Harmonic Systems Consulting – Directing Business to Perfect Alignment

Harmonic Systems Consulting: Blog

On July 21, 2014

Hi and welcome to the Harmonic Systems Consulting (HSC) Blog! In alignment with HSC’s people-centric values we hope to provide you with a more personal and in-depth look at the current activities of our company than what a simple news feed could provide. Over the next couple of blog posts we will be taking the time to provide a unique, piece-by-piece look at HSC’s approach to helping clients best align valuable resources with organizational strategy. HSC accomplishes this by using our Orchestra Model© to give you an idea of just how we can make your business sing!

Hello world!

By harmon

On February 16, 2016

In Uncategorized

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!

4 Trends in Healthcare IT for 2016

By harmon

On February 9, 2016

In Healthcare

Outsourcing IT Functions

As technology becomes more pervasive in the healthcare field, more and more hospitals and networks are outsourcing at least some of their IT functions. According to Healthcare IT News, “Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of health systems with more than 300 beds — and 81 percent of providers with fewer than 300 beds — are shifting their focus to IT outsourcing for development and complex infrastructure services.”

The complexity of complying with new regulations means health systems and clinics are finding it more cost-efficient to contract out functions including EHR and analytics to companies that have the knowledge and full-time staff to both handle their current needs and innovate new solutions. In addition to reducing costs, outsourcing IT can help ensure that your IT professionals have all the necessary and up-to-date expertise to tackle new problems. But you should research your vendor and set realistic budgets and expectations, as failing to do so can lead to cost overruns or capabilities shortfalls.

7 Keys to Unlocking Value from a Merger or Acquisition

By harmon

On December 14, 2015

In Mergers and Acquisitions

When a merger or acquisition is well planned and properly executed significant value can accrue to the combined organizations.

The fact is, however, the results from most business acquisitions and mergers are disappointing. Management covets the gains that consolidation and economies of scale are expected to bring, but the great majority of M&A’s do not live up to their promise. This has been demonstrated by dozens of studies covering hundreds of companies across all industries.

Photo By: Sarah Joy

Some thought provoking comments follow:
“70 percent of mergers fail to achieve their anticipated value.” – Weekly Corporate Growth Report

Customer Service as an Internal Organizational Competency: Part 2

By harmon

On December 14, 2015

In Human Resources

In order to project a consistently friendly, professional and competent image all members of an organization have to be prepared to interact with customers. That interaction can take place in a number of ways; through the written word, the spoken word, and/or through “body language”. Good customer service practices are seldom inherent in an organization. Customer service skills have to be actively learned and frequently practiced. The customer service “handshake” begins on the inside and then flows out.

Customer Service as an Internal Organizational Competency

By harmon

On November 30, 2015

In Human Resources

Okay, now your business has a strategic plan, built by organizational leadership, clearly establishing the Mission, Vision and Objectives for all to follow. But, does the work stop there? Hardly; now responsible people in all departments must define tactics, oversee implementation, and create measurement tools to evaluate results. Seems logical, doesn’t it? So, is it reasonable to expect that all departments will work together, in harmony, for the benefit of customers; achieving the key objectives listed in the book labeled “Strategic Plan” proudly displayed on the shelf? Perhaps you are thinking, no; not so reasonable.

Change as an Opportunity in Healthcare

By harmon

On November 2, 2015

In Healthcare, Uncategorized

Implementing change in a business is often seen as a major hurdle or obstacle. To an extent, all change is essential if it is aligned to the businesses strategy for growth or development in a new market. Regardless, outside forces can create the need for businesses to change. Rather than viewing change as an obstacle, leadership in a company needs to see change as the opportunity that it can be.

“New Children’s Hospital” by KitAy

Healthcare is an industry that knows this better than others. Because healthcare has been around as long as people have, it has had to change. Healthcare providers are the first to incorporate new technology and education into their practices because the effects can literally save lives. When Alexander Fleming cemented the use of penicillin, he revolutionized medicine. His innovation created the need for change around the world. However, the use of penicillin has created resistant strains of bacteria and with this, the cycle of change of innovation continues.

5 Essentials to Successful IT Integration During M&A

By harmon

On October 12, 2015

In Uncategorized

Whether you are merging two roughly equally companies, or acquiring a smaller company, you will need to develop a solid strategy for how to integrate the IT departments. Every situation is unique and comes with its own set of challenges, but there are a few keys that every decision maker should be aware of.

1. Evaluate Both Companies’ Current IT Infrastructures
Your CIO or IT Director will need to create a detailed analysis which clearly outlines the people, roles, processes, and equipment for each company. This is the step where your team will want to document what aspects of your infrastructure work well, in addition to what is lacking. For those systems that do work well, you must also determine whether they will be scalable to accommodate the needs of the new larger company. For example, you may have inventory management software that works fine for one warehouse, but if you are expanding to multiple locations with their own supply chains, you might need an entirely new solution which is capable of handling

Selling “HR” Ideas to Leadership

By harmon

On September 30, 2015

In Human Resources, Uncategorized

While working with clients, those of us at Harmonic Systems Consulting (HSC) frequently hear HR professionals express concern over their inability to get leadership to “buy in” on HR sponsored ideas. When hearing this, we respond by asking the HR professional to think a bit differently about their approach. Instead of trying to promote a Human Resource Department idea, we recommend that the HR professional think in terms of crafting and presenting a proposal clearly supporting a component of organizational strategy.

Promoting new ideas, regardless of where (or who) they come from is difficult for most of us. We may be supremely competent in our area of expertise, but, when attempting to convince others of the value of a new idea, particularly when that new idea may be perceived as personally threatening by others, we struggle to overcome obstacles our daily responsibilities have not adequately prepared us for. To be effective in such cases we need to learn and apply new skills; skills related to both the “technical” side and “social” side of business.

HSC partners recommend HR professionals concentrate on four skill sets to improve their ability to promote their ideas. These are defined as:

1. Craftsmanship
2. Valuation
3. Alliance Building
4. Presentation

Skill #1 – Craftsmanship: Artfully design the idea to align with the strategic direction defined by leadership. The closer your idea matches organizational strategy, the more likely the value will be apparent to leadership, and the better it will fare against other ideas competing for resources.

The 4 Part Harmony of Organizational Competency

By harmon

On August 17, 2015

In Human Resources

Vicente Mina / AFP / February 8, 2015
Team SCA, left, and Dongfeng Race Team, right, leave port in
Sanya, China at the start of Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race
www.thenational.ae

By Janet Hayes

One imperative for organizations in successfully executing their strategies is to ensure that they have the necessary competencies to carry them out. Concepts like the core competence of the corporation and hedgehogs imply that identifying and strengthening competencies are necessary in order for companies to distinguish themselves from competition. Once an organization determines which competencies are critical, though, how does the leadership team build or strengthen them?

Individual Skills vs. Organizational Competency

Many organizations treat organizational competencies as though they were simply a sum of the skills of the people in their organizations. While individual skills are critical, however, relying strictly on them to embody critical competencies is not enough because:

1. The organization may not have enough of the right skills to distinguish itself.

2. Individuals come and go, but to continue to thrive over time, the organization needs to maintain its competency without regard to changes in personnel. In fact, if your company’s competency relies strictly on individual skills, then competitors can take over your competency simply by hiring away your company’s best people.

3. Individual skills alone do not encapsulate everything the company needs to do well in order to compete. For example, even the most highly skilled individuals working in an uncoordinated way will not fare well in the eyes of the customer or gain efficiencies for the company.

Definition of Organizational Competency

Harmonic Systems Consulting defines “organizational competency” as the harmonious blending of four basic components of organizational identity. This competency identity includes individual skills, but only as one of the four necessary components. Harmonic Systems Consulting’s view of the four components required for organizational competency is depicted in the picture below:

These components must be orchestrated to work together in daily harmony for the long term benefit of the company’s customers and associates.
The Four Keys of Organizational Competency

Following are descriptions of the four keys that comprise organizational competency. To illustrate the concept, we will use an example of a Project Management competency.

As mentioned above, individual skills are critical to an organization. However, to be part of an organizational competency, the company needs multiple individuals with the necessary skills. Most competencies require a subset of individuals with a very high level of skills and many more individuals with a lower level of skill.

Skills and training programs must be directed toward developing the appropriate level of skills necessary for the desired competency, but that does not imply that a high level of skill is always required. A custom furniture shop may require their craftsmen to have high skill levels because each piece is unique and processes are dynamic. McDonald’s, however, cannot expect a high level of skill from every employee in their restaurants, so they rely more on highly defined processes.

For an organizational competency in Project Management, a company would need one or more highly trained and experienced project managers and a broader, company-wide, group of individuals to be trained on project management techniques.

A second critical component to organizational competency is having resources that support the competency. These resources might include tools, software, methodologies, checklists, templates, etc.

For Project Management, resources might include templates for charters and meeting agendas and minutes, project management and project portfolio management software, a new product development methodology, a method for decision-making, forms for tracking issues, risks and changes and project budget tracking tools.

In order for the company’s customers to benefit from the competency, the skills and resources must work together in a coordinated way. That coordination comes via the third key, processes. Processes might include manufacturing steps, research and development scientific methods, application development, order entry, customer service, etc.

For Project Management, a process might start with creation of a charter and a budget, then assignment of personnel to the project, followed by development of a plan, etc. There should also be a process for prioritizing projects and deciding which ones need to be started or stopped.

The final key to organizational competency, shared knowledge, is the one that is most often neglected. Knowledge held by individuals must be shared in order for the competency to be institutionalized within the organization. Sharing knowledge is crucial to maintaining the competency as individuals get promoted, transferred or leave the organization and to continuously improve. Knowledge may be shared through formal or informal means, but must be accessible to everyone who needs it. It might be shared via an intellectual capital database, a wiki or in a file drawer that everyone knows about. It could also be shared by mentoring or birds-of-a-feather meetings to share learnings.
For Project Management, shared knowledge might include a repository of previous project plans, a collection of post-project completion reports that capture learnings and a project office where less-experienced project managers can go for mentoring by highly skilled experts.

Culture’s Role in Organizational Competency

One important factor in developing or strengthening an organizational competency is the company’s culture. If the company culture doesn’t support the development of a competency that is critical for the strategy, it must be addressed or it will put the organization out of alignment (for more about alignment, see our blogs on the Orchestra Model© and Alignovation©) and the competency will not be realized.

For example, a company strategy may determine that better attention to efficiency and quality is necessary, so they may embark upon developing a competency in Lean Six Sigma. If, however, people in the organization are not accustomed to data-based decision-making or disciplined execution, that culture will need to be addressed via change management and clear definition and communication of desired behaviors in order to build the new competency. Demonstrating that the desired competency is built upon existing capabilities and emphasizing the career opportunities that result from the new competency will help to support the change.

Individuals may also see a downside to sharing knowledge if they believe that their skills are what makes them uniquely important. In that case, rewards and compensation focused on sharing knowledge a crucial. Techniques for creating a learning organization should also be considered.

Summary

The word “competency” comes from the Latin word competere, which means “strive together”. Our Harmonic Systems Consulting definition of organizational competency includes the four interlocking components of skills, resources, processes and shared knowledge. This multi-faceted definition guides companies in defining all of the elements they need to develop for their organizational competencies in order to “strive together” harmoniously for distinction in their highly competitive markets. Understanding organizational competency in this comprehensive manner is especially appropriate because competere is also the root word for “competition”.

Mike Koozmin/The S.F. Examiner
Oracle Team USA celebrates after it completed the
biggest comeback in the history of the America’s Cup (2013)
www.sfexaminer.com

The Critical Role of Human Resources in Strategy By Janet Hayes and Darren Hayes

By harmon

On June 1, 2015

In Human Resources

A common problem faced by many companies today is the lack of involvement of Human Resources in formulating new strategies for a company in the process of transforming itself. HR departments may not get much respect if they are viewed as “feelers” who function only as administrators, so they may not be asked to the table when the company’s executive team is developing a new strategic direction.

The fact is that everything in a business is done through people. In order to get your employee base properly acclimated to any new strategic changes, HR’s involvement is an absolute necessity. People at all levels in the organization need motivation and some degree of counsel in order to adjust properly and quickly to critical changes.
To achieve the best results, companies should consider the following when developing or updating strategies:

1. The company’s leader (CEO or President) should ensure that the head of Human Resources is engaged in the strategy development process. In particular, the executive strategy team should look to the HR head to provide input on how the new strategy affects culture, compensation, structure and competencies and how the strategy should be communicated to the organization. The executive team should be counseled to value HR’s “feeler” perspective since employees’ reaction to the strategic change must be considered when planning implementation.

2. The HR representative must demonstrate the ability to think strategically and ensure that he or she is properly informed about the business in order to be involved in executive strategy meetings. If the HR representative has the means and ability to contribute, then his or her presence will be welcomed.

Consider this issue in relation to the Orchestra Model©: if the Conductors (executive team) decide to have a change in the score (strategy) it is necessary for the HR representatives (concertmasters) to not only pass out the score to the musicians (employee base) but to also be able to explain how each part is played. Being able to adjust who plays what parts and with what instruments lies more on the end of the HR reps who would be more familiar with individual employees and their strengths and weaknesses. In short: harmony can only be achieved if everyone plays their parts AND plays them together, and HR is critical to ensure a great performance.

Harmonic Systems Consulting: Blog

Hello world!

4 Trends in Healthcare IT for 2016

Outsourcing IT Functions

7 Keys to Unlocking Value from a Merger or Acquisition

Customer Service as an Internal Organizational Competency: Part 2

Customer Service as an Internal Organizational Competency

Change as an Opportunity in Healthcare

5 Essentials to Successful IT Integration During M&A

Selling “HR” Ideas to Leadership

The 4 Part Harmony of Organizational Competency

The Critical Role of Human Resources in Strategy By Janet Hayes and Darren Hayes

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