empower and streamline but don't just cut your middle management

With a proven concept, the “Space to Lead” approach was then adopted Enterprise-Wide.

To move an organization towards new "Golden Rules" targets, you generally need structural change. 

Typically there are only two main ways this happens in organizations - transformational step change (a "reorg" or RIF), or organic natural employee movement over time. Each requires differences in the approach to implementing "Space to Lead" and providing key stakeholders with the necessary support.

Transformations are hard for everyone. Embedding Org Health principles is an imperative in any transformation, otherwise it’s a wasted opportunity. 

The Golden Rules should provide core principles for any organization design, whereas “Space to Lead” more broadly should also be adopted in all aspects of the Operating Model and the Change Journey – culture, decision-making, performance, job design, onboarding, upskilling of new leaders and managers. 

The transformation team (e.g. strategy, transformation office, OD/OE team) should be fully onboarded to the “Space to Lead” strategy, principles and implementation approach, and full advocates and change agents for its adoption.

At a previous employer, I led a significant transformation that was triggered by the unprecedented impact of the pandemic on their industry (negative oil prices!). This required significant cost saving measures (several billion dollars), and the acceleration towards a more future-proofed operating model.

By not wasting a good crisis, this downside event gave the opportunity to realize:

🌟 Fewer but Better Leaders (-22% executive roles, unblocking incumbents to accelerate high potential career plans and improve diversity)

💪🏼 Spans of Control (from 6.2 to 7)

⬇️ Reduced same Job Grade reporting by 50%

✅ Reduced layers from 9 to 8

💫 A leaner, more efficient and effective operating model (with better agility, decision-making and speed)

When an organization is not faced with the disruption of transformation, employee movement still provides incremental opportunities to optimize the organization.  After all, a vacancy is easier and less emotive to eliminate that a person in role.

Imagine this simple scenario:

• I am a Senior Director, with several direct reports; two of whom each manage small teams of three.
• One of these two direct reports accepted a new role, elsewhere in the company.
• Knowing about the planned move, before allowing a job requisition to be created, the HR system flags an opportunity to optimize the leader’s organizational design health. HR is there if needed to support.
• The Senior Director can choose to combine the two teams of three under the remaining manager, adopting healthier spans of control. Or, they could elect to repurpose the headcount towards a seventh team member if needed, or eliminate it if those resources weren’t needed, or better deployed elsewhere.

Many transformation initiatives don’t stick, because little thought is given to “After Care”, with people focused on moving on to the next initiative. 

This puts at risk all the efforts and pain of executing the change.

Key Actions can be taken to prevent regression to the past state:

1. Communicate and celebrate success:

📐 Measure the benefits and communicate the benefits for all. For example, increased employee engagement, financial results, reduced attrition, or “friction” that harms decision-making, accountability, empowerment, ability to innovate.

🏅 Celebrate adopters through storytelling and recognition. Provide employees with stories about what “good looks like” – for example, the leader who eliminated a leader vacancy for the good of the team; or a leader who bravely took accountability for a decision and moved the strategy/team forwards.

2. Provide leaders and managers with the education, rewards and AI-enabled decision-intelligence to keep improving the health of their organization:

📉 Define the metrics that demonstrate organizational health – team feedback, manager90 scores, attrition data, engagement surveys – and provide them with the cockpit data to fly their plane well.

🤖 Use AI to coach them through real-time organic opportunities to optimize their organization structure, as employees move into/from their organization. You can’t expect people to spend their days focused on org health – give them the support when the most need it.

3. Trust but verify that Leaders and Managers are complying with the Golden Rules:

🔎 Track and macro-organizational health across a wide range of metrics, focusing on what your organization and leadership believe is most important. Democratize these insights.

🙌 Celebrate the pioneers; Provide assistance to those who need help, assuming good intent. 

🚫 Finally, take corrective action where counter-productive behaviors are exhibited – for example, hoarding talent or headcount “power plays” or title inflation for personal gain.

My experiences at Sanofi, Shell and Nike highlight several critical elements for success in organizational health transformation:

1. Leadership Alignment and Sponsorship: 

• Active executive engagement is key – advocacy and accountability for outcomes and active role modeling

2. It’s not just about the org or numbers:

• “Fewer, better leaders” need more intentional talent bets
• “Fewer, better leaders” require more feedback loops and leadership development
• Culture and ways of working are the lubricant for the optimized organization – make sure there is adequate time spend on their definition, alignment and adoption

3. Balanced Implementation Approach:

• Ensure the approach is strategic rather than purely cost-focused
• Test your design to ensure it benefits all stakeholders
• Balance transformational step change, with organic incremental improvement
• Have a plan for sustainability – don’t let the memory foam come back…

4. Strong Change Management

• Stress the benefits of “Space to Lead” to all stakeholders and show progress with data
• Take the emotion out of it – it’s not personal: let democratized insights show “why?”
• Celebrate pioneers and help the undecided/hesitant move in to the “I’m in!” camp
• Focus on the moments of truth, and walk the talk (for example, when a newly empowered leader embraces their accountability and takes a thoughtful risk but the results aren’t great – make it a learning lesson not to repeat, not a reprimand).