This document discusses the growing demand for skills in business transformation and change management. It outlines that 84% of European managers are involved in business transformation initiatives every 6 months on average. There is high demand for transformation consultants and jobs requiring change management skills are growing. The document defines the key skills needed for successful business transformation, such as communicating objectives, ensuring staff understanding and acceptance of changes, and avoiding slippages in implementation. It also discusses qualifications available in change management from organizations like the CIPD, CMI and ACMP.

1. HR Professionals Guide to
Business Transformation
Author
Melanie Franklin
Chief Executive
Maven Training

2. Contents
Overview ................................................................................................................................ 3
Skills and Challenges .............................................................................................................. 5
Defining the skills for business transformation ..................................................................... 6
Developing your skills in change management and business transformation ...................... 9
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 11
Maven Company Overview .................................................................................................. 12

3. Overview
Change management and specifically large‐scale organisational change or business transformation
initiatives are dominating the activities of many organisations. In the most recent Trends in
Business Transformation1 survey 84% of European managers viewed transformation as the norm
and were involved in a new business transformation programme on average every 6 months.
All UK Local authorities and NHS trusts have some form of transformation programme underway,
driven by budget cuts and the need to maintain service levels in an environment of smaller
resources. In the private sector, 25% of firms surveyed were re‐organising to reduce the pressure
on resources and 25% were improving the flow of information across the organisation to move
away from ‘silo’ based thinking2.
A quick review of a single recruitment site produced a list of over 500 transformational change
jobs in the private sector across all industry sectors. There is high demand for transformation
consultants to lead outsourcing initiatives, the implementation of SAP and other ERP systems,
redesigning marketing functions to focus on digital media and the desire to re‐engineer processes
in procurement, finance, logistics and order management.
Many of these changes are transformational purely because of the inter‐dependence of so many
of our business functions. For example, the need to make changes in the finance function drives
new processes and new organisation structures in procurement, sales and business development.
It is this interconnectivity that has led to the popularity of the term business transformation as we
can no longer implement change within a single business unit or functional area. Each change that
is conceived must be reviewed for its impact on part of the organisation, recognising that
sometimes this impact is an unintended consequence and may have a negative effect in one area
that must be balanced by the benefits gained by another.
The structure and skills needed for business transformation is derived from effective
Organisational Development. OD builds the strategic capability that generates sustainable change.
This paper examines the context, skills and challenges associated with building a capacity for
business transformation.
1
Cap Gemini Trends in Business Transformation 2009
2
Maven Training survey 2011
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4. Transformational change is driven by the strategic objectives of the organisation which are in turn
impacted by developments in the market place that the organisation serves and its internal
capabilities. HR professionals have a great deal to contribute in explaining the current capabilities
and identifying what the organisation can realistically expect to develop in the short to medium
term.
The portfolio of initiatives that an organisation is managing must be balanced between the desire
to change and the need to run the existing business. It is the current business structure that is
often generating the revenue that will be used to fund the changes. HR are naturally active in
supporting the business as usual environment but demand for this support will increase during
transformation as we ask staff to cope with their existing workload whilst learning new ways of
working relevant to the transformation.
HR need to be involved in the very early stages of transformational change, when options are
being explored and decisions are being taken about the scope of the changes and the future vision
for the organisation. HR can represent the culture and values of the organisation which are easily
overlooked when senior executives are driving transformation from the perspective of efficiency
improvements and cost savings.
However, too often HR are not involved in a transformation only at the point when the scope,
objectives and overall vision of the transformed organisation has been completed by the senior
management team. Effectively the change is passed to the HR function for implementation
through the re‐structuring of the roles, re‐drafting of responsibilities and communication of the
reasons for and impact of the change.
In a recent survey Managing Change 2010: the role of HR3, 64% of HR managers stated that they
wanted to become involved in change earlier in the cycle so that they can shape the
transformation to include their knowledge of the existing organisational capability for change.
3
Author: CharlotteWoolff, XpertHR
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5. Skills and Challenges
The continuing increase in the number of change initiatives being undertaken is mirrored by the
demand for change management skills. The Interim Management Association report growth in the
demand for these skills in their latest survey:
• Change or transition management required in 18% of roles (in 2010 this was 14%)
• Business improvement experience required in 21% of roles (in 2010 this was 17%)
Anecdotal evidence suggests that whilst organisations have the capacity to plan a business
transformation too few have the ability to motivate and inspire their employees to participate and
turn the plans into reality. This is supported by the results in the Cap Gemini survey which
identifies three skills that managers feel their organisations need to improve:
 Ability to ensure that staff understand and accept the transformation
 Communicating the objectives of the transformation
 Avoiding slippage in the implementation of the transformation
These skills are in high demand because achieving successful change is a significant leadership
challenge. Numerous surveys indicate that failure is as likely as success, with structural and people
driven reasons for this failure:
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6. Defining the skills for business transformation
The contribution that HR professionals can make to successful business transformation is
recognised by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (www.cipd.co.uk) in their HR
competency framework, called the HR Profession Map:
The map is divided into ten professions including Organisational Design and Organisational
Development, both of which explicitly state the need for change management skills. For example,
in Organisational Design there is a requirement for HR professionals to:
 know how to utilise champions, shift fence‐sitters and remove blockers when designing and
implementing structural change
In Organisational Development there are further requirements:
 Know the critical role that managers have to play in the success of change initiatives and is
able to engage managers in the change plan
 Know the key stages in change management
 Know how to implement OD interventions for complex organisation‐wide transformation
programmes
Learning about the theory and practice of change management and business transformation
supports your career goals by enabling you to develop the behaviours necessary for effective HR
management. The CIPD HR Profession Map identifies eight behaviours, four of which I think are
particularly relevant to change management:
Collaborative
Works effectively and inclusively with colleagues, clients, stakeholders customers, teams and
individuals both within and outside the organisation.
This behaviour makes explicit reference to the need to work effectively with all those whose active
participation and support is needed to implement and embed organisational change.
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7. Personally credible
Builds a track record of reliable and valued delivery using relevant technical expertise and
experience and does so with integrity and in an objective manner.
Successful change management and business transformation draw on a wide range of technical
skills underpinned by the need to really understand the organisational context of the change. It is
important to understand the theories and models associated with change management in order to
make an informed choice about the approach that the organisation needs and to be able to hold
your own in the company of trained change professionals.
Skilled influencer
Demonstrates the ability to influence across a complex environment, to gain the necessary
commitment, consensus and support from a wide range of diverse stakeholders in pursuit of
organisation benefit.
Our organisations are becomingly increasing complex. Formal understanding of how to identify,
analyse the needs and plan for the needs of a diverse range of stakeholders is a critical skill but one
that can be learnt.
Courage to challenge
Shows courage and confidence to speak up challenge others even when confronted with
resistance or unfamiliar circumstances
The confidence to challenge is derived from the confidence you have in your skills and knowledge.
Ensuring that you are educated in the theories and models of change management is not a ‘nice to
have’ but a business essential for those who wish to fully participate in the management and
direction setting of their organisation
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8. Qualifications and assessments
In addition to the contribution of the CIPD in this area, there are two other bodies who are
positioning themselves as the professional body for change management practitioners:
 Change Management Institute (CMI) ‐ an independent not‐for‐profit organisation set up to
promote and develop the practice of change management internationally
 Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) ‐ provides networking and
collaboration for change management professionals who lead the people‐side of change.
ACMP is focused on developing industry standards and a professional certification program
to ensure a globally recognized standard for the change management discipline.
There is growing demand for qualifications in change management, recognising the business value
that this skill set offers. The APM Group, a UK based accreditation and certification organisation
offers the Change Management Practitioner qualification which is examined at Foundation and
Practitioner level and includes modules covering:
 Definition of change and its impact on individuals, teams and the organisation as a whole
 Assessing the impact of change on individual and team productivity
 Analysis of how organisations with different cultures and values are affected by change
 Consideration of different models of organisational change and their applicability to
different organisational structures and cultures
The Change Management Institute offers an assessment against a change management
competency model, successful completion of which results in the aware of Accredited Change
Manager (ACM) status.
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9. Developing your skills in change management and business transformation
HR professionals undertake a number of roles in managing change. To support organisation wide
change they facilitate the communication and engagement with the change, and guide those
operational managers who are making changes to processes, systems and organisation structures.
Where change is directly impacting the HR function of an organisation HR managers will be
expected to adopt the role of leader, manager or change agent.
The knowledge and skills required to undertake these roles include:
1. Understanding the approach to business transformation
To effectively support change it is imperative that those helping others to engage are themselves
very clear about how the transformation will be delivered. Understanding the process of business
transformation enables you to remain focused on the necessary steps and help those involved to
navigate their way through the uncertainty and chaos that is often associated with
transformational change.
 It breaks down the many moving parts of the change into clearly defined pieces of work,
reducing the paralysis that arises when staff and managers feel the work is so complex that
they don’t know where to start
 It produces a roadmap of changes and new capabilities that are expected as a result of all
the different projects which enables people to identify how they will be affected and how
they can become involved
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10.
2. Developing the business change lifecycle
Many organisations struggle to implement change successfully because they do not have a pre‐
agreed approach to managing change that is understood and can be applied by all those involved
in a consistent way.
An organisation needs a business change lifecycle that sets out how a change is planned,
implemented and embedded, taking into account the culture of the organisation and scale of the
changes being undertaken. It should explain in detail each step of the change management
process from initial idea to successful embedding of the change as the new business as usual.
3. Building confidence to successfully implement and embed change
Business transformation requires the participation of everyone in the organisation as it is only at
this individual level that specific changes to working practices will take place. We need to build an
environment of trust where individuals believe in the fairness of how changes that affect them are
reached and empower individuals to make these changes.
This empowerment comes from understanding the psychological impact of change and how
influencing, motivating and persuading are essential skills in making change happen. Identify
activities that celebrate completion of the change and reward new behaviours and attitudes that
align with the new business model.
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11. Conclusion
Understanding what is involved in business transformation and developing a detailed knowledge
of the theories and models of change management and how to practically apply them are an
essential HR skill set. The importance of this skill set is recognised by the Chartered Institute of
Personnel as fundamental to your progression in your HR career.
Development of these skills offers HR professionals the chance to significantly contribute to the
strategic direction of the organisation and the form that this journey will take.
Position yourself as a strategic thinker who can also contribute from the perspective of human
resources rather than an expert in human resources who is only called upon when there is a
perceived HR impact to a strategic decision.
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12. Maven Company Overview
Maven has a strong foundation in change, programme and project management expertise. We
have synthesised this wealth of skills and knowledge in these three areas to provide our clients
with a systematic approach to business transformation.
We will work with you to:
 define what your organisation needs to achieve and the structures and roles required to do
so
 ensure that the change leaders can provide inspiration, motivation and drive for the
change
 enable managers to implement the change
 ensure that those impacted by the change to their working environment know why it is
happening and support it
Maven can provide you with the skills and techniques to avoid becoming yet another case of
business transformation gone wrong. We are not management consultants – we will not do it for
you – but we will enable you to do it.
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13. Biography – Melanie Franklin
Melanie has an impressive track record in the successful realisation of business change
programmes across private and public sector organisations. She is the founder and Chief
Executive of Maven Training and is highly experienced in the delivery of board level
guidance and mentoring.
She takes a very practical approach to change, programme and project management with
priority on the realisation of planned benefits, working closely with her client base to
ensure that the desire to implement best practice does not result in bureaucracy for its
own sake. Each solution that Melanie proposes to clients is based on sound practical advice
and experience with guidance on how it is likely to be received by staff, how resistance to
change can be overcome and how stakeholders can be engaged from the outset.
Melanie is a talented communicator and has a reputation for delivering complex
information with humour and passion. She draws on her wealth of practical experience
to illustrate concepts and to engage her audience in lively debates on advantages and
disadvantages of each approach that she outlines.
Melanie is the author of a number of books and whitepapers about project and change
management including the recently launched Managing Business Transformation: A Practical
Guide
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14.
For further information about Maven Training
please contact:
Melanie Franklin
Telephone: 020 7403 7100
e‐mail: melanie.franklin@maventraining.co.uk
website: www.maventraining.co.uk
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