Organizational Assessment—Is it Time?

You’re probably familiar with Organization Development (OD), but you may not be familiar with Organizational Assessment, which can serve as a vital first step to truly powerful and successful Organization Development. Organization Development is a focused, organization-wide effort using sound behavioral-science knowledge to implement planned process changes aimed at increasing an organization’s effectiveness and health. But how can you make wise, well-informed interventions without first taking stock of the current state of your organization? That’s where Organizational Assessment comes in.  An Organizational Assessment is a systematic process for obtaining valid and valuable information about the performance of your organization and the many factors affecting that performance. Think of it as a check-up, a thorough examination of the inner workings of your company.

Every business is a system of interconnected pieces that can, when put together properly, function like a fine-tuned engine. If pieces are missing, damaged, or simply don’t align, the engine can’t run smoothly and efficiently.  An Organizational Assessment analyzes the fit, form and function of each working part individually and together as a whole to affirm organizational strengths, identify areas for improvement, and determine thoughtful, workable, productive ways to make your organization run like a well-oiled machine.

What an Organizational Assessment Entails

Looking beyond specific policies, projects and programs, Organizational Assessments focus on culture, structure, resources (human and other), strategy, and planning and decision-making to pinpoint issues and harness opportunities for strengthening and progress. It’s critical, for instance, that you be fully aware and genuinely understanding of your organization’s culture—its core beliefs, norms, dynamics, and ways of thinking, behaving and working—in order to determine the types of internal changes that will maximize the health and wellbeing of your business and your employees. Likewise, structural understanding is also critical, as it’s what keeps all the moving parts organized and functioning at optimal conditions. And, naturally, the human resource—the people at every level of your organization—is vital to the success of your organization.

Why You Should Consider an Organizational Assessment

Any company looking for improved performance and a better bottom line can benefit from an Organizational Assessment. It provides stakeholders with key information about your organization that can be used for more effective planning and decision-making. It delivers a realistic evaluation of existing and/or needed resources (human and other) that can lead to dramatic improvement in performance and achievement. Further, it identifies priorities and goals to be addressed with a robust action plan.

The Ideal Time for an Organizational Assessment

An Organizational Assessment is often the most telling and productive when:

• A company seems to be in trouble and/or in pain and needs to figure out how to survive and thrive;
• A company has not changed its operations or positioned itself for growth and finds itself stagnating and/or becoming irrelevant;
• A company wants to grow, but its people only know what they know and thus find it increasingly difficult to rely on their internal resources and
  instincts to move to the next level; or
• A company is in growth mode but has enough foresight and strategic thinking to realize they need help to continue down their desired path.

A quality Organizational Assessment can be an invaluable tool for informing and guiding companies in each of these situations and ultimately positioning
them for tremendous success.

How Leap Solutions Can Help

It’s not easy to figure out the true causes of issues impacting your organization, but the Leap Team has your back! With decades of organization development
experience in a vast range of industries and in both the public and private sectors, we can provide the skilled, balanced, and objective outside perspective you need.  We begin your Organizational Assessment with a series of interviews to systematically and thoroughly break down and fully and deeply understand the
many facets of your unique business. From the discovery phase, we outline a multi-pronged, custom-tailored approach to problem-solving within your company. In our implementation phase, we collaborate with you to design and develop a transformative action plan rooted in your organization’s priorities and desired outcomes.

We can’t promise a magic wand at the end of the process…but we can help and support you and your team as you knock down barriers, make tough decisions, plan, and work the plan to make impactful, positive change for growth and prosperity.