So, you’ve discovered how org charting software can improve efficiency and save your company time and resources? Now, all that’s left is to gather an expert team and pitch your idea to stakeholders. While org charting software may be an obvious winner for the HR team, Senior Leadership usually needs some convincing. So what’s the best approach? Two words – business case.
Before you present your idea, you need a plan outlining how you will finance, sustain and execute the project. A business case will put all these in place. This article breaks down everything you need to get your org charting project off the ground. We’ve even provided a free template to get you started straight away!
Let's get started with your Org Chart Business Case
First, let’s go back to basics. What is a business case and why is it important?
A business case brings together the benefits, disadvantages, costs and risks of the current situation and future vision, allowing the C-Suite to decide if the project is viable for the business.
8 Key Elements
Executive Summary
Brief summary of all your major points
It should not contain any information that’s not mentioned elsewhere in the document
Project Definition
Project name, sponsor and manager
Background
Problem statement
Strategic objectives
Project objectives
Options Analysis
Evaluation of options
Recommended option
Cost Benefit Analysis
Risks
Benefits
Project Stages & Duration
Different phases involved in the project
Detailed timeline of each stage in the project
Financial Analysis
Budget breakdown
Project Management
Governance
Quality management
Progress monitoring
Appendices
Additional details such as company backgrounds of each alternative considered, statistical data to back up the claims made in the business case etc.
Best Practices
Speak to all the internal stakeholders and outline all positive impacts that the solution will have – try to make them measurable e.g. automated reporting within org chart with save the HR executive xx hours per week – a $xx saving per year
Use business terminology rather than HR-specific phrases
Be specific and clear – present facts, avoid fluffy language
Understand where your project fits in relating to resourcing requirements, impact to the business, implementation timeline etc.
Personalise your case to the stakeholders and understand what’s important to them. In the case of org charts, the following table is a helpful example:
Case for HR
Case for Procurement
Case for Finance
Case for IT
Process Effectiveness
Cost
Ensuring quality is not compromised
Data Security
Visualisation of workforce
Reducing unnecessary spend
Compliance and Single Source of truth for Managers
Integrations
Meaningful data for HR Reports
Risk and Compliance
Delivering true cost savings
Ease of use
What’s Next?
After writing your business case, the next step is to present to the stakeholders. Within the HR context, this could be your HR Director, Procurement Manager, the C-Suite or IT. It’s important you anticipate their questions and prepare accordingly. Here are the 3 important aspects you should consider before presenting your org charting business case:
Present state of the company and how the proposed project will change your organisation for the better. Some examples are provided below:
Improve communication across the organisation by showing the relationship between positions and insight into your org hierarchy
Reduce manual workload for the HR team and local administrators by providing real-time, configurable and easily exportable charts
Enable improved workforce management by providing visibility over staffing levels, including easily identifiable vacant positions
By making HR data visible to the entire organisation, staff are quick to reach out to fix errors. Crowdsource ongoing data cleansing by making line managers responsible for maintaining their dataset – easily keeping data up to date
Support diversity and inclusion initiatives by highlighting gender split and ratios in a diversity chart
Potential to use org charts for strategic decision-making and more effective staff management (e.g. use of leave balances, span of control, skills mapping etc.)
Data security. No more spreadsheets with confidential employee information flying around.
Why now is the right time – maybe your organisation is going through a merger or has decided to restructure – having a tool to visualise your workforce would save lots of time and effort in the future. E.g. Succession Planning helps keep your organisation one step ahead, developing employees who are next in line to take over. When companies anticipate this, they are well prepared to deal with unforeseen situations.
Understand the contingency costs – what happens if the company doesn’t do this, what are the costs to the organisation.
Download the template as a guide for your next business case, this template includes detailed instructions on what each section of the business case should include. Remember: The main focus should be on the solution, the implementation timeline and providing strong numbers to back your case.
Want to learn more? Watch our webinar ‘how to build an awesome business case’ hosted by Navigo’s General Manager, Andrew Rees and Co-founder of Moore@Work, Sarah Moore. This webinar covers how to influence the C-Suite and tips on what to avoid when presenting your business case –
Creating an org charting business case is no easy task. If you have any questions, our team would be happy to assist you along your journey. Feel free to get in touch with Andrew Rees at andrew.rees@navigo.com.au or give us a call on +61 3 9879 4060.
Prajna, Navigo's Marketing Coordinator, is passionate about HR Technology and all things digital. She is always looking for creative solutions to help organisations turn their HR data into meaningful information.