To create a successful organisation design, business leaders need to consider their strategic and operational priorities. This helps when determining how to effectively allocate workforce talent and to create a more agile environment so they’re better prepared to adapt.
In this article, we’ll look at the top 3 factors affecting org design and the 8 elements to include in a winning org design business case. We’ve also included a free downloadable template so you can kickstart your project right away.
Top 3 factors affecting org design
Before we dive into core concepts of an org design business case, let’s get one thing straight – there is no right or wrong org design.
A company’s structure is designed based on its strategic plan and it’s all about creating a system that encourages aligned behaviours that help to meet your objectives.
Below are our top three factors that impact an org design:
- Organisation size: A start-up with 100 employees would have very different challenges compared to a well-established firm with 100,000 employees. So the organisation’s life cycle as well as its size impacts the org structure you would design.
- Technology: When you have the right set of systems in place and all your decisions are data-driven. This allows you to design evidence based org structures, rather than relying on gut feel and analysis from never ending rows of an Excel sheet.
- Environment: During turbulent times, having an agile and flexible structure has been the ideal design. This is because organisations can adapt quickly to the changing needs of the market. Now that the environment is relatively stable, organisations can now opt for a design that focuses on increasing efficiency.
Pro tip: Using an org design tool helps you to access real-time data insights. This way you have the ability to run ongoing workforce analysis, rather than point-in-time projects. A dedicated tool also enables you to quickly create multiple workforce scenarios based on always up-to-date data.
We’ve had customers use our tools to visualise metrics such as vaccinations, training and who’s in office vs remote etc. This helps you to easily see multiple factors at once when creating your organisation designs.
Org design project framework
Starting an org design project is not easy, figuring out the right way to start can be tricky. So we’ve tried to make the job a little easier for you!
Here’s an overview of an org design project. The orange blocks show the stages and activities involved in the project management. The bottom row outlines how an org design tool helps to facilitate this process.
Learn more about the 5 org design project steps here.
Now that you have your framework, let’s get back to the main reason why you’re here – writing a business case. A business case brings together the benefits, costs and risks of the current situation and future vision, allowing the C-Suite to decide if the project is viable for the business.
Below are top 8 topics to include to make your org design business case a winning pitch.
8 key elements to include in your org design business case
Project overview
The first 4 sections to include in your business case are:
- Executive summary
- Project definitions
- Project objectives
- Project scope
Keep these sections succinct and include bullet points so it’s easier for the reader to scan important information at a glance. The purpose is to help the reader understand the existing problem and how implementing your proposed solution will resolve it.
Pro tip: In your project scope, specify from the beginning what’s in and out of scope for the project to avoid confusion in the future.
Drilling down to the specifics
The next sections are critical to the success of your org design business case. So let’s break them down:
a) Project delivery – Describe how the project will be executed. Include high-level project phases, target completion dates, personnel and deliverables for each of the phases.
b) Cost estimate – List out the costs associated at each stage of the project. Here’s an example of how you can present your cost estimate:
c) Options analysis – Show your leadership team that you’ve done the research. Shortlist and evaluate at least 3-4 providers who could potentially meet your company’s requirements and finally, highlight your recommended option with detailed justification.
d) Benefits – Outline the positive impacts of the solution and try to make them measurable. E.g. a dedicated org design tool will eliminate manual admin work and save the HR executive xx hours per week – a $xx saving per year. We have a free excel cost saving calculator to help you determine your estimated savings when you invest in an org design tool.
In addition to this, you can also include qualitative benefits such as the ability to understand your workforce better or the ease of designing your organisation’s future.
Pro tip: Don’t worry, you don’t need to start from scratch. Just download our template, we’ve filled it with lots of examples!
Free org design business case template
Complete the form below and we’ll send you an org design business case template ideal for your organisation.
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Watch our org design webinar
Want to learn more about writing a org design business case and stakeholder buy-in? Watch our full webinar below:
If you have any questions, our team would be happy to assist you along your org design journey. Get in touch with a workforce design advisor by booking a meeting or calling +61 3 9879 4060.
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