Organizational readiness assessments are seen as a way to get feedback on how well an organization is working and can be used for many purposes.
An organizational readiness assessments should be taken by any professional looking to improve their workplace or business in some form or fashion.
Whether it’s evaluating the skills of employees, identifying areas that need improvement, or providing information about the company’s strengths and weaknesses; this type of assessment will provide you with valuable insights into your current situation.
The main benefit of using this type of assessment lies in getting an idea of where you stand at present before making changes.
You may want to make improvements based on what you find out about yourself through these assessments because they also help identify areas where things could be improved.
What is an organizational readiness assessments?
A change readiness assessment is the analysis of the different levels of the organization changing.
They are completed so that important change-makers are aware of what resources must be acquired and how attitudes need to change so that the changes can occur positively.
Each level of the institution is assessed for its preparedness to handle changes of different magnitudes.
You don’t want to start a big change or project without knowing if your institution has the resources to properly complete it.
Conducting an organizational readiness assessments informs your company and reassures you that your proposed change or project will be successful if you move forward with it.
It may even save your company’s reputation by avoiding potentially high-profile failures by being involved in projects your institution is not ready to complete.
Description of Change Readiness Assessment
A readiness assessment assesses the following:
Project and change goals and objectives
Expectations and concerns
Leadership support
Ability to adapt
Ways to minimize change failures
Change and project supervision and decision making
Attitudes of those affected by the change
Resources involved in the change or project
Conditions required to support and put the change to action such as laws and policies
To decide if your institution is ready for change, the following steps must be taken:
1. Define the magnitude of the proposed change or project. The company change-makers must know which branches of the company system will be targeted.
2. Select the right tools for the change. The proper change management tools that best fit the size of the change or project should be used. Once the right tools for the job are selected, ensure they are customized to your organization going through the change.
3. Review pertinent dimensions. It is of utmost importance to review all micro and macro elements of the institution that are affected by the change. This includes teams, specific individuals, or full departments.
4. Analyze and summarize. In the last stage of the process, the change-makers should conclude about the preparedness of the systems involved. A written report should be completed detailing whether the systems are ready or not including evidence to support the judgments.
Tips for Conducting an Organizational Readiness Assessments
Data Collection: Use Qualitative and Quantitative Methods
If you avoid using both methods, the data collected during the assessment won’t be representative of the affected divisions.
You collect qualitative data through key change-maker interviews related to the project.
These interviews reveal opinion themes that include:
the level of understanding of the project importance at a leadership level
level of understanding of the benefits and barriers the change will create
the belief of whether the change vision is properly disseminated
baseline understanding of the company’s attitude for change
Quantitative data can be collected via surveys going to staff including leaders, project team, and end-users.
It will help reveal the specific focus and miscommunication between leadership and the end-users.
The survey should ask questions to understand employee attitudes surrounding the change.
Data Analysis: Measure Affected Business Functions
Identifying the preparedness of specific divisions allows you to customize communications to those departments.
Data collected from the surveys can be used in heat maps to identify departments that need more support.
Response distribution can indicate the sentiments of the change.
Key risks that need work and what is going well can be identified for leadership.
These analyses will indicate what communication tactics should be used to best support the institution.
Recommendations and Action: Prioritize
Completion of a change readiness assessment will provide the following:
Scope of the change including departments, divisions, individuals
The number of employees impacted
Type of change such as process, technology, organization, job roles
Amount of change compared to where the institution started
Once the data is analyzed and compared to business objectives, it will result in a report that contains recommendations to improve understanding, competency, and adoption of the new change.
Reasons to Conduct a Change Readiness Assessment
Readiness Assessments Help You Address Potential Change Failures
These assessments give your institution the ability to address possible issues before they grow into bigger problems.
This is important because it saves your brand time and money, important resources for every business.
It even has the potential to improve profitability if the project is for a client.
Readiness Assessments Help You Address Changes with Employees
The assessments address details of how the change will affect your employees.
This helps determine if they are ready for the change and have the ability and resources needed to do their part.
Be sure to keep the employees engaged and updated with what the changes are doing to help make them feel more valued.
This increases their investment in the change and motivates them to do their part.
Should a third-party vendor create your readiness assessment?
A readiness assessment is a checklist that is customized to your institution’s current situation and includes the parameters and requirements of the project the company plans to pursue.
Utilizing a third-party vendor is the best choice to properly complete a readiness assessment.
They will be able to look at your institution objectively to give you the most accurate assessment to mitigate the risk to your brand.
The auditor will look at company resources and needs for the project and use this information to create a custom checklist for you.
A vendor can even conduct the assessment for your institution and provide a detailed report of the findings to create custom recommendations.
What are the benefits of a readiness assessment for your business?
A properly completed readiness assessment will mean project readiness for your brand.
This is integral when your institution feels it is ready to make a new change, alter current processes, restructure the business, or take on new projects.
A professionally-prepared assessment will shed light on the following:
company resources
attitude of employees
areas of the company in need of improvement to successfully acclimate to the change or take on the project
How to Properly Utilize Your Organization Readiness Assessment
The results will provide you the benefit of identifying the strengths of your organization and the assets within the change.
The assessment will reveal whether the organization meets the requirements to consider the change or taking on a project.
If the requirements are not met, the assessment will let you know what else is needed to successfully take it on.
Knowledge, Skill Sets and Proficiency
For the change to be successful, impacted individuals have to learn how to use the tools and processes involved with the change.
Your assessment should include assessing how the impacted employees are progressing with the transition.
Past Experiences with Change
It is essential to assess the impacted group’s experience with change and new projects.
Any level of negative or positive experiences can greatly impact how receptive the staff is to the change.
Prioritizing the Importance of Change Readiness
Change readiness assessments illustrate just how complex changes and new projects can be for an institution.
Maybe your organization can’t continue without implementing desired changes.
If you don’t assess the process with an idea of the reaction, impact, and response to the change, you increase the risk to your institution.
Change readiness is imperative to add long-term value to your brand.
It allows you to source programs and projects efficiently to implement changes successfully.
If your institution is interesting in making a big change or adding a new project, a readiness assessment is an invaluable tool you should be utilizing.
RADD, LLC. can help your institution create a customized organizational readiness assessment then consult you on what it means.
We can advise you on what you need to make your company prepared for when the assessment is done.
Your brand has goals to become more efficient, more profitable, and more reputable.
Taking on big changes can have this effect.
RADD, LLC can help you get there.