes to managing their
organisational change. There appears to be a significant disconnect
between what leaders want to achieve and the capability and investment
needed to deliver it, and too many organisations determine end goals
working from the 'bottom up' rather than aligning change with their
strategic goals. Half of the survey respondents had no formal framework
in place to manage the benefits of change and only 16% felt their
approaches were effective."
The research, which gathered the thoughts of 150 leaders from the UK private and public sectors, also revealed that whilst 37% of Board members believe their organisations regularly deliver the planned benefits, only 5% of middle management agreed with them.
Bob concluded: "Interestingly, the public sector was ahead of the private sector when it came to establishing a benefits realisation management (BRM) framework and language, but had a poorer view of its capability to deliver. At Moorhouse, we see benefits neglected or lost all too often in clients' change programmes, and companies are unnecessarily losing the value that change can bring."
The full results of the survey 'The Benefits of Organisational Change' can be accessed at http://www.moorhouseconsulting.com/knowledge/FT-Moorhouse. Moorhouse and the FT have also collaborated on a thought leadership paper of the same title, which explains how to achieve more from change and BRM. E-mail paulaallerton@moorhouseconsulting.com to receive a copy.
Many UK companies are failing to achieve benefits from their change programmes, despite investing millions in the hope of finding more efficient ways of working, new research tells. The survey, commissioned by programme and project management advisory specialists Moorhouse and the Financial Times (FT), found that less than 20% of respondents believed their organisations consistently delivered the efficiencies they sought, and that fundamental barriers existed - such as lack of organisational buy-in, unclear goals, and insufficient skills - preventing them from getting optimal value from their change initiatives.
The research, which gathered the thoughts of 150 leaders from the UK private and public sectors, also revealed that whilst 37% of Board members believe their organisations regularly deliver the planned benefits, only 5% of middle management agreed with them.
Bob concluded: "Interestingly, the public sector was ahead of the private sector when it came to establishing a benefits realisation management (BRM) framework and language, but had a poorer view of its capability to deliver. At Moorhouse, we see benefits neglected or lost all too often in clients' change programmes, and companies are unnecessarily losing the value that change can bring."
The full results of the survey 'The Benefits of Organisational Change' can be accessed at http://www.moorhouseconsulting.com/knowledge/FT-Moorhouse. Moorhouse and the FT have also collaborated on a thought leadership paper of the same title, which explains how to achieve more from change and BRM. E-mail paulaallerton@moorhouseconsulting.com to receive a copy.