Senior executives divided on attitudes to risk
and organizational change, finds research by Orgvue
- 35% of CEOs believe a lack of shared vision among senior
decision makers is the biggest barrier to achieving a successful
transformation
- 60% of senior decision makers think decisions about workforce
transformation are driven by human emotion rather than rational
analysis
LONDON and NEW
YORK, Nov. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Orgvue, the
organizational design and planning software platform, today
published research findings on C-suite attitudes to workplace
transformation. Surveying 700 senior decision makers of
organizations with more than 1,000 employees, the research found
that two in five (38 percent) CEOs would rather quit than lead a
large-scale workforce transformation project.
As pressure in the modern business environment intensifies,
C-suite leaders see event-based transformation as a blunt
instrument for cutting costs. 60 percent believe decisions about
workforce transformation are driven by human emotion rather than
rational analysis and 61 percent said they don't give enough
thought to planning transformation projects.
The research shows that cost take-out remains a top concern for
C-Suite leaders. 63 percent of say cost cutting is the primary
motive behind their transformation and 74 percent are willing to go
through transformation for this reason. Additionally, 64 percent of
CEOs would rather conduct layoffs than miss earnings targets.
As part of the study, Orgvue identified two different cohorts of
CEO with opposing views on transformation. Conservative CEOs
are change-sensitive and represent the two in five that would
rather quit than go through transformation. Only 29 percent of
these CEOs are willing to lead major restructuring initiatives for
their organization, and only 25 percent are willing to dismantle
traditional hierarchies and management tiers to optimize workforce
efficiencies.
Conversely, Agile CEOs are change-agnostic and are likely
to embrace workforce transformation. 97 percent of these CEOs say
they're willing to lead major restructuring projects for their
organization. They also say they're willing to take a continuous
approach to organizational change, rather than disruptive,
timebound project approach.
Oliver Shaw, CEO of Orgvue,
said:
"Our research suggests that transformation fatigue has the
C-suite in its grip. We think this is for two reasons: only 23% of
transformation projects succeed; and many organizations are forced
into crisis-response or event-based transformations.
"Organizations are taking the wrong approach to transformation,
creating anxiety around these large, arduous, risky projects that
invariably don't return the cost savings they promise.
Encouragingly, the research shows there's a cohort of CEOs that see
transformation in a different way and they're more willing to lead
major restructuring programs as a result. They see transformation
as a continuous, iterative process that takes the pain out of
organizational change and makes it more sustainable."
About the research
Orgvue commissioned Coleman Parkes to conduct the research, which
surveyed 700 C-suite and senior decision makers at organizations
with more than 500 employees in Australia and Singapore and more than 1,000 employees in the
UK and US. There were 400 respondents from the US, 200 from the UK,
and 50 each from Australia and
Singapore.
About Orgvue
Orgvue is an organizational design and
planning platform that empowers your business to transform its
workforce by understanding the work people do and the skills they
have. Our platform connects strategy to structure, providing
clarity of vision, so you can build a more adaptable, better
performing organization that thrives in a constantly changing world
of work.
The world's largest and best-known enterprises and consulting
firms use Orgvue to visualize and model the current and future
states of the organization and make faster, more informed
decisions. The company is headquartered in London, with offices in Philadelphia, The
Hague, Toronto, and
Sydney.
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SOURCE Orgvue