As we closed out the year 2023, layoffs remained top of mind. In this episode, Rupert and Shradha delve into the topic of organizational design in that context. Often, reductions in force (RIF) are associated with reorganization or organizational design, although RIF primarily serves as a form of workforce planning. A lack of discipline around systemic organizational design can help organizations avoid herd behaviour regarding reactive reductions in the workforce. Join us as we unpack organizational layoffs to kick off our new season.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Season Two Plans

02:16 Question: Org Design in Times of Layoffs

03:12 RIF and Reactive Org Design

04:02 RIF and its Negative Impact

05:13 RIF as a Workforce Planning Activity

06:17 The Need for Proper Org Design Discipline

07:42 Avoiding the Riffing Roller Coaster

08:11 Creating Healthy Organizations

09:16 The Importance of Systemic Org Design

10:44 Avoiding Herd Behavior in Org Design

13:18 Caution in Rehiring Consultants

15:31 Takeaways

The three dimensions of determining critical roles are relative impact, time to productivity, and number of people and positions occupying these roles. How do we determine the roles that give us competitive advantage and are creating disproportionate value for our business? Join us to discuss critical roles and to reflect on our previous episodes and look forward to what we have in store for the next season.

Are we excited about AI because it is going to improve our employee experience, customer experience, and enhance the quality of our work, or are we scared of AI because we fear it is going to replace us all? Are we all only talking about AI and are too scared to do anything about it? What can we do about it? Join us to discuss how we should be looking at the work and the org design under the lens of AI.

There is a strong interconnection between OP&A and other parts of HR such as learning and development, talent acquisition, operations, talent management, employee experience, compensation, and even interaction with the CEO and CFO offices. The more we understand these interactions, the better we will work towards building a more holistic HR function. Join us for a rapid fire round on how each of these HR departments interact with the OP&A function and create successful outcomes.

We are biased in our opinion that HR should own this capability but we are also curious on why HR doesn't own this function the way it should? What capabilities and mindset should HR have in order to build and drive this capability? Why is it important to do organizational planning and analysis as consistently and regularly as the rest of the talent related practices? Tune in to unpack this topic with us.

Controls and tensions are an important part of the organization. Diverse points of view help us make better decisions. But as we start to add more approvers and decision makers in the process, we end up piling up the cost of bureaucracy. How do we measure this cost and how do we tackle the culture that encourages multiple alignments, not for making better decisions, but to simply cover everyone’s backside?

One can easily get lost in organizational planning and analysis if we don’t know where we need to get to (Target), what is our starting point (Actual), and how is our journey looking (Forecast). Yet another very useful three letter acronym – TAF helping you navigate progress on various organizational metrics.

Lets face it, org design practitioners are the ones behind all the layoffs, all the cost cutting and all the stuff that leads to uncertainty and unpleasantness in the organization.

Why do we still advocate for this work, when there is so much “bad” around it? How do we continue to strive for doing the right work and making brave decisions? If you are an org design practitioner, please tell us your thoughts. Are you the bad guys (or gal)?

Shradha can't tell you how many times in her early career she's used these terms interchangeably. In this episode she invites Rupert to unpack this. What is the difference between design criteria and design principles? Why is it important to keep these two terms in mind while designing the org?

Can you ever imagine a product being launched without testing? A team playing a match without practicing? So why do we feel so confident about an organization that is designed by a select few under the hood, to work flawlessly from day 1? What may look simple and clear on a page, may feel totally chaotic and illogical in practice. Listen in to get ahead of your org design game – how will it all work in practice?