According to US management consultant, Larry Greiner, there are 5 phases of organisational growth. He identified that organisations reach a ‘crisis’ which must be addressed before elevation to the next phase is possible. At the heart of each crisis lies people and processes.

Tusk identifies the ‘as is’ situation of an organisation – in terms of its people, processes and purpose. It helps the organisation to be more objective and accept where it is in terms of its strengths and weaknesses. Recognising that they are going through a crisis is the first task, achievable by reviewing and understanding what the data is revealing.

This analysis stage is also key to implementing the methodologies and solutions needed to support the organisation and empower it to maintain or develop its productivity. The aim of ‘understanding’ is to assess factors impacting on an organisation’s strengths and weaknesses – revealing the ‘today context’ of the business.

Highlights are:

• Reviewing and refining – checking that the measures first identified remain appropriate
• Speed and simplicity – accurate analysis leads to mature decision making so it’s important we keep the whole organisation engaged and on schedule.
• Collecting and analysing all relevant data – we gather input from ‘the people’ (employees and leadership) as well as performance data (eg sales). We operate on ‘full disclosure’ of data and feedback, including anecdotal.
• Identifying cause and effect – we seek out important relationships, links and boundaries including the influence of the external environment.

Collaboration and joint ownership are important aspects of Tusk’s working style. We collaborate with our customers in the sense that we guide them into owning the process and the outcome.

Key achievements of designing the wished-for state are:

• Focusing on being pragmatic and goal-oriented – solving problems so they stay solved.
• Including the ‘leadership’ in the need to change / take action. Having ‘adult conversations’ about their input to ensure they recognise their role: to be effective, fearless and – to a degree – selfless in their leadership and management.
• Designing effective operating models that support the overall business model – balanced in their attention to people, processes and technology. These models have to be fair and principled (socially and environmentally aware).
• Planning a workforce of appropriately skilled people – including the leadership – that embraces gender, ethnicity and disability.
• Common purpose means enabling free and open decision-making.
• Positioning HR as an influential part of the planning – maybe even the leadership – team.

The key features of successful implementation are:

• Efficient project management – from start to finish with clear prioritisation of tasks and initiatives with realistic timescales. No pet projects just a ‘how do we make this easier’ approach.
• Organisation-wide ownership – top to bottom buy-in and commitment to complete the task.
• Sufficient resources – the ability and capability to undertake implementation.
• Continuous improvement – effective feedback is vital together with accountability to take it on board and not overlook challenges.
• Contingency plans – agile mitigation strategies to avoid delay and keep a successful end to the process firmly in sight.
• Reliable communication programme – continuous, trustworthy and aimed at every level of the organisation.

Our maintenance programme responds to the ongoing measurement of outcomes:

• Monitoring and shaping – help make sure the business is growing and developing according to the change model. (There is no place for complacency.)
• Vigilance and action – being prepared for large seismic transformations (eg intelligent response to external forces such as Covid-19) as well as modest shifts in line with the growth of the business.
• People development – measuring employee engagement to maintain a ‘can do’ attitude from everyone. This keeps leaders on their toes so management of people is effective and positive.