Organizational Development

“People are our most important asset.” This is a financial reality in most organizations, and this means that serious attention and resources need to be allocated to ensure that the “people resources” are given the direction and support needed to do their jobs. For if they do their jobs well, and in line with the goals of the organization, the success objectives carved out by the senior executives can be attained.

Facilitation of Strategic Planning and Change Management Sessions

Dr. Sayer has designed and facilitated many sessions to assist companies, or departments in determining their mandate, vision and objectives for an appropriate future timeframe. Depending on the organization, the industry and the key players, the session may require more or less time spent on the past, future and present realities.

Every manager and employee understands that change is not an isolated event but part of the ongoing fabric of a healthy organization. But at the individual and team level, the wide variety of personality and interpersonal coping abilities will always need to be addressed and managed for the changes to be embraced successfully. Former clients have expressed satisfaction with a process that benefits from established and effective planning techniques but which also is customized to address their particular business direction and issues. This is not ‘cookie-cutter’ planning, but rather a drawing together of the most effective tools for the client.

Case Report: Facilitation of Strategic Planning Session

Identification of Core Competencies or Behaviour Profiling

Finally, the majority of progressive organizations have realized how important it is to identify the specific skills and behaviours that are needed to achieve the business objectives. First, the organization needs to identify the competencies that are needed to achieve the vision. Second, these competencies need to become an integral part of selection and performance management systems. It is possible for many people to learn new behaviours, but they cannot do this in a vacuum.

One of the biggest “ah ha’s” of the 1990’s and into this century has been how difficult it is to come up with a “simple set of core competencies”. It is never simple or easy. The advancements that have been made in the last 10 years have made it easier to find a variety of already developed behavioural profiles. However, our experience is that every organization needs to either create its own, or adapt established, core competency systems. And those organizations that have done the work have found it has been worth every bit of time, energy and money invested.

Case Report: Identification of Core Competencies

Systems for Selection, Promotion and Development

There are a whole host of HR and HRIS systems available for selection and development systems. The critical part of introducing or changing a system is to ensure it will be integrated and used easily by both HR and management staff. There is no need to re-create the wheel, but there is a continuing need to train new managers and employees on the very well established methods for evaluating individual capabilities and providing targeted support for development